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

Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Taking care of those in need in the herd

Motion filed for adoption of two horses with medical issues

Dianne L Stallings , Ruidoso News 2:54 p.m. MT Jan. 30, 2017

Releasing either of two horses with medical issues back into the wild with others rounded up last year would be cruel, livestock officials contend

    A motion was filed Thursday in the 12th Judicial District Court to modify a temporary restraining order on the sale of members of a herd of “wild” horses in Alto that would allow two of the horses to be adopted for medical reasons.
     The motion comes from the defendant in litigation filed last year by Wild Horse Observers Association Inc. against the New Mexico Livestock Board. The board is asking the court to modify its orders of Sept. 8 and Dec. 5 to permit the two horses to be adopted by local residents. In the motion, Attorney Gen. Hector Balderas, who represents the livestock board, wrote that despite repeated requests, the attorney for the association has not provided a substantive response and he presumes the association opposes the motion.
     However, Patience O’Dowd, who heads the association, said Monday, WHOA has not been allowed to see all the veterinarian’s reports or to send in another veterinarian.
     “Attorney Gen. Balderas and the (livestock board) are opposing WHOA’s 2007 passed legislation in court, which currently is the only legal avenue to adoption of any of New Mexico’s wild horses, including these two,” she said. “This motion is just look-good noise.”
     The 2007 legislation, Senate Bill 655, says that a wild horse captured on public land will be tested and if it is not a Spanish colonial horse, “it shall be returned to the public land, relocated to a public or private wild horse preserve or put up for adoption by the agency on whose land the wild horse was captured.”
      Public land is defined basically as all land except federal land controlled by the Bureau of Land Management, the Forest Service or state trust land controlled by the State Land Office. A wild horse is defined as an unclaimed horse on public land that is not an estray. The bill was signed by the governor and codified in state statutes the same year it passed.
In the motion filed Thursday, Balderas wrote, “In the course of caring for the herd, the responsible residents have observed that two specific horses …have pressing medical conditions that require prompt attention and demonstrate that these two horses, regardless of the court’s disposition of other issues in this case, should remain in the care of a responsible human being and not be turned loose to fend for themselves.”
       The horses are under the care of veterinarian Becky Washburn, who agreed the horses need to be placed in private permanent homes, he wrote.

example of a sorrel color (photo by Mark Stambaugh, 2015)

The first horse is a sorrel filly who has been cared for separately from the herd because she was expelled many months before the board took possession of the horses in August 2016. The mares of the herd have attacked her, even trying through the fencing that separates her from them, he wrote.      The horse was described as having a twist in her spine and in her rear right leg that can be seen when she walks. In cold weather, it is harder for her to lie down and she has a rocking motion to help herself stand. A tremor or muscle spasm also has been observed. She would not be a good prospect for release back into the wild, “It in fact, would be cruel to subject this filly to release,” according to the responsible residents.
     The second horse is a bay male who was kept by a private individual for five months before the 12- members of the herd were picked up and he was brought into the case. He suffers from undescended testicles, which puts him at risk of developing testicular cancer. Washburn recommended possible surgery. He was expelled from the herd previously and shows signs that he is fully domesticated, Balderas wrote in the motion.
     “The board agrees that the residents who have cared for the herd of horses are in the best position, along with a licensed veterinarian with whom they have consulted, to assess their welfare and their needs, and therefore, the board supports their desire to adopt these two specific horses,” Balderas concluded in his motion.