Adopting a member of the Wild Horses of Alto herd

Wild Horses of Alto. Save the Herd!

WILD HORSES OF ALTO (W.H.O.A!) disclaimer: this blog is in no way associated with the group WHOA (Wild Horse Observers Association). This blog has actually become like a vertical file in the library where important past documents - like newspaper articles - are filed and kept for research when needed. It has become almost a lesson in librarianship for me.

WILD HORSES OF ALTO The herd of wild horses in Alto, N.M., are the offspring of estray horses that roamed Sierra Blanca on Mescalero and National Forest land. Today the herds roam the same territory as well as dropping in to visit some of the subdivisions, such as Enchanted Forest, Sierra Vista, Sun Valley, LaJunta, Little Creek and occasionally Alto Lakes Golf & Country Club. For the most part, the herds are loved and welcomed. But sometimes not.

At this time, it is being decided in a court of law whether the horses are wild or domesticated (and therefore estray). At present, the horses fall under the auspices of the N.M. Livestock Board. We are trying to save all members the herd and other herds that exist in the area. We do NOT want to deny the horses the freedom they have known in the past and the comradeship the herd provides them.

To institute change in the policy and protect the future of our magnificent Wild Horses of Alto herd, we have a petition at https://www.change.org/p/new-mexico-governor-save-alto-wild-horses, a fundraising site for lawyers and feed/care at https://www.gofundme.com/altohorses, an account set up at City Bank-Ruidoso for donations to the "Wild Horses of Lincoln County Trust Fund" and an ongoing facebook group "Bring Ruidoso Horse's Back". Click on the Stallion's photo to go directly there.

PLEASE SPEAK UP, sign petitions, give to the trust fund for the horses. Sign up to this blog to get continual updates and to also post your own comments.

We LOVE our horse herd.

HELP save the Wild Horses of Alto (WHOA!) herd

Sunday, July 20, 2014

Adopting a member of the Wild Horses of Alto herd

First off, per Troy Patterson, Area Supervisor, NM Livestock Board in Albuquerque, "...these horses fall under my jurisdiction". They are not State or Federal/BLM responsibility.

These horses are not protected by BLM. BLM has two herd management territories in NM. Farmington and Soccoro region. BLM horses have freeze brands in the course of processing.

This is what we know about the protocol of adopting horses from our Alto herd through the NM Livestock Board:

As they are considered estray, feral, horses from the Mescalero reservation: When the Brand Inspector has been called in to pick up one of the animals, an interested party has five (5) days from pick up date to contact the Brand Inspector.

Lost/found livestock are no longer posted in Ruidoso local papers. To determine if a horse has been picked up, the NM Livestock Board's website has to be monitored. Go to nmlbonline.com or google search NM Livestock Board. Click on the left panel LOST/FOUND ESTRAY. Monitor the Active Estray listing*.

After the mandatory five-day period has expired, you let the Brand Inspector know that you want to place a bid(s), in writing, on the animal(s). The Livestock Board needs three (3) bids in writing. If they only get one bid, the Livestock Board reverts to that one bid.

If you are a family of four people, each family member is not considered a separate bid - a family is considered 1 bid.

Once the bid is awarded to the buyer, the buyer will receive a brand inspection and bill of sale. That animal now belongs to the buyer, and is the buyer's responsibility. THEY CANNOT BE RETURNED TO THE HERD.

If they don't have any bids, that is when the horse(s) are sent to public auction and most likely go to a high-kill auction house. That is what happened to Rock Star - he was sent to Southwest Livestock Auction, LLC in Los Lunas, NM. He was sold for $300, but the Brand Inspector only made $42.59.

The objective of our future petition would be to request the Brand Inspector contact a defined, appointed person or persons when he has captured a feral, estray horse from our Alto herd. It is definitely doubtful he would do this, but worth the try to present pressure from the community he serves.

Regarding adopting foals directly from the herd, contact Bruna Campos directly at gilandbru@windstream.net or 575.808.2657

*We are considering re-contacting Troy Patterson about the Brand Inspector being a bit more descriptive in his postings. Currently, they are extremely broad range and difficult to determine where the animal was found, characteristics of animal, etc.

NM Livestock Board-District 20

Troy Patterson-Area Supervisor: 505.250.5956

Don Hatfield, Brand Inspector: 575.649.2758