CHINA GROVE, N.C. -- Inside a Rowan County barn, the economy and talk of a recession seem a world away.

But they're not. In fact, what's happening out there is being felt in the barn every day.

"Some of (the horses) come to us in the most despicable condition," said Joanie Benson, who runs the Horse Protection Society in China Grove.

She said horse owners who are struggling financially are cutting costs by getting rid of their animals.

“At the present time, we have more people requesting us to take in horses than we've ever had before,” she said.

Benson said it's creating a difficult situation for her and her volunteers. Hay prices are up and donations are down. Also, suppliers can't always give the discounts she depends on because they're squeezed, too.

So she said she's had to get tough and set conditions.

Now the HPS won't take anyone's horse unless they've already cut out everything else they can.

"They have cell phones. They have cable. They have Internet access. If they would give up some of these luxuries, they could afford to feed their horses. Most of them are not willing to do this," Benson said.

Deborah Baker volunteers at the HPS and she said not only are more owners trying to surrender their horses, but some animals adopted out in the past are now coming back because the new owners can't afford them.

"We're sad to see them come back because we want them to have permanent homes. But we understand the reality of owning horses. Horses live a long time, and people's lives change," Baker said.

Still, they've had to draw the line and take in only the horses that are abused or close to dying.

“It's hard enough to take care of one or two healthy ones. But when you have 40, and half of them are sick or old or starved or have special needs, the work load really triples,” Baker said.

Benson said she'll take care of what she can and adopt out what she can. In the meantime, though, she worries about what lies ahead.

“It should be important to everyone to take care of the animals on this planet that can't take care of themselves. People did this to them, so people should make it right,” Benson said.

She said it takes about $200,000 a year to care for all of the horses and the costs keep going up.

For more on the HPS, visit http://www.horseprotection.org/.