NM under fire for horse neglect in Socorro County

In 2023, over the objections of sympathetic residents the Sandoval County Commission passed two rules on feeding what they're calling free-roaming horses. The general public is banned from feeding but non-profits may apply for permits in coordination with the county. The horses that can be seen from I-25 near Placitas are scraggly with little forage in that drought-besieged part of the county. 

It's a challenge throughout New Mexico and in Socorro County as many as a thousand mustangs await the state's decision on their future at a ranch it traded with the Navajo Nation now apparently left unattended since 2018.

Kim Nance, a veterinarian, is one of the neighbors who has noticed the wild horse population grow over the years, causing issues with bordering ranches. “There are years when we have really bad drought and the horses have all their ribs showing. You see a lot of them limping, a lot of trauma, broken legs and nobody is there to take care of the animals when they’re suffering,” Nance said, “It’s hard to watch.” [Neighbors say almost 1,000 horses run wild near Alamo]

New Mexico is a fence-out state and domestic horses are considered livestock while wild and feral mustangs are not but those deemed estray is a gray zone. Nevertheless, after finding a veterinarian with extensive experience an area couple raised the money and gelded three stallions. Two of our three Spring foals are colts that will face surgery in a few more months.

After a high of 95,000 in 2020 federal land managers removed some 50,000 protected wild and feral horses and burros from public ground across the West in the last three years or about twice as many as in the previous four years. The US Bureau of Land Management plans to remove some 20,000 of the remaining 73,520 mustangs in 2024. Many will be adopted out but most will be confined to pastures in states like New Mexico that are already over-allotted.

This interested party met with a concerned Placitas area horse lover on Friday.

ip image: a new colt poses for a photographer.