By Hannah Grover
A bill intended to address the overpopulation of free-roaming horses in parts of New Mexico is awaiting the governor’s signature.
House Bill 284 unanimously passed the state Senate on Friday after having passed the House of Representatives on a 54-4 vote in early March.
“What we have in New Mexico is an overpopulation with free-roaming horses, and this bill seeks to reduce the population of free horse herds by providing a mechanism for adoption or relocation of horses and to provide a mechanism to buy fraternity control,” Bill sponsor Sen. Pat Woods, R-Broadview, said. “The bill also prohibits the slaughter of free-roaming horses once they have been adopted or relocated.”
Woods joined Rep. Matthew McQueen, D-Galisteo, in sponsoring the bill. McQueen’s district includes the Placitas area, where free-roaming horse herds have created tension within the community. Woods said McQueen played a “big part” in writing the legislation.
Woods said mares in the Placitas herd have been darted with fertility control drugs in recent years, which has helped reduce the population.
The bill applies to horses such as the Placitas herd and those roaming in the Ruidoso area. It does not apply to owned horses that may get loose, nor does it apply to federally managed herds such as those roaming on Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service lands.
Sen. Candy Spence Ezzell, R-Roswell, argued that some free-roaming horses were once owned but abandoned by their owners. Ezzell further argued that free-roaming horses can spread diseases to owned horses.
She said that while she does support the bill, it has some flaws.
“Horses are beautiful animals. There is nothing better for the inside of a person than the outside of a horse,” she said.
But, she said, some herds in New Mexico have become a nuisance and are damaging property.
She said the free-roaming horses dug up irrigation lines on her property during a dry year to get to water. She also told the story of a person riding his bicycle in the Alto area who was struck by a horse running across the road and ended up in the hospital.
Ezzell had questions about whether a free-roaming horse will always be considered free-roaming even if it has been saddle-trained and adopted by a family, though Woods said he would consider a tamed, formerly free-roaming horse as a saddle horse.
Ezzell also supported the humane euthanasia of some free-roaming horses, including a stallion she said is aggressive and has gone after her Australian Shepherd, Sammy.
“Whenever a human being actually gets killed by one of these horses, whenever there’s an accident on a road, maybe people will understand the need for the facility for the demise of these horses to be euthanized in a humane manner,” she said.
Woods also spoke about damage the free-roaming horses have done. He told a story from the Ruidoso area of free-roaming stallions that were attempting to get into pens with owned horses. A resident corralled the horses and called the Livestock Board, resulting in a lawsuit. Woods said he spoke with a judge who informed him that the state law prevents such actions.
“Years ago, I tried to start trying to figure out how to make it such that we could control the population of these horses,” he said.
Woods also warned against feeding free-roaming horses, which can lead to dangerous situations such as people being charged by the large animals. Horses can weigh more than 1,000 pounds and can become dangerous if they are in a situation where they feel threatened or are protecting foals.
“People believe that everything’s a pet,” he said. “And when you believe that, you cause that animal problem.”
Sen. George Muñoz, D-Gallup, spoke about how free-roaming horses can suffer during dry years and in the winter. He told about 200 head of horses that got stuck in mud during a dry year. Muñoz also spoke about horses getting trapped in cattle guards or struck by cars on the highways.
“If you really want to talk about being cruel to horses, let them roam free,” he said.
Are roaming horse heads a big problem in New Mexico?
Can see both sides of it: they pulled up all the native grasses leaving terrible landscape erosion and homes vulnerable to hillside coming down on us ( but so do do oil and gas pipeline diggers when they don’t reseed once they’re done burying pipe) they suffer terribly when cold thirsty or kicked out of the herd and alone as young bachelor s. They are also so beautiful, intelligent and have walked along beside me in the canyon near me seeming to recognize me. Certainly something needs to be done. Thank you.
Next thing you know, people will be killing any wild horse they see. They were here long before us. Humane people would provide water in a dry season, instead of watching horses digging up water lines because they are so thirsty. Seems we need more education of people on not approaching or feeding them. They eventually move on, so, keep your pets inside until they pass. Same applies to the deer and elk roaming around. They are not pests, they are sentient beings. More so than us.
I see nothing wrong with decreasing the numbers of free-roaming horses through adoption and/or relocation as long as it is done humanely. Rounding up a wild herds by helicopter for example is torturous to them. And if this bill can guarantee these horses will not be euthanized, I would support it. I live in Placitas and know about the divisions the free-roaming horses have caused here…lately however the numbers of visible herds (from rt. 165) has drastically decreased. Something is working.