A family has been left heartbroken after their two beloved Shetland ponies were found shot through the head.Helen and Neville Peirce were at home on their Axe Creek property last Saturday evening when shots were fired into the pen where their family pets were kept.“We didn’t hear anything,” Mrs Peirce said.‘‘We had them in a special pen so they wouldn’t eat all the grass and get too fat.‘‘They were so well loved and so cared for.“The afternoon before, my husband went down and checked on them and fed them. He then went back on Sunday afternoon and they were both lying down dead.’’It’s not the first time animals have been shot at on the property.Mrs Peirce said kangaroos and sheep had died from wounds thought to be caused by high-powered rifles, possibly aimed from cars. The couple believe that the chocolate-coloured ponies, Taffy and Jack, were victims of the same reckless behaviour. They want spotlight shooters to act responsibly and say signs placed around the property haven’t deterred people from shooting at both domestic and wild animals.“I would say they’d been shooting and saw the reflection of the eyes,’’ Mrs Peirce said.‘‘Little do they realise the pain they’ve caused the family. I hope the person who did this never has to endure this heartache.”Taffy and Jack had been a part of the Peirce family for 10 years and were favourites with the couple’s grandchildren and their friends.The couple’s house sits on 100 acres of now-lush paddock that is also home to goats, other pets and the odd kangaroo. “They (the ponies) were good friends; they went everywhere together and would visit us up at the house if it was cold,” Mrs Peirce said.The ponies have been laid to rest in the field they loved to graze in.“There are houses nearby with Shetland ponies and I want to make people aware... if people are just going willy-nilly with a gun shooting animals it’s just a terrible thing,” she said.The incident has been reported to the police.