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