Horses are being shot in rural southern Alberta.

Doug Hopkins says it's happened near Gleichen and Airdrie and it happened again on his property sometime Friday night.

"My better half went outside to feed our horses and found our friend's miniature horse, who stays on our property, with an apparent bullet wound to the head," Hopkins says, "We had to take the miniature horse to the vet so the vet could x-ray and see if they could find a bullet, and then later that day Jen and I went out to have a bite to eat, because we hadn't eaten all day, the server at the establishment actually told us that a horse was shot on her neighbouring property near Gleichen."

He says Monday morning on a group Facebook page he found out another had been killed near Airdrie.

"This is getting out of control, there's some very disturbed individuals out there," he says, "They are like family, I mean this miniature horse, that was on our property, was with our friend and her three boys, I mean her oldest son has always had this horse with him, this horse has been a part of their family for 16 years."

Hopkins says the horses are kept only a couple of hundred yards away from the house and about a hundred yards from the highway.

He's taken the matter to the RCMP who are following up, but in the meantime suggests keeping eye out for vehicles in the area that may not belong.