Alto "wild" horse herd comes home

The Alto "wild" horse herd was delivered quietly back to Lincoln County Tuesday, ending a month’s battle to see them returned.

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Dianne L Stallings, Ruidoso News 4:26 p.m. MDT September 27, 2016

With no fanfare, the "wild" horse herd of Alto came home Tuesday

Story Highlights

• Court still must determine if horses are wild or estray livestock
• Restraining order prevented the sale of the horses                          

The Alto "wild" horse herd was delivered quietly back to Lincoln County Tuesday, ending a month’s battle between herd advocates and officials with the New Mexico Livestock Board.

Livestock Board officials unloaded members of the herd quickly. (Photo: Courtesy/Teeatta Lippert)

The return of the horses to pens prepared on land owned by Shelley McAlister was arranged Monday, but advocates said the livestock board didn’t want a crowd waiting for the equines. They were told that the noise and commotion might upset the steeds, advocate Teeatta Lippert said.

“They called me 20 minutes before they got here and said I needed to get here, they were ready to pull into the driveway,” Lippert said.

McAlister said her notice wasn’t from board officials.

“Someone in Carrizozo saw the truck and asked if they were the horses going back to Alto,” she said. “They told a woman, who called me. We just happened to be here working on the security cameras and packing up the house.”

“I am really grateful for the way it worked out,” Lippert said. “Trying to sort them with people hollering or calling names or screaming would have made our job a lot harder and would have stressed them out.”
Unloading went swiftly over a 10 minute to 20-minute period, she said. None of the adult horses acted up, but some of the foals were frisky. The foals now are in pens with their mothers and one even began nursing immediately, she said.
“My biggest advice to the community is that our stance is that these horses are wild,” Lippert said. “They were born wild. They are wild, so we must keep our distance. If we brush them and pet them, and get them use to us, then our standing in court that they are wild goes out the window, because they are officially domesticated. And it would be inhumane at that point to release them back in the wild.”
The battle won’t really be over until a district judge decides whether the horses fall under a definition of wild or are estray livestock under the jurisdiction of the livestock board. Working under the latter assumption, board officials hauled away the 12 mares and foals after they were penned by a property owner as nuisances. The action spurred rallies and community meetings, as well as litigation by the Wild Horse Observers Association asking for a restraining order on the sale of the horses by the livestock board. The order was granted and while the court drama plays out, an agreement was reached to allow the horses to come back to Alto as the responsibility of nine volunteers. The horses must stay in isolation for 21 days and then, if the case remains undecided, could be transferred to larger secure pastures.
Lippert said she was impressed with how the community handled the issue in a peaceful manner.
“We achieved more than shootings and riots and bombings and fires,” she said. “And our children can see that a small town can make a difference. I was raised to have hope and that if you send it out there and you stand your ground and pray, it if it is meant to be, Jesus will answer you.”
But the executive director of the livestock board said not everyone exhibited stellar behavior. “I’d like to thank the staff of the New Mexico Livestock Board for their professionalism during this emotional issue,” William Bunce said Tuesday. “Their courtesy extended to others, while being maligned for holding to the letter of the law, is exemplary.  Chapter 77 of the livestock code as well as the applicable Lincoln County Ordinances spell out very clearly that a legal process must take place. Those who expect this agency to operate otherwise, will continue to be disappointed. The vulgarity, insults and accusations thrown at our employees via telephone, email and various social media venues is nothing short of reprehensible.  As this issue is currently in litigation, any further discussion should be limited to the legal counsels representing both sides.”
With Aspenfest parade scheduled for Saturday, Lippert and several others said they hope to celebrate the return of the horses with a banner.

Augie grown up

This big fellow should be happier one of these days

Unsung Heroes - Bruna and Dave

Artwork inspired by the Wild Horses of Alto

"Wild Horses of Lincoln County"      

Victoria Mauldin Art Studio/Gallery
842 Vista Patron
Bernalillo, New Mexico 87004

575-937-7250


Website: http://www.vmauldinart.com/

These prints will be part of a fundraiser.



                

Return of Horses "a matter of days"

Dianne L Stallings, Ruidoso News 3:32 p.m. MDT September 22, 2016

Contracts signed covering responsibility for Alto wild horse herd while court case is decided

Story Highlights

• Logistics of return to be discussed

                           The return of 12-members of a horse herd hauled away from Alto last month by the New Mexico Livestock Board after being penned by a private landowner as nuisances seems down to a matter of days, advocate Mellisa Babcock said Thursday.

Nine people signed an agreement accepting responsibility for the horses on their return.
A hearing on litigation filed by the Wild Horse Observers Association against the livestock board was conducted on Sept. 8, and 12th Judicial District Judge Dan Bryant indicated he wanted the order to reflect his exact wording, attorney Freda McSwane said Thursday. McSwane and Steven K. Sanders represent WHOA, which received a restraining order banning the sale of the horses by the livestock board while the judge decides whether the horse are wild, and not under the board’s jurisdiction, or are estray livestock.
The day after the hearing, a Friday, McSwane requested a copy of the hearing tape with the offer to drive over and pick it up. However, the tape was mailed and when it had not arrived by the following Tuesday, she requested another copy and it was driven to her office after work hours, she said.
“So we got it late Tuesday night (Sept. 13) and we began transcribing the tape on Wednesday, getting it in the final form,” she said. “We presented it to the attorney general’s office last Friday (Sept. 16). We’ve been communicating back and forth, because in the meantime, the attorney general’s office and the livestock board worked out the language on the contract the way they believed it needed to be and submitted it to us.”
Minor revisions were made. Nine people accepted the responsibility jointly for all of the horses and she began last Friday securing the signatures of those people.

“We were able by the end of the day, Monday (Sept. 19), to get the last one,” McSwane said. “Those nine people also had to sign certificates to be filed with the court saying they would follow the court’s order.”
The contract was signed and sent back to the attorney general's office, where at about 4 p.m. Wednesday, it was approved and signed by Assistant Attorney Gen. Ari Biernoff, she said. As soon as she had word it was signed, her office filed the nine certificates the court requested. Each one contained an attachment of the contract entered into by the parties and the livestock board.
“This morning I received back from the attorney general’s office some requested revisions to the (court) order,” she said. “We’ve gone back and forth and have agreed to an order. I’m expecting an approval any moment and as soon as we get that, it will be electronically sent for the judge’s signature and filed with the court. Once filed, we are going to set up a communication between the livestock board and the attorney to discuss the logistics of how quickly they can transport the horses back down here and be received by those nine individuals on that property.”
The property consists of 10 acres with reinforced pens located on Fort Stanton Road to be used as an isolation area for a 21-day period.
“The livestock board I believe is as anxious for us to take responsibility for them as we are,” McSwane said. “All we’re waiting on at this particular moment is (Biernoff’s) signature on the court order. I don’t know his schedule today, but he has been good at being responsive, so I anticipate he’ll try to sign as quickly as possible and I’m hoping we can get it to the judge today.”
Biernoff indicated to her that the return of the horses should be a matter of days, not weeks, McSwane said.
“We anticipate a smooth return just as quickly as we can get the logistics worked out,” she said. “If we get the order signed, I will try to get a conference call this afternoon (Thursday) between the livestock board and the attorney. We are pressing as much as we can. We would love to get them returned tomorrow. We would certainly receive them even Saturday (if the livestock board was willing).”
Babcock said the nine people who signed to care for the horses primarily came from a sign-up list at a second town hall meeting on the plight of the mares and foals that were taken to Santa Fe in late August, but others came from Facebook.
“I want to stress the nine who stepped forward are not assigned to a particular horse, more of a group responsibility that will end when the court case is over,” Babcock said. “This is not an adoption.”

Wild herd advocates wait for word on equines return

Dianne L Stallings, Ruidoso News 3:38 p.m. MDT September 20, 2016

Advocates hope to hear Wednesday about the return of the Alto horse herd

Big Boss, the stallion of the herd hauled away, has been seen in the area looking for his mares and his offspring.(Photo: Courtesy)

Story Highlights

• Judge must review and approve arrangement

Attorneys for the New Mexico Livestock Board and the Wild Horse Observers Association signed off Friday on documents connected to bringing the wild horse herd of Alto back to Lincoln County.
Advocate Melissa Babcock was in Taos Monday, then moved to Santa Fe Tuesday hoping to hear that the 12 mares and foals might be transported back home. She planned to follow the transport on its mission, if word about the trip arrived in time. It was her understanding that 12th Judicial District Court Judge Dan Bryant already had reviewed the mutually approved arrangement.
“I’m waiting for a call,” she said. “It’s definitely going to happen. They signed off on it, but it may be a matter of who draws the short straw and has to bring them back. I understand that there was one more person (on the livestock board side) they were waiting on to sign. We were hoping for (Tuesday), but I'm beginning to doubt it, because it is getting later in the day."
The horses will be isolated for 21 days in pens on Fort Stanton Road owned by advocate Shelley McAlister that were mowed and reinforced last week by volunteers. Later, they may be moved to pastures while waiting for a decision by the court on their designations as wild horses or estray livestock. That designation will spell out the jurisdiction of the livestock board over their fate and whether the board was correct in hauling them to Santa Fe last month after a private owner penned them as nuisances.
Advocates hope to see them turned loose as wild horses. The alternative is to sell them to private owners at auction. The 12 members were microchipped and now can be identified as coming from the herd, if they are rounded up in the future.

www.ruidosonews.com/story/news/local/2016/09/15/preparing-land-alto-herds-return/90375708/

       Preparing land for Alto herd's return

Dianne L Stallings, Ruidoso News 4:44 p.m. MDT September 15, 2016

Work underway to prepare home for the Alto wild horse herd for a 21-day isolation period while waiting for a court decision of their designation

Story Highlights

• Livestock Board will transport the horses back to Alto
• Arrangements must first be approved by attorneys and judge

   About a dozen volunteers showed up by mid-morning Wednesday at the 10-acre site where 12 members of the Alto wild horse herd are expected to be penned for a 21-day isolation period when they are returned to Lincoln County while awaiting a court ruling.

   Land owner Shelley McAlister said she expected the pens to be ready with extra fencing and water troughs added, and then the only addition needed would be installation of multiple security cameras.  The property should be ready for its guests by Friday (Sept. 16), she said, pledging to make sure the community is notified of their arrival time at 384 Fort Stanton Road in Alto.

   “They (the New Mexico Livestock Board) want us to get them back in the next few days,” McAlister told about 50 people attending a public meeting Tuesday for updated news about the herd.
William Bunce, executive director of the livestock board, said  Wednesday that his agency’s attorney as well as the attorney for the Wild Horse Observers Association were contacted that morning by McAlister.
   “I’ve not seen any final documentation,” he said. “(But we were) made aware that the volunteers were getting a site location ready to go. Everyone is working intently to ensure a legal procedure and positive outcome.”
   “This has never been an isolated ‘group,’ this has always been a community (fighting for the horses),” Teeatta Lippert said during the Tuesday meeting. “Obviously, we are all here and are all concerned. This is all of our effort, all of our hard work, all of our noise leading to the judge granting the temporary restraining order at this point.”
   That order stopped the sale of the horses until a court decides their status as wild horses or estray livestock, which also ties to whether the New Mexico Livestock Board has jurisdiction.
   “(The judge) said he saw how if he did not grant this that the ball would just keep rolling down the hill and without stopping it before these horses disappeared, there would be no conflict and with no conflict, there’s no horses and with no horses, no trial,” Lippert said. “There are a few things we have to follow and one is that we have to stop calling the livestock board. They have agreed to give them back. We have to stop harassing them, even though they did what they did. They are complying with what the judge told them to do and they got back to us as soon as possible.”
   McAlister was contacted at 3 p.m. Monday about the return of the horses, she said.  “So we will do everything as a community to make sure these horses are safe and cared for,” Lippert said. “Everything the judge signs off on, we are going to comply with 100 percent. We give (the livestock board) absolutely no reason to ever come here and do this again.”
   McAlister said the livestock board offered to bring the mares and foals back by transport truck. But they also left open for volunteers to pick them up. A quick vote of those at the meeting determined that the livestock board should bear that responsibility and expense, because it took the horses away.  They also voted to use McAlister’s property for the isolation period and then evaluate any offers of more land with pastures that could allow the horses to be less dependent on human care and to feel more wild. The owner must be horse savvy and there must be adequate fencing.
The isolation requires fencing that will not allow “nose to nose” contact with other horses. A veterinarian is on board to treat them, if anything is needed.
   “The money we raised will take care the vet bills,” Lippert said. “If people want to volunteer to help take care of them, to feed them or do whatever is needed, we have a sign up list and will set up a schedule. Anyone who wants to be involved, can be.”
   The stallion was spotted that morning and reportedly visits some local homes every evening to graze on overgrown grass. He cannot be allowed into the pens with the herd. “The court order says he can be around them, but he cannot be let in with him, because technically then, we are capturing him and he is subjected to the same stuff,” McAlister said. "With a double fence, he can come around and he will know they are there and be happy hanging around them.”
   That’s why using land in Alto is important, because he probably will find them, she said. “When they bring them in, they are going to start talking because they will know where they are,” McAlister said. “He’s going to find them.”
   The ultimate goal is eventually to turn them loose as wild horses, she said. The case brought by WHOA against the livestock board for taking possession of the herd should require no more than 120 days to resolve, she said the judge estimated. If the ruling is against release, then adopted homes will be found for the horses, she said.
   Seven people will be needed to sign papers accepting responsibility for mare and foal pairs, one mare and one filly. “At the end, if it turns out in our favor, that goes away,” McAlister said. “If it doesn’t, the person signing takes them home. If too many people want them, we can devise a selection process.”
   While they are responsible, those signing will bear the liability that exists with having any horse, she said. The livestock board was denied a request to have bonds posted covering the horses and those signing will not be charged for the expense of caring for the herd since it was taken to Santa Fe, McAlister said.
   People who donate fencing panels, water troughs and other equipment will be able to reclaim the items after the time of isolation.
   None of the colts were gelded, they were too young, McAlister said. But all of the horses have been microchipped and vaccinated. “When the livestock board or anyone picks them up, those horses will show as wild horse, so it is not a bad thing, it is a good thing,” McAlister said.
   “They will know they have to let them go and can’t do something silly as they did in the past,” Lippert said, referring to a herd member two years ago that may have been sold for slaughter after being picked up by a brand inspector. “All of the numbers are there, so we will know who they are.”
   The horses are in good health, but one filly was run off by the stallion two months ago and has to be kept away from the others, even in transport, she said. That horse probably will have to be adopted, because of her special mental issues and because the other horses abuse her.
   Some attending the meeting worried about the agency bothering the stallion or two other wild herds in the area, but McAlister and Lippert said they doubted livestock officials want to get mired in another situation like the existing one.
   The court decision in the Alto case should set a precedent for how other wild horses are handled in the future, she said.
   “They are following this in Montana, so what we do and how we act, how we treat this, our community is the base for how they go forward with every other case in the country,” Lippert said.    “We will be referenced. That’s why it is so important that we follow everything that this judge is asking us to do. (The case) is a stepping stone for every other case going forward. They are kind of holding us to a higher standard” with other judges watching.
   Everything decided at the meeting including the isolation site and those who will sign for responsibility to care for the horses must be submitted to the attorneys and the judge for approval, McAlister said.
   People who want to pay for or donate feed for the horses can contact Harvey’s Feed, and donations also can be submitted at any City Bank branch made out to the Wild Horses of Lincoln County. Donations are tax exempt. To date, the fund sits at about $27,000. Lippert said while the “gofundme” account has been good for people to use from out of state, the entity takes a 7.9 percent cut to cover its expenses and a transfer fee for when the money is moved to a bank account. That cut can be avoided with direct donations to the bank.
   The attorney working on the Alto and Placitas cases, Steven K. Sanders, has been paid $5,000 from money collected, Lippert said.
   If the herd is returned to the wild, some additional attention may be needed in the future to control its population, possibly darting mares with birth control mixtures that will last one year, McAlister said.

 

Photo by Mark Stambaugh

Alto horses may be home Friday

Dianne Stallings, Ruidoso News 7:41 p.m. MDT September 13, 2016

 

Twelve members of a wild horse herd from Alto may be returned Lincoln County and  a temporary holding site on Fort Stanton Road as
early as Friday.
   During a community meeting Tuesday, about 50 people voted to use 10 acres owned by advocate Shelley McAlister as a temporary site for a 21-day quarantine period and supporters agreed to allow the New Mexico Livestock Board to transport the horses back to the area where last month they were penned and then hauled away to Santa Fe.
   The horses have been microchipped, but Teeatta Lippert and McAlister said that will be a good thing for their future, if the court eventually declares them wild. Then if any of the horses are picked up, they can be identified as from the herd and returned.
   McAlister, Lippert and Melissa Babcock, who early in the situation managed to channel the emotional response of supporters into positive actions, prepared signup sheets for volunteers to help in various aspects of the care of the horses until the court case that resulted in a temporary restraining order against the sale of the equines is resolved. McAlister said she will need volunteers at 9:30 a.m. today (Wednesday) at her property at 384 Fort Stanton Road to improve fencing, install water troughs and till up the ground. She already has pens, which will make any dispensing of medication easier.    The horses will be fed, because there is no pasture. But once the quarantine expires, advocates hope to move the animals to a larger pasture area and and are looking for a suitable offer of property with fencing.
   District Court Judge Dan Bryant last week issued a temporary restraining order to stop the sale of the horses and urged a return of the herd to Lincoln County pending the outcome of a lawsuit to determine their status as estray or wild.
  “With Judge Bryant’s ruling, the bid process has stopped,” William Bunce, livestock board executive director, said Monday. “The horses are fine, and discussions regarding acceptance of the horses by others are occurring.”
   We didn’t know if they would make contact with us directly or through attorneys, but he called Shelley McAlister,” Babcock said Monday. The two women were among the first to organize efforts to save the horses and to focus attention on providing a safe refuge for them, if needed. “Per the judge’s encouragement, they have agreed to release the horses to someone in Ruidoso. There are some stipulations to that agreement, which is kind of what we said at the beginning of the (public) meeting (Aug. 29). They have to be kept together per the judge’s order. But the livestock board’s conditions are obviously, we can’t just let them loose.
   “They have to remained penned. There is a quarantine period. They are supposed to be faxing us the conditions, but one is a quarantine. What we were wanting to do was let everyone know that, and that the livestock board has asked people to stop calling. We want to let people know that’s kind of where we are until it goes through court.”
   Group members find themselves almost at the point they were with the horses and livestock board on Aug. 29, when livestock board officials indicated McAlister or some other landowner with appropriate property could take custody of the horses, she said.
   “We want people to feel the decision is everyone’s decision,” Babcock said. “Shelley has 10 acres, but wherever we put them first, they definitely have to stay for the quarantine period. Then if there is someone else in the community with more land, but keep in mind, it is not just a matter of saying you can use my land. You have to take legal responsibility for them and it is a huge deal. One of the conditions from the livestock board is that it can’t just be someone with land, it has to be someone with land and experience with horses.”
   Babcock and McAlister want to brief supporters and see who may step forward with an offer of land, she said.
   “Shelley is fine with them staying there, but she doesn’t want people to think she’s the one who gets to make that decision,” Babcock said. “We don’t want anyone to think it was just the committee of six that was making all the decisions. We want to make sure people feel like they have a say and opinion. There are some things we can’t change and their opinion wouldn’t change, such as (the horses) must be kept. They cannot be turned loose.”
   Money still is being raised to cover veterinary bills, food and other upkeep of the herd until the court renders a decision. The livestock board didn’t mention a minimum acreage size, she said.
   “We’re open for people to make suggestions,” she said of the move after quarantine. “Forty acres would be nice, because we need as much secure space as possible to keep them in an environment that feels wild, so when we win this, they will be ready to bring them back to where they were picked up or close by and release them.”
  Herd advocates don’t want to foster dependence on humans any more than absolutely necessary, she said.
   One of the advantages of staying on McAlister’s 10 acres is that it is in Alto and there’s a possibility the stallion, Big Boss, may find his mares, Babcock said. “We’ve had (offers of land) from Nogal and all over,” she said. “That’s great, but being somewhat close would be nice for feeding.”

Ruidoso News Sept 13 article

News analysis: Lawyers to debate what makes a wild horse wild

Dave Tomlin, Ruidoso News 1:52 p.m. MDT September 13, 2016

   As the lawyer for the New Mexico Livestock Board stood before him last week, District Judge Dan

Bryant asked what is sure to be a key question if the lawsuit over the future of the wild horses of Alto goes to trial.

Photo by Lynda Blaney

     “How does the Livestock Board distinguish this herd from the Placitas herd in the Court of Appeals case?” Bryant asked Asst. Atty. Gen. Ari Biernoff.
   The judge was referring to a case in which the appellate court ruled last year that the Board shouldn’t have treated a free-roaming herd of wild horses near Placitas as if they were “estray” livestock, just as they tried to do with the Alto herd.
   To those who love Lincoln County’s free-roaming horses, the answer is self-evident. There’s no difference at all between the Alto horses and the Placitas horses, and the Livestock Board is wrong again.
   The horse advocates may be exactly right. But that doesn’t mean lawyers won’t find plenty to argue about as they belabor what may look to equine-loving eyes like the obvious, if and when Bryant takes the bench to preside over Wild Horse Observers Association (WHOA) v. New Mexico Livestock Board.
   Here are some of the legal and factual points a trial may raise:

  1. The Court of Appeals opinion accepted WHOA’s claim that the Board “took the auctioned Placitas horses directly from public land before auctioning them.” But the Alto herd was penned up by a private landowner who summoned the Livestock Board to collect them.

   We’ll discuss later why it might matter a lot where the Board picked up the horses. But one side, or maybe both, may argue that the Court of Appeals was misinformed about where the Placitas herd was picked up and by whom.
   Corrales attorney David G. Reynolds, an attorney for one of the private landowners who intervened in the Placitas case on the Livestock Board’s side, told the News last month that the herd was actually captured on private property just like the Alto herd.
   The point was never hashed out in court because 2nd District Court Judge Valerie Huling dismissed the case. The Court of Appeals sent it back to her for trial, but last week Huling dismissed it again because the Placitas horses are all gone and there’s no longer any herd to argue over. As lawyers say, the case is “moot.”
   But since Bryant may have to decide whether the Court of Appeals ruling controls the outcome of the Alto case, he might hear arguments or evidence that the relevance of the appellate court opinion should be discounted because it was based on incorrect facts.

      2. The New Mexico Livestock Code defines a wild horse as “an unclaimed horse on public land that is not an estray.”

   The wording of this statute is the reason it might matter where the Board picks up any given group of unclaimed horses. The Court of Appeals ruling never says what an unclaimed horse on private land might be, because it presumed the Placitas herd was on public land as the statute appears to require.
Biernoff told Bryant last week that this is a “critical” difference between the Placitas and Alto cases.   But even if the facts show that both herds were actually taken by the Board from private land, the Board may still argue that the Court of Appeals ruling doesn’t apply to the Alto herd.
   Bryant could end up scratching his head over how much the extensive reasoning in the Court of Appeals decision depends on where the horses happened to be picked up.
   He also may be asked to consider whether the legislature really intended to say that a wild horse suddenly stops being wild whenever it strays or is lured or led from public land onto private land.
   Reynolds told the News a wild horse on public land turns instantly into “a large packrat” on private land in the eyes of the law. Since neither the statute nor the Court of Appeals ruling says anything about a free-roaming unclaimed horse on private land, he said, such a beast has no more legal standing or protection than a varmint.
   But Albuquerque attorney Steven K. Sanders, who has represented WHOA in both cases, told the News last week before the hearing that this would be “a travesty” and could not have been what the legislature meant the law to say.

       3.The Livestock Code says "public land" does not include federal land controlled by the Bureau of Land Management, the Forest Service or state trust land controlled by the state land office.

   When you take all that away, plus all private property, an awful lot of Lincoln County is off the table as the kind of land on which a free-ranging horse can be considered legally wild, if the statute means exactly what it says.
   Bryant ruminated aloud about that in court last Friday, even though nobody had asked him to. He seemed to conclude that in dealing with this case he will have to decide whether the Alto herd could have spent significant time on “public land” as the Livestock Code defines it.
   It’s hard to say how important that will be to the case. But if Bryant was already thinking about it on his own in a preliminary hearing, a smart lawyer would probably have to consider it very important.

      4. The only other definition in state law of a “wild horse” besides the one in the Livestock Code doesn’t seem to fit the Placitas and Alto herds.

   The Court of Appeals opinion cited a New Mexico Administrative Code section that said a wild horse is a feral horse in an “untamed state having returned to a wild state from domestication.”
That doesn’t describe the wild horses in these cases, which everyone seems to agree have never been owned by anyone in their lives.
   But it’s still possible the code section may come into play anyway. Read on.

     5. State law defines livestock as “domestic or domesticated animals.” WHOA says that means the Placitas and Alto herds can’t be livestock. The Livestock Board begs to differ.

   Biernoff indicated in last week’s hearing that the Board may try to portray the Alto herd as domesticated.
   “We’ll have testimony about how this herd was living,” Biernoff told the judge. “We believe that the horses were being fed, having social interaction with people. We might need more evidence on this.”
   Biernoff questioned some of Sanders’s witnesses about the Alto horses’ docile behavior. Then he called Caroline McCoy to the stand. McCoy is the property owner who penned up the 12 Alto mares and foals for the Livestock Board to take away. She described how she led them easily into an enclosure while riding her all-terrain vehicle.
   Finally Biernoff called a Lincoln County rancher named Ashley Ivins to testify. His main goal with Ivins seemed to be to have her describe her familiarity with the kind of mustangs found on federal Bureau of Land Management ranges and how different they are from the Alto horses.
   “They’re true wild horses,” Ivins said. “They’re mean and wild. They won’t eat out of your hand or be near people.”
   So the definition of “domesticated” may be among the points Bryant will be asked to consider. And even if he agrees with the Board that the Alto horses have displayed domesticated behavior, he would have to weigh that against the fact that they’re also unclaimed and free-roaming.
   Not many cases give a district judge the chance to address important gaps in the law left by both the state’s legislature and its second highest court. The novelty of the judicial opportunity could have been one reason Bryant put a stop to the Livestock Board’s attempt to auction the Alto herd.
   But the judge was clearly troubled by the possibility that the Livestock Board is finding it easier to win wild horse cases on the auction block than in the courtroom, especially after the Placitas judge concluded that if the herd is gone, the case goes away too.
   Bryant asked Biernoff during the hearing how a court could ever get a chance to review the Livestock Board’s actions and decide the legal issues surrounding New Mexico’s unclaimed, free-roaming horses if the Board were allowed to keep selling them off as soon as it gets its hands on them.
   Biernoff uttered some words in reply to the judge’s question, but they didn’t contain a good answer. That’s because there probably isn’t any.

IMPORTANT UPDATE!!!!!!!!

After more than three hours of often emotional testimony, and what is a clear victory for the Alto horses, Judge Daniel Bryant ruled that there was sufficient cause to order a temporary restraining order against the Livestock Board.  In essence, the Judge has ordered the horses returned to Alto, where they will be confined on private land in their original "neighborhood", until their legal status can be established by the court.  He also questioned, without prejudice, the legality of the Livestock Board's actions in this case (which will be investigated during the upcoming proceedings).

All in all, it was an impressive and well-run hearing; the judge seems knowledgeable, insightful, fair and very competent.  And it appears that there is sufficient legal support of the horses to carry this effort through to the

YEY!! Photo by David Tremblay

final determination of their legal status, which may result in their permanent release back into their home environment, and the prevention of this sort of action in the future.

It seems clear that the effort of the horses' advocates has given them a voice which is being heard by the justice system.
 
Courtesy of Carrizozo Community News
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Judge orders Livestock Board to stop wild horse auction

Dave Tomlin, Ruidoso News 9:40 a.m. MDT September 9, 2016

(Photo: Dave Tomlin/Ruidoso News)

Advocates for the return of a dozen free-range horses to Lincoln County have won their fight to stop the New Mexico Livestock Board from selling the herd while they pursue their legal effort to return it permanently to the Alto area where it was seized last month.
At a hearing in Carrizozo Thursday, 12th District Judge Dan Bryant granted a temporary restraining order that bars the Livestock Board from taking any action to sell or divide the herd while the case goes forward.
In fact, Bryant gave the plaintiff Wild Horse Observers Association and the more than 100 people who turned out to show support for bringing the horses back a good deal more to cheer about, although the judge cautioned them in advance not to do any actual cheering in his courtroom.
Bryant invited the Livestock Board to consider returning the horses immediately to Lincoln County into the custody of anyone willing to provide space and care for them and also to sign a certificate agreeing to comply with any future orders the judge issues in the case.
And he sent a strong signal that WHOA has a strong shot at eventually persuading him that the Alto herd should be designated “wild horses” under state law and that the Livestock Board was wrong to take custody of them and put them up for sale in the first place.
“I have heard substantial evidence that this band may be ‘wild horses’ as the legislature intended to define them in the statute,” Bryant said. “And I have heard substantial evidence that the Livestock Board may have violated the law.”
The judge referred several times during the nearly four-hour hearing and in his ruling to a New Mexico Court of Appeals decision last year which held that a similar group of unowned horses in Placitas were wild horses, not “estray” livestock as the Livestock Board had claimed.
Bryant was careful to emphasize that his ruling doesn’t mean that WHOA is sure to win its case. But in order to grant a restraining order against the Livestock Board, the judge was implicitly finding a “substantial likelihood” that WHOA would succeed in proving its case on the merits.
He was also finding that “irreparable harm” would result if the temporary order were not granted, and Bryant said he was persuaded that such harm would occur if he failed to act.
“There would be irreparable harm in hurting the herd and its relationship to the community” if the Livestock Board were allowed to break up the group on the auction block as it was preparing to do.
Board executive director William Bunce said in an email to the News Thursday afternoon that no bids had yet been received but bids would remain open until Monday unless the court stopped the sale.
“If the bidding continues it will be for five mare/colt or filly pairs, and two individuals,” he said. If the sale is stopped by court order, he added, the horses would remain at a Livestock Board holding facility in Santa Fe.
But Bryant encouraged the Board and WHOA supporters to work out a better arrangement.
Assistant Atty. Gen. Ari Biernoff had argued that the Board would be burdened by the expense of caring for the horses if the judge ordered a stop to the sale. Bryant said the Board could spare itself that expense by allowing a private Lincoln County resident with adequate enclosed space and facilities to keep the herd together and take care of them.
The proposed arrangement sounded a lot like the “gentleman’s agreement” that horse advocates thought they had reached with Bunce last month but which the Livestock Board later said it would not implement. But under the impetus of the court’s ruling, it seemed possible the Board might change its mind again.
Bryant’s ruling capped a long afternoon of sometimes emotional testimony from horse advocates and also from Caroline McCoy, the Alto property owner who penned up the 12 horses on Aug. 25 and summoned the Livestock Board to take them away.
“I had no idea that people thought of these horses as free pets,” she said. “It was a big surprise.”
McCoy, who owns two horses and rides regularly, added that she could understand the feelings in the community for the herd. But she said she doubted a free pack of feral dogs would generate the same kind of support.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to have horses running loose in a residential area,” McCoy said. She testified she thought horse lovers would applaud the efforts she said she made to insure that the Livestock Board found new homes for the horses and did not sell them for slaughter.
Instead, McCoy said she had received scores of threats. She said festoons of toilet paper and dead skunks had been left on the property of a neighbor whose address had been mistaken for McCoy’s.
“Yes there were all kinds of threats, everything from ‘kill her’ to ‘shoot her,’” McCoy testified. “Now when I go out riding I worry about who’s hiding in the bushes, who’s going to shoot me down.”
Bryant said later after announcing his decision that he was “deeply grieved by the acrimony” McCoy described. “As a community we should discourage any of these kinds of behavior,” he said.
During the hearing, WHOA attorney Steven K. Sanders called a succession of witnesses to the stand and asked them to describe the pleasure derived from the presence of the horses by residents and visitors and the emotional and commercial harm their removal is causing.
Some paused to wipe away tears as they spoke about the harm to the community and the horses themselves from the Board’s action.
Among them was Andree Germany of Capitan, who described herself as an animal caretaker and testified that she had seen firsthand the emotional trauma to the stallion caused by the removal of his mares and foals.
“He runs every day up and down looking for his family,” Germany said.
Another witness, Shelley McAlister, testified that she had been preparing last week to receive the 12 horses from the Livestock Board under the agreement the horse advocates thought they had with the Board to return the herd to Lincoln County while the legal case proceeded.
McAlister said she owns 16 horses of her own and has 10 acres on her property along Ft. Stanton Road that can be set aside as a safe temporary place for the herd to stay. She indicated in the courtroom that the offer remains open.
“Our ultimate goal is to be able to have them free,” she said, “roaming Alto as they have done for many many years.”
Biernoff told the judge that just turning the horses loose would only produce “more conflict, more problems, more calls to the Board.” But he indicated that the Livestock Board might entertain a proposal from a Lincoln County landowner to take temporary custody of the herd.
After Bryant had ruled, Biernoff and Livestock Board general counsel Allison Hedgecock conferred briefly and came up with some concerns about handing the herd over to a private custodian.
They asked the judge if the Board could pick a landowner for the job. The judge said the Board could make the choice as long as the herd is kept together.
They asked who would be the legal custodian for the herd in such an arrangement and bear the risk of any harm caused while the herd was in private hands. The judge said that question could be dealt with in the negotiated custody agreement.
Sanders said he believed WHOA should have a voice in selection of the host for the herd and the terms on which the horses would be handed over and cared for. Bryant agreed that it should.

Wild horse advocates seek emergency order to stop Livestock Board sale Ruidoso News Sept 7, 2016

ruidosonews.com

Wild horse advocates seek emergency order to stop Livestock Board sale

Dave Tomlin, Ruidoso News 3:51 p.m. MDT September 7, 2016

Ruidoso News logo(Photo: File)

An annoyed and frustrated 12th District Judge Dan Bryant tried to conduct a hearing on the Alto horse case Wednesday in which attorneys for both sides attempted to make their cases via glitch-plagued long distance phone lines.
After brief arguments, interrupted repeatedly by dropped connections with one or both lawyers, the judge ended the proceeding by saying he would try again at 2 p.m. Thursday with everybody present in his courtroom.
“No phone appearances,” Bryant said. “I want all the lawyers here tomorrow.”
The hearing had been requested by Albuquerque attorney Steven K. Sanders, who represents the Wild Horse Observers Association. WHOA sued on Aug. 29 to have the Alto herd legally declared “wild horses” and to prevent the New Mexico Livestock Board from selling or relocating them.
With word circulating of Livestock Board plans to sell the horses next week, Sanders sought an emergency order to stop them. More than 30 concerned citizens were in the courtroom to show their support for bringing the herd back to Lincoln County
The Livestock Board took the 12 mares and foals last month from a private landowner near Alto who had penned them up and complained they were a nuisance. Their seizure produced a local outcry, and advocates of the free-ranging herds quickly organized to get them back.
Their efforts include a legal effort in partnership with WHOA, which has been fighting a nearly identical two-year-old case involving horses wandering in the Placitas area near Albuquerque. Sanders is WHOA’s lawyer in that case too.
Sanders and co-counsel Freda McSwane of Ruidoso had not tried last week to get an emergency order to prevent the sale of the horses because of reports that the Board had promised to return the herd to Lincoln County while its legal status was being deliberated. That turned out to be untrue.
Sanders told Bryant during Wednesday’s hearing that he was informed late last week that the Livestock Board had posted public notice that it planned to go ahead with the sale on Monday, Sept. 12.
He said WHOA had been forced to ask for Wednesday’s hastily-called hearing to stop any sale before the court could consider WHOA’s argument that the Livestock Board had no legal right to determine the herd’s future.
Asst. Atty. Gen. Ari Biernoff told the judge that Sanders had failed to meet the technical requirements for obtaining a temporary restraining order against a government agency.
With no formal motion filed, no bond posted and none of the other formalities properly observed by WHOA, Biernoff said, “all we have is the plaintiff raising its hand and saying they were very concerned that something bad is going to happen.”
He also questioned whether it was proper for Bryant to hear the case at all while the same legal issues were already in play in the Placitas case, in which a hearing was scheduled later Wednesday afternoon before 2nd District Judge Valerie Huling. Biernoff called the Alto case “highly improper” and “an end run around Judge Huling.”
But Sanders argued that the horses over which the Placitas case was originally fought had long since been relocated, and with the herd gone the entire case might actually end up being dismissed Wednesday. By contrast, the Alto herd is still in the Livestock Board’s custody, he said.
Biernoff confirmed that the Livestock Board still has the herd, but under questioning by Bryant he admitted he didn’t know whether the Board had scheduled a sale for Monday, Sept. 12, as Sanders said he had learned.
Bryant said that was a poor answer. But he said he couldn’t hold a proper emergency hearing for a restraining order without better prepared papers and arguments from both sides.
The judge gave Sanders until 4 p.m. Wednesday to amend WHOA’s original lawsuit to include a former request for a temporary restraining order, properly served on the attorney general’s office.
Bryant said he would hold a new hearing Thursday with all attorneys present “to consider whether this herd ought to be preserved by the Livestock Board” while the case goes forward over whether the Livestock Board should have custody of the horses at all.
The judge said he would also hear any further arguments from Biernoff over whether he could hear the Alto herd case while the Placitas case was still alive.
Bryant said if he issues a temporary restraining order barring sale of the Alto herd, there will automatically be another hearing 10 days later to determine whether that order should be continued.
He also said he would expedite the case on his docket so that a trial will be held within 90 to 120 days if the case isn’t already resolved by before then.

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Keep Calling - Keep being heard for our horses

Phone Numbers

Courtesy of  Diane Martin on Sunday, September 4, 2016

Phone Numbers of people to contact to express our opinions, concern, get newer information, etc.

Livestock Board:Bill Saubie, at the Livestock board, 505 841-6141 to voice your opinion. He is on the Board of directors William Bunce is the Executive Director. Ray Baca 505-841-6161. See also

https://www.nmlbonline.com/inspecto...

Our Lawyers: Steven K Sanders & Associates: 820 2nd St NW, Albuquerque, NM 87102 Phone: (505) 243-7170, Freda Howard McSwane : 1803 Sudderth Dr, Ruidoso, NM 88345,Phone: (575) 257-1515

Governor Martinez - 505-476-2200

NM State Rep. Zachary J. Cook - (R)

County: Lincoln and Otero Address: 1703 Sudderth Drive #425 Ruidoso, NM 88345 Capitol Phone: 986-4411 . Office Phone: (575) 937-7644 New Mexico State Attorney general public comment line: 505-827-6000

Herd advocate responds to livestock official's statement - Ruidoso News Sept 2, 2016

The wild horses of Alto hauled away by the state livestock board must be returned, advocates say                

Photos of Alto herd penned at NMLB in Santa Fe

http://www.ruidosonews.com/story/news/local/2016/09/02/herd-advocate-responds-livestock-officials-statement/89774082/

Story Highlights

• Fund raising an important element in protecting the wild herd, advocates say

Reacting to a statement by William Bunce, executive director of the New Mexico Livestock Board, in an article in Friday’s Ruidoso News about the fate of the Alto wild horse herd, Shelley McAlister, one of the major advocates for the herd submitted the following response.
She referenced Bunce’s remark that, "However, it is not an accurate statement to say with any certainty that the horses will go back...."
“Well, Mr. Bunce, these horses have to come back, no exceptions,” she wrote. ”We must stand together and keep making noise and calling the Livestock board and voicing our concerns for our Wild Horses to come back. We have a long legal battle in front of us to prevent this kind of thing from ever happening again. You can call Bill Saubie, at the Livestock board, 505 841-6141 to voice your opinion. He is on the Board of directors.
“We will need to have continued financial, emotional and physical support for these horses including the costs of feed, vet care and attorneys Steven Sanders and Freda McSwane. It's our awesome community that is holding this all together.”
Twelve members of the herd, mares and their foals, were hauled away Aug. 27 by the livestock board after a resident in Enchanted Forest complained and penned them up for collection. The community immediately responded with protests, calls, letters and on social media. A rally was conducted Sunday and on Monday, a town hall meeting was called where advocates announced that the herd would come home. However, in an email Tuesday, Bunce tamped down that optimism with some of his statements qualifying what could be done and the efforts underway.
McAlister pointed out that The Wild Horses of Lincoln County account has been established at City Bank with the backing of the Horse Advocate Group, WHOA, a non profit group, with Patience Odowd. But all funds raised for Alto will stay here to protect and care for the herd, she said. The gofundme account is active as well, McAlister said.