A second group of neglected and emaciated horses were rescued this week by animal rights activists, though this time the ponies were abandoned at the Miami-Dade ranch of a woman who nursed the animals back to health before reporting the case to police.

The four ponies, two mares and two geldings, appeared thin but were not in danger of being slaughtered, said Laurie Waggoner, director of ranch operations for the South Florida Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Waggoner said she picked up the ponies Thursday and sheltered them at a ranch in Hialeah after receiving a call from Miami-Dade police.

“One is emaciated,’’ she said of the ponies, “and the others are what we would call thin. Ponies have very slow metabolism. They’re what we call easy keepers. They can stay fat for a long time with very little food.’’

Because the ponies were underweight, Waggoner said, their owner likely did not feed them enough or may have fed them poor quality food. According to the police report, the animals also may have been abused.

The ponies were abandoned Jan. 12 at a ranch on the 100 block of Northwest 124th Avenue, near Sweet water. Waggoner said the ranch sits on a one to one-and-one-half acre lot.

A woman named Carol Lee Ford reported the neglected ponies to police Thursday. Ford, who could not be reached for comment Friday, told police that a man named Esteban Asencio dropped off the ponies at her ranch against her wishes.

Police have been unable to locate Asencio, who is believed to be about 60-years-old and homeless.

When Asencio brought the ponies to her ranch, Ford said that in addition to being underweight the animals had open sores, matted hair and barbed wire in their tail, according to the police report.

Though Ford refused to take custody of the ponies, Asencio left them there anyway because he needed to return a horse trailer to his friend, according to the police report.

Ford also told police she nursed the animals back to health, but called to have them removed in part because she feared the ponies may have been stolen since Asencio could not provide the proper paperwork for the animals.

Waggoner, who removed the ponies from the ranch, said she de-wormed the animals, and that they would be examined by a veterinarian who will vaccinate them and perform blood tests. Once the ponies have been examined, they will remain at the SPCA’s ranch for an undetermined amount of time.

The neglected ponies are the second case in one week of apparent animal neglect and cruelty. Four horses, including three thoroughbreds, were found neglected and emaciated Wednesday near Northwest 178th Street and 134th Avenue, in an area notorious for the illegal slaughter and sale of horse meat.

Those horses, and a fifth one found Wednesday in Southwest Miami-Dade, are being nursed back to health in Southwest Ranches with the help of Florida Trac, a South Florida-based retirement and placement program for horses that competed at either Calder Race Course or Gulfstream Park.

Waggoner said it’s not unusual for the SPCA to receive multiple calls in a single week about abandoned or neglected horses.

“It comes in spurts,’’ she said. “Like the month of November, we picked up one horse. December, I can’t tell you how many times we got called out. Just this year in January, we picked up several horses.’’