A Home On The Range: Preserving Wild Horses in Placitas

A Home On The Range: Wild Horse Sanctuary in PlacitasA Home On The Range: Wild Horse Sanctuary in Placitas

Placitas WILD has established a unique partnership with San Felipe Pueblo leaders, allowing 400 acres of tribal land to be used for the Wild Horse Preserve. This donation-funded, mostly fenced space accommodates about 100 horses, preventing them from ending up at a Mexican horse slaughterhouse or starving in the desert.

Placitas WILD aims to inspire others in their community, state, and country to protect unowned horses roaming free as symbols of the American West, rather than unmanaged livestock needing population control to prevent environmental destruction and herd starvation.

This expensive and time-consuming project eases some tension in the village of Placitas, a "wild" horse pocket of the state.

Meanwhile, Caroline McCoy from Lincoln County, who initiated a lawsuit over horses removed from her property near Ruidoso, has started a project to DNA test the Placitas horses. The goal is to determine if these horses are true descendants of those used by Spanish conquerors, as many wild horse advocates claim.

If proven, McCoy hopes breeders will be incentivized to save them, though initial indications suggest otherwise.

Virginia-based horse geneticist Philip Sponenberg has worked for years to classify Colonial Spanish horses, a classification not fully accepted in the larger horse world. He reports that there are "pockets of 'more pure' Iberian blood horses from the Spanish colonization period," often found around Native American colonies in less populated western states like Oklahoma and New Mexico.

The Placitas horses have distinctive features, such as scooped ears and barrel-chested bodies with short legs suited for running fast over rocky desert terrain. However, DNA tests only show Spanish heritage, which is common among modern horses. Most descendants of Spanish conquistador horses have been crossbred, Sponenberg notes.

Due to crossbreeding, preservation groups have shown little interest in the Placitas horses, leaving Sandy Johnson to keep the Placitas WILD preserve operational.

Last year, Johnson and her husband, both retired software engineers, spent $25,000 of their own money on hay. They solicit donations for the $40,000 annual cost of feed and upkeep of fences and water wells on the preserve, which they and other wild horse advocates launched in 2015.

Johnson and horse colleague Lina Sosa visit the horses daily to feed and check on water, employing a San Felipe ranch hand at a substantial wage.

Johnson is collaborating with San Felipe land manager and tribal historic preservation officer Ricardo Ortiz to establish a wild horse tourism operation. Ortiz believes this could benefit the pueblo, the public, and the horses, especially with birth-control measures in place.

Ortiz stated, "We don’t want to bother those horses. They have been there hundreds of years. And who are we to say that any living creature does not have a right to walk on this land? The preserve is a possible solution to the issue."

Ortiz was unable to make the preserve available for a Journal visit.

Sosa argues that leaving horses free to roam on private land unchecked isn't a solution, as they can become road hazards and neighbors may object, leading to calls to the state's Livestock Board and potentially to an auction house.

"If you really want to protect the animals, you have to think of the consequences," she said.

Johnson and Sosa also intervene if a wild or feral horse wanders into town, a common occurrence that led them to build miles of fencing along the Placitas and Bureau of Land Management boundary.

Johnson expressed concern, "I’m not sure how much longer I can do this. We don’t get as much help as we need. But it’s love. What are you going to do?"

Originally posted by Albuquerque Journal

5
 min read