The situation isn't new, just a little more common in today's faltering economy. Some owners of pleasure horses who no longer can afford to feed them or of racehorses past their prime or not producing income turn out their equines on public land.
Sometimes the owners operate under the romantic notion the horse will reunite with a wild herd and roam free and happy. More likely, the equine savvy say, the animals will starve from limited forage or water and fall prey to coyotes or mountain lions.
Even worse, some owners opt not to spend the money to humanely euthanize their animals and shoot them in deserted arroyos, as the fate of 11 horses was reported last year. A longtime resident of the valley recalled years ago seeing hooves sticking up like dead trees from manure and trash piles.
One day a few weeks ago, Jessie Hanson, owner of Broken Heart Stable, found a horse on adjoining Forest Service land literally on its last legs surrounded by coyotes waiting for it to drop.
"It looks to be a 30-year-old horse and tattooed (with an identification difficult to discern), just skin and bones," she said. "Animal abuse is a fourth-degree felony and because it was on Forest Service land, it's a federal crime, too.
"It's the end of the racing season and I received a report that (two weeks ago), someone dumped some horses up near Ski Apache that they no longer want to care for. Apparently, then they don't have to worry about state or federal jurisdiction, which would occur on state trust land or Forest Service land. They think they're doing a good thing turning the horses out with other horses, but if they starve, no one can go in and get them."
Alternatives
To head off more dumping of horses, Hanson received permission to post flyers around the track offering owners another option for unwanted horses that, after an evaluation, she thinks could be rehabilitated and trained for a second life. A bill of sale must be rendered with the horse. Meanwhile, she applied for a license as an equine retirement center, which under the state still is classified as a rescue. This won't be her first effort at a horse rescue. Before moving to Lincoln County, Hanson was affiliated in Washington state with People Helping Horses, a rescue and rehabilitation organization.
"This goes on all over the United States," Hanson said. "Horse traders in California have a semi-tractor trailer load once a week (of unwanted horses) or owners turn them loose in the road. I was in Curry County last weekend and was told by several people horses were being turned loose on the roadways there, too."
Lincoln County's history is tightly bound to agriculture and livestock, and part of that industry is to be a responsible horse owner, she said.
"Even though the problem is nationwide, I feel that the residents of Lincoln County should bear some responsibility," Hanson said. "After all, we are entertained by the racetrack, we tend our ranches with horses, tourists pay to trail ride in our beautiful mountains, and many of us live here so we can enjoy our horses 24/7."
The cost
Robert "Bobby" D. Pierce, deputy director of the New Mexico Livestock Board in Albuquerque, said Wednesday that the problem is getting worse because of the prolonged drought that drove up the cost of feed.
"That's always been an issue with these animals who need care," he said. "It's a large expense to euthanize them, so turning them out where the owners think they will be safe is a problem and a growing one. We don't have any numbers on it, but I do believe they are doing it more on reservation and forest land."
Pierce said he's heard from other rescue groups that their donations are down.
"It's a costly venture," he said of Hanson's effort. " Her heart is in the right place but she's taking on a huge job."
As for the prospects of domesticated horses surviving in the wild after becoming accustomed to regular supplies of feed and water, Pierce said some wouldn't be able to adjust. Many already are sick or lame when released and the solution is not just to turn them out.
President Mark Chino of the Mescalero Apache Tribe could not be reached for comment about the impact on tribal land, however, George Douds with the Smokey Bear Ranger District of the Lincoln National Forest said the Service isn't seeing a big problem with horses released on federal land.
"It's something we are aware of and could increase as the economy turns down," he said. "But in the three years I've been here, we haven't noticed a big increase."
Water would be a problem for any abandoned horses because the dirt tanks set up for wildlife won't hold water long and they would be competing with more savvy native wildlife for the resource, Douds said.
Sales
But most owners will take their animals to sale, where they can yield a price per pound, he said. That option opens a whole new and separate debate about the process of slaughtering horses that often are in good condition.
Of those who release their animals, Douds said, "It might be a pleasure horse and they no longer want to feed it, so they let it loose and hope to get it back at some point. If it becomes a problem, the livestock board has jurisdiction over estrays and once they gathered the horse, it should be tattooed and there should be some information on the current or previous owner."
If the horse was found on Forest Service land, the owner would be notified, but no action most likely would be taken, Douds said. "We'd ask him to keep the horse off our land, unless it becomes a habitual problem."
The next offense would result in a letter being sent to the owner and if he still was unresponsive, the owner would be ticketed for livestock trespass and end up in front of a federal judge, Douds said. He added that some livestock is authorized to graze on forestland.
Isolated incidents
Don Hatfield, a Livestock Board public information officer and livestock inspector for the county, said only a few horse owners are offenders and he doesn't want to condemn an industry like racing for those few. He also noted that just because a horse goes to the sale barn doesn't mean it is headed to slaughter.
"Of the ones I've done, none went to slaughter," he said. "They were bought for horses for someone's grandchildren."
He emphasized that inspectors are not the equivalent of dogcatchers. "We're state law enforcement," he said, "who check on brands and ownership and the health of animals and their living conditions."
Sam Wilson, Livestock Board area supervisor and public information officer, said the situation is nothing new for Lincoln County or New Mexico, it's nationwide.
"They put a ban on funding for horse slaughter and there is no place to go with an old horse anymore," he said. "In the past, they were euthanized and sent to Europe, where horse meat is a source of protein and still is eaten.
"When we come across an estray, we follow state statutes on how we deal with it. If we can't identify the owner, it is processed like a cow. We can't give the horse away. It goes to sale, not necessarily auction. It can be sold as long as there are bidders. If the owner lost the horse accidentally, they can at least recoup the proceeds from the sale."
Community
Hanson said she's trying to provide an alternative and is looking for more people to join the effort.
"I received a call from a trainer with a horse that has chips in his knee so he must retire from racing, but after rest and rehabilitation and possible surgery to remove the chips, he could be retained as serviceable as a hunter jumper or a children's horse," she said. "I'm trying to find people to foster until the horse can be evaluated. I can only take one or two.
"I'm trying to be proactive. This is not a straight rescue, it's a retraining, an offer for rehabilitation and a second career. Some of the horses may be horribly injured, but were given nerve blocks. Now they are crippled and may be better off euthanized."
The poster child for the challenge is "Encontrado," Spanish for "found," the horse saved from hungry coyotes and brought to safe retirement by Hanson. About 30 years old, he was turned loose on the Forest Service land to fend for himself, with no water source or forage, Hanson said.
After reporting the find to the Livestock Board, Hatfield came out to look at the animal and Hanson said he told her because the horse was in such an emaciated condition, a Body Score Condition of a 2 on a scale of 1 to 10, that if the owner was found he or she would be facing a fourth-degree felony, and because the horse was "dumped" on federal land, they would also be facing federal charges.
"Needless to say, no on stepped forward," she said.
Any horse owner looking for help in finding a safe retirement for a horse, can contact Hanson. "They will be nurtured, re-trained for a second career such as dressage, hunter/jumper or trail riding, or retired," she said.
For more information, contact Broken Heart Stable at 575-354-0006.
The morning started out with Nancy Canning, another victim of Robert Huckins, contacting me to see if I could find a home for three Norwegian Fjords. I started phoning around at 7.30 am but I know what the answer is going to be. Few people are going to take on more mouths to feed in this economy. Not even the very frugal Norwegian Fjord. My last phone call was to Becky Washburn DVM, and I sent an e-mail to Nancy giving her a rescue phone number, before posting an announcement on Facebook for the Norwegian Fjords.
All morning I rushed around trying to get errands done, and arrived back in Alto at noon. Within minutes the sky darkened, the temperature fell, and it rained for hours. Constant rain and dark skies. Water poured through the foundation of the shed and I grabbed the broom tying to keep my belongings safe from the mud and water.
A lull in the downpour gave me the time to start cleaning and oiling tack before going into the paddock to feed. I was amazed when a dozen deer came galloping towards the horse paddock, followed by 10 of the largest buck I have ever seen in this region.
The only thing left for me to do is to plead to the family members of Robert Huckins to intervene. If that be Michael Huckins, Dr.Kenneth Ogilvie ( Diana Huckins? Dominic Huckins? Malcolm Huckins? ) or Patricia Ogilvie-Huckins. If you would be caring enough, and humane enough to do so, please make your brother, son, cousin return the entire building fund he stole from us so that I can buy a home. I simply can't go on homeless. It is already going into September 2011 and my nerves are in shambles after over 3 years of hell, that should never have been allowed. I am devastated at the loss of my mother, my career, my home and all I want is what we have paid honest money for - and I beg for your mercy.
That only a few, under any circumstances, protest against the injustice of long-established laws and customs, does not disprove the fact of the oppressions, while the satisfaction of the many, if real only proves their apathy and deeper degradation. ~ Elizabeth Cady Stanton
