Keep informed of pertinent information for home owners in Sun Valley, Little Creek Estates & La Junta subdivisions in Alto, New Mexico. Your water system, Sun Valley Water & Sanitation District posts information on this blog. Please participate by making comments to posts. If there is a topic or issue you would like to discuss as property owners in the subdivisions, please leave as a comment after any post, or email me at shenstewcat@gmail.com
If you want to know the continuing tale of the Wild Horses - go to Facebook Group: Bring Ruidoso's Horses Back OR my other blog: wildhorsesofalto.blogspot.com
I can't keep posting in multiple blogs and facebook pages. Thanks
Kelly Brooks (RUidoso News) photo of Rally Sunday Aug 28.
Alto wild horses coming home
Dianne Stallings, Ruidoso News
7:18 p.m. MDT August 29, 2016
Hundreds
of people burst into applause and cheers Monday after learning that the
Alto wild horse herd will be coming home next week.
(file photo)
And they will
not have to be purchased, although they have been microchipped and must
for the time being be kept confined. Herd advocates who had organized a
rally, placed hundred of calls to state officials and raised more than
$21,000 on the Gofundme website announced the news at the beginning of a
town hall meeting where they had expected to go over details about
bidding on the horses for their return.
But that wasn't necessary,
they said, because officials with the New Mexico Livestock Board had
agreed to return the horses to the community on the condition that they
be contained until a legal process runs its course to turn them back
into the wild. The horses had been penned by a private property owner
and were picked up by the livestock board on Friday.
Check out the full story online Tuesday and in print in the Wednesday Ruidoso New
Trust Fund for Wild horses set up at City Bank in Ruidoso to pay for lawyers and feed/care. See Janna.
STALLION TODAY, LOOKING FOR HIS HERD. photo from facebook group, Bring Ruidoso's Horses back
Face book is alive with chatter and pictures. Group:Bring Ruidoso's Horses Back Sign a petition to the governor at:
https://www.change.org/p/new-mexico-governor-save-alto-wild-horses
Donate to a Go Fund: https://www.gofundme.com/altohorses
Attention:Bring The Horses Back- meeting
A town meeting will be held at the Boys and Girls club at Horton Complex, 134 Reese Drive, Monday at 5.30 PM.
Please pass the word and plan to attend.
On the agenda:
1) We will recap exactly what happened, so incorrect rumors are put to rest.
2) We will discuss a plan of action based by helpful insight from Zack Cook, our State Representative.
3) Raise Awareness of the go fund me account.
4) Stress the importance of our mission- bringing back the horses.
Let's use our energy for good. Protesting Ms.McCoy in no way
accomplishes this. She is irrelevant to us at this point..
**-
The "Save the Wild Horses" ride will meet on Sunday at Quarters at one,
meet and greet and leave at 2. Cars are also welcome. This is not a
public meeting/rally simply a way to gather together and meet those in
the community that share the love of our horses.UPDATE: RALLY tomorrow at 1 at Quarters & RALLY from 1-3 by the Public Pool! Please bring a sign to hold up that says "save our horses,"or one that
says "honk for our horses" There will be extra signs there but
please try and bring one.
This website is the official site to check for accurate information: "Facebook Bring Ruidoso's Horses Back"
Now go share, share!!
Thanks.
Melissa Babcock
About
a dozen “wild” mares and their foals were hauled away from the Alto
area Friday in response to a complaint lodged by a resident of Enchanted
Forest, who contended they were a nuisance, posed a danger to traffic
and were damaging property.
Upset neighbors and advocates for the
herd gathered outside the area where Caroline McCoy and her adjoining
property owner had corralled the horses. They wanted to work out a
solution to her problem and halt the removal of the herd, but the
process continued.
New Mexico Livestock Board Executive Director
Ray Baca was on hand, as was District 20 supervisor Troy Patterson and
inspector George Mendoza. The neighbors and many others in the Ruidoso
area called the livestock board and the governor’s office to lodge
complaints. Several neighbors who said they enjoyed having the horses
visit, questioned why the “wild” herd is not protected by federal law as
are the mustangs and burros on Bureau of Land Management property. In
New Mexico, these types of horses are treated as stray animals that
probably came off the Mescalero Apache Reservation 20 to 30 years ago,
state officials said. When reported as a nuisance, they become the
responsibility of the livestock board.
However, a local attorney
said he was contacted by a neighbor and is looking into the possibility
of filing for an injunction based on whether the board has authority
over “wild” animals, questioning the definitions of wild and estray.
The
stallion of the herd, who apparently was a major part of the problem
for McCoy, was not among the horses corralled and removed, because McCoy
said she was unable to secure him on her property, a requirement of the
process. Those watching the removal said he was “going crazy” nearby as
his mares and foals were loaded and hauled away.
The horses taken
will never run wild again, Baca agreed. Once they are “in the system,”
they will be confined for at least five days for examination by a
veterinarian, checked for brands, microchips and other signs of
ownership, then put up for auction on the livestock board’s webpage
dealing with lost, found and estray horses.
“I think the biggest
thing I am looking at right now is that we examine these horses for
tattoos or brands, or microchips or such to make sure they don’t belong
to a rightful owner,” Baca said. “And if an owner comes forward, they
have a right to them, of course, by providing proof of ownership.
“We’re
going to take them to a facility where we can work with them closely
and have our veterinarian look at them, as well as our inspectors.”
He estimated about a dozen horses were involved.
“We
will publicize them for five days and people can come forward and bid
on them at that point,” Baca said. “The public bid is held on our
website.”
The exact location where the horses will be confined
until they are bought had not been designated when they left, but later
in the day, the destination was pinpointed as Santa Fe. A herd advocate
said Mendoza said photographs of the horses will be posted on the
board’s website Monday.
“Have them contact me and I will let them
know where they are,” Baca said for people who want to inspect the
horses before placing a bid. “We have our state veterinarian check them
for health and whoever the winning bidder is can retrieve the animal,
claim their property. We will microchip them and we will keep a record
of that.” The horses once purchased must be treated like any other
domesticated equine and cannot be released back into the wild, he
emphasized.
“The major concern and problem now is that we find a
safe place for the horses that has adequate care and facility for them,”
he said.
McCoy said she and her husband have been dealing with
the horses since they moved to Enchanted Forest from Nogal a year ago.
When they arrived, fences had been broken down and she repaired and
improved the arrangement.
“(An adjoining property owner), who
helped the livestock board, wanted them penned because they were
destroying his property and making substantial inroads into ours,” she
said. “I’m an older person (77) riding my mare and she becomes so upset
with all of these horses. When I’m riding and come across them or my
mare is in heat and there is a stud out there, it’s dangerous for me.”
The horses also eliminate in the driveway, eat her flowers and put hoof prints in damp ground, she said.
“But
more than that, these are not wild horses, not the romantic mustang,”
McCoy said. “These are abandoned horses just turned loose in the
mountains and now the herd has separated and the one herd is up over on
the mountain – a great place for them to be. Unfortunately, many
residents treat (the removed herd) like deer, which is really illegal to
feed, and put out grain. They say they will eat out of their hands,
which they will. But when we were working with them this morning, these
are not horses that are gentle by any means. If someone didn’t know what
they were doing, they could get hurt.”
More than that, however,
is the danger to drivers when the horses cross New Mexico Highway 48,
she said. “I’ve seen people hit one of the mares once. I know of people,
not with this herd, killed by horses on the highway. It’s a very
dangerous situation,” she said.
McCoy also contends that in-breeding isn’t healthy for the stock.
“That
stallion has his stamp on every one of the mares and again on their
colts,” she said. “My horses are racing around crashing against the
fences and hurting themselves. My mare has banged up her face because
she’s so excited. It just doesn’t work.”
McCoy emphasized that the
complaint also came from her adjoining property owner who helped load
the horses, but he could not be reached for confirmation by press time.
By
being rounded up, the horses will have a chance for a good home, McCoy
said. “We talked about that immediately, and they will be advertised and
they are legally bound to do that,” she said of the livestock board. “I
know people ready to bid on them.”
But based on an incident in
2014, involving Rock Star, a horse from the herd that was penned as a
nuisance by a new resident in the area and was sold at auction for
$42.59 by a business already charged with several counts of misdemeanor
animal cruelty, a positive ending isn’t guaranteed. Paperwork indicated
he probably was sent to slaughter, although McCoy said she was told by
livestock board officials that he was not destroyed.
Lynda Blaney,
who now lives in Colorado, went through an adoption of a filly from the
herd after the Rock Star incident in 2014. The horse turned out to be a
great addition to the family and has since given birth to her own
daughter, she said. During the uproar over Rock Star’s fate, Blaney and
other advocates met with livestock board officials including Baca and
Patterson about being able to receive automatic notifications on horses
and the procedures to adopt. They complained that the procedure in place
when Rock Star was picked up failed to allow them the chance to bid on
the horse and save him.
Alto resident Russell Perrin said his
family enjoyed having the herd in the area and watching horses that he
didn’t have to feed. They didn’t eat the flowers like the elk and deer,
he said. They just trimmed the grass.
Large wild
horse herd in trouble. One woman in Enchanted Forest has about 15
horses penned and waiting for Brand inspector to come them pick up and
take away-FOREVER. Herd is at 119 Linda Vista. CALL governor
505.476.2200 and NM Livestock Board - District #20 Area Supervisor-
Troy Patterson 505.250.5956,Brand Inspector: George Mendoza (575) 642-3993
Raise a
ruckus! Say horses are a tourist attraction. Say the are a part of our
heritage here in Lincoln County (they have been around a long time)
Whatever to stop this. Dianne Stalling knows and will write up a story
for Ruidoso News, but it is too late for today's paper. Know any radio
personalities? - get them in our camp and the news out on the radio.
OH no - 8/26/16 noon: just heard they already picked up 12 horses. Only Stallion left.
Stop them
from being moved away from our area. Watch New Mexico Livestock Board
website - Estray notices. For 5 days horses will be listed - then gone
to auction.
LC Bird Club field trip to Three Rivers -- Contact: EV Lanelli, 575-336-4733; evlanelli@yahoo.com Lincoln County Bird Club (LCBC) announces its late summer field trip to Three Rivers Petroglyph Site for Tuesday, August9. Species known to frequent the area include Phainopepla, Verdin, Cactus Wren and Black-throated Sparrow.
Carpools will leave from
the Beall's parking lot on US 70 in Ruidoso at 7:30 AM. Bring water,
snacks, sunscreen, binoculars, bird ID books or apps. For field trip
info: 575-257-5352. LCBC welcomes prospective members, keen birders as
well as novices. For LCBC info: jw_e@beyondbb.com.
