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.
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
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
The wild horses of Alto hauled away by the state livestock board must be returned, 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.
The
Wild Horse Observers Association filed suit in 12th District Court
Monday to force the New Mexico Livestock Board to treat a herd of
unclaimed horses impounded last week near Alto as "wild horses" under
state law.
The suit seeks “an order enjoining (the Livestock
Board) from undertaking further activities that involve the impoundment,
possession, removal, sale, or the disposition of wild horses as though
the horses were estray livestock.”
The suit also asks the court to
declare “that the horse herd in the Lincoln County area are wild horses
under the laws of the state of New Mexico.”
Now that the
Livestock Board seems to be moving toward returning the horses to
Lincoln County next week, that request may be the lawsuit's key
remaining goal.
The complaint, filed late Monday by WHOA attorney Steven K. Sanders of Albuquerque notes that under New Mexico law, “a ‘wild horse’ is ‘an unclaimed horse on public land that is not an estray.’”
Attorney
David G. Reynolds, who also practices equine law and represented
landowners who intervened in an almost identical wild horse lawsuit two
years ago in Placitas, said the wording of the statute meant that
ownerless horses found on private land are not “wild horses.”
“If a
horse on public land jumps over a fence onto private land, it’s not a
wild horse anymore,” Reynolds said. “It is now a large packrat.”
Since
the New Mexico Court of Appeals declared in the Placitas case that they
are not livestock either, Reynolds said such horses on private land
have no more protection under the law than skunks, raccoons or other
intruders. Land owners can dispatch them on the spot if they want. The
Alto herd was captured by a private landowner and turned over to the
Livestock Board.
But Sanders disagreed.
“I don’t think the
state can change its obligation by picking them up on one location
rather than another,” Sanders said in a phone interview.
The
lawsuit said that "the wild horses of Lincoln County roam throughout the
area, on public and other non-BLM public land, such as on Village of
Ruidoso parks and on other public lands that are not BLM or Forest
Service land."
The suit adds later that those areas "are bordered
by private property, and where borders have not been fenced, the wild
horses may also roam onto private property, when foraging for food and
water."
If the court finds that the Lincoln County herd are "wild
horses" even though they were impounded on private land, the following
provisions of state livestock law would apply: A wild horse
that is captured on public land shall have its conformation, history and
(DNA) tested to determine if it is a Spanish colonial horse. If it is a
Spanish colonial horse, the wild horse shall be relocated to a state or
private wild horse preserve created and maintained for the purpose of
protecting Spanish colonial horses. 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. If the mammal
division of the Museum of Southwestern Biology at the University of New
Mexico determines that a wild horse herd exceeds the number of horses
that is necessary for preserving the genetic stock of the herd and for
preserving and maintaining the range, it may cause control of the wild
horse population through the use of birth control and may cause excess
horses to be: (1) humanely captured and relocated to other public land or to a public or private wild horse preserve; (2) adopted by a qualified person for private maintenance; or (3)
euthanized; provided that this option applies only to wild horses
that are determined by a veterinarian to be crippled or otherwise
unhealthy.
It remained to be seen how important the
"captured on public land" language might be. The Court of Appeals ruling
in the Placitas case expressly presumed the horses were captured on
public land, although Reynolds said that was incorrect.
In any
event, neither the law nor the binding court opinion expressly addresses
the status of an unclaimed horse that may roam on public land but was
captured on private property. The WHOA suit filed Monday may turn out to
be an opportunity for a court to clarify that point.
The suit
asserts that “the wild horses have become a staple of life for the
people in Lincoln County, and a vast majority of residents support and
prefer the presence of these wild horses living on the public lands as
well as roaming private lands in their community.” That point too may
draw some argument as it did from Reynolds's clients in the Placitas
case.
"Those horses destroyed all the Albuquerque public land in
the Placitas area," he said. "There were places where the horse poop is
18 inches deep. Those horses are nice to see from a distance, so
pretty. But it's a different story when you actually go out there."
Skit with Kevin Bacon about First Draft of Tom Petty's song Free Fallin" - but called Free Horses. Now our wild horses have 3 degrees of separation from Kevin Bacon, if you think about.
Pastel painting of Ruidoso's feral horses Marie Maureen Hamilton painted and donated to Run
For the Beach this year. The auction for it donates money for free or
low cost mammograms for the community. The auction is in September. Copyright-Marie Maureen Hamilton
Dianne L Stallings, Ruidoso News 12:42 p.m. MDT September 1, 2016
Litigation must run its course on the future of the wild horse herd confiscated by the state livestock board
While
the effort to return a herd of wild horses to their home in Alto
continues, those who enjoy seeing horses running loose still may spot
about seven in the same general area of the “wild horses” traffic sign
at the entrance to Ruidoso on New Mexico Highway 48.
The herd seen
Thursday morning apparently is not connected to Big Boss, the stallion
who headed the 12 mares and foals loaded up last Friday by the New
Mexico Livestock Board and hauled to Santa Fe after a resident lodged a
complaint and penned them for collection.
The action exploded into
a community wide outrage and a process is underway to bring them home
under specific conditions dictated by the livestock agency and state
statutes. Meanwhile, litigation over the fate of the horses and members
of two other wild herds in Lincoln County, has been filed in the 12th
Judicial District Court in Carrizozo.
David Smith, one of the
“faces” connected to the organized effort of bringing the herd home,
said Thursday that the “official” committee was downgraded to “a
6-person group,” that will stay in existence to ensure money collected
for the care of the equines and to pursue the court issues is accounted
for and expenditures are tracked. More money will be needed to care for
the animals, he said.
All questions about the herd and when they
will return should be directed to the attorneys, one of whom is Ruidoso
lawyer Fredda McSwane. The group also urged advocates for the herd to
tone down their rhetoric on Facebook and other social media, because
threats and insults do not help the cause and might surface in court.
Teeatta
Lippert, who began the gofundme for the horses when they first were
removed, said a bank account is set up with City Bank of New Mexico
under the name of the Wild Horses of Lincoln County. White Mountain
Printing has developed a decal and T-shirts can be purchased with half
of the money going to the horses and the other half for printing and
material. Buckets also are available for business owners who want to
collect for the horses.
Although during a Monday public meeting,
group members were optimistic the herd would be returned by next week
without being put up for auction while the litigation played out, Smith
said the ultimate goal is to clarify their status and provide protection
as they are returned to the wild. If the horses are purchased, they
will be microchipped, become “property” and can’t be returned to run
loose, he said.
& the concerned community didn't have to BID on them, the money in the GoGund site will go to pay the lawyer, so the herd will be eventually released out into the wild again. For now they have to stay corralled up till NMLB changes the horses status to WILD, not ESTRAY. OR, maybe the horses can come under NM Dept of game & Fish auspices. But it takes lawyers, courts and...legislature to accomplish this goal.
AND, the herd has to be fed until they are released. Go Fund money will help pay for their care, also.
All monies will go to the herd - for care, upkeep, and protecting.
https://www.gofundme.com/altohorses
Don't trust GoFund site? - then City Bank in Ruidoso has a Trust fund set up for the horses where you can give your contribution.
