I have a hard time believing the owners would chose to let them starve to death, rather than just shoot them. We will update this post if we get more information.

Manuel Almeida / EPA
Horses are left to die of starvation as the owners, who are tour guides, could not feed them due to lack of money in Nazlet Al-Saman, about 15 miles from Cairo, Egypt, February 8, 2011. The tourist business in Cairo and surrounding areas has suffered since the street protests against the regime of President Hosni Mubarak began two weeks ago, as tourists fled the country.