By Rosalie Rayburn of the ABQJournal.com
“They want the horses put in the same category as wild pigs. These guys are not qualified to round up horses. It’s not easy,”
Free-roaming horses are pictured on Camino de las Huertas in Placitas this summer. A dispute involving the horses has flared up again. (Adolphe Pierre-Louis/Albuquerque Journal)
The ongoing free-roaming horse dispute that has roiled the Placitas community has flared again.
A poster displayed Oct. 28 at the village post office bore the headline “Illegal horse round-up by Coronado Soil and Water Conservation District” and implied the animals would end up “in slaughter.”
The body of the poster contained copies of emails – including names and partial email addresses – between Placitas residents and some Coronado board members discussing options for getting equipment, and volunteer efforts, to help property owners corral free-roaming horses.
Coronado’s board approved a resolution in August saying the horses should be removed. On Oct. 1 the board passed a motion to look into securing necessary equipment for residents who want to remove horses from their land.
Board member Lynn Montgomery, who made the motion, said the board is not actively rounding up horses but could help landowners who wished to do so.
Coronado board president Will Ouellette called the poster headline “false, libelous and inflammatory,” in a statement issued Oct. 30.
The statement said state law authorizes the conservation district to conserve and develop natural resources, provide flood control and preserve wildlife, among other tasks. Following this mandate, it said, Coronado approved efforts of private landowners to remove free-roaming horses from their own property as long as they cooperate with the state Livestock Board.
The statement also said, “If concerned citizens wish to protect the horses from what they perceive is the threat of slaughter, they can take responsibility and adopt a horse.”
The horses have long been a flashpoint in Placitas, with some residents fiercely advocating for their right to roam free, while others claim they are damaging private property, endangering drivers and polluting local streams.
In June, the conservation district ordered the Livestock Board to round up the horses, but Livestock Board director Ray Baca said Coronado lacked authority to issue the order, a position the Attorney General’s Office supported.
Placitas resident Mike Neas shares the environmental concerns, and his name appeared as a recipient of one of the emails shown on the poster. He believes Coronado is doing a good job listening to residents.
“We have tried to get elected and public officials to do something, but they’ve declined to do anything,” Neas said.
Horse supporter Gary Miles was elected to the Coronado board this summer and voted against Montgomery’s motion. He strongly disagrees with Coronado’s position on the horses.
“They (Coronado) want the horses put in the same category as wild pigs. These guys are not qualified to round up horses. It’s not easy,” Miles said.
Miles runs Placitas Animal Rescue. He said he has removed 30 horses that were straying on Placitas roads. He arranged for the Livestock Board to microchip the animals, and he has claimed ownership of them while he tries to find adoptive homes.
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Categories: Horse News, Horse Slaughter, Wild Horses/Mustangs
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
Yeah, They All Try To Lie Their Way Out When They Get Caught.. Leave The Horses Alone..They Are Not Wild Hogs.
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Have they gone completely MAD !!!!!! The Mustangs are Magnificent Pages of History , they belong free roaming and protected !!!!!!
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These guys are a bunch of idiots. Comparing wild horses to wild hogs that is just plain crazy. That is like saying monkeys and man are the same. But wait, maybe these guys that are rounding up the wild horses are a bunch of monkeys.
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Thanks RT. Placitas is long united for the wild horses, the mountain lions, the prairie dogs, bobcats, and all in the Rock Mountain Wild Life corridor. The media in New Mexico works hard to portray it otherwise. See Rock Mt Wild Life Corridor Mural http://pathwayswc.wordpress.com/mural-photos/
If one scrolls down midway you will see an entire group of beautiful murals created by hundreds of Placitas residents and the horses are lovingly included. NM is a state ruled by thugs, wolves in sheep’s clothing. Please like this page. Boycott this pit called new mexico https://www.facebook.com/pages/Boycott-this-pit-called-new-mexico/700247356652976
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PS A bulk mail survey done in 2008 showed 99% of Placitas for the horses. Again, Please like this page. Nothing is as it seems in New Mexico. Boycott this pit called new mexico https://www.facebook.com/pages/Boycott-this-pit-called-new-mexico/700247356652976
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Leave the wild horses alone they belong in their homes and with their families for pete sake on the range where they are protected!! Stop the round-ups NOW!
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I read this and I just couldn’t help but add that if they classify horses with wild pigs they have to include the moron leading the race to slaughter.
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Ever consider FENCING OUT the horses and other wildlife off your property? That would be too easy.
Slaughter is becoming predatory if it wasn’t before. It’s was drive and makes folks compulsive about slaughter. If you all can do is think, lust, and dream blood–that’s predatory.
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I did wonder why – if the horses are “imposing” on someones property – they wouldn’t just put up a fence! And Margaret – youre right – too easy. People move to the country & right away start complaining about the wildlife that lives there! That lived there BEFORE they moved there. Got a better idea – go back to the city or town where you belong – where there are no wild animals to bother you.
What is it with people – the reason I live in the country is because of the wildlife!
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Some people will just get it, Maggie !!!!!!
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Whoops never get it !!!!!
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http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_24517724/grim-future-awaits-nations-wild-horses
A grim future awaits the nation’s wild horses
By Andrew Cohen
Guest Commentary
POSTED: 11/13/2013 Wild horses are pictured in the Sand Wash herd management area located 45 miles west of Craig in the Sand Wash Basin. (Joe Amon, The Denver Post)
Last week, a federal judge in New Mexico cleared the way for domestic slaughterhouse operators to again kill and render horses on American soil. Monday night, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver stayed that ruling, at least temporarily, so that it could evaluate whether the Obama Administration unlawfully permitted those operators to resume the brutal practice without first complying with all relevant environmental regulations.
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6 more of our wild horses were rounded up on the Neas property in Los Ranchos, Placitas, on Monday, March 17, 2014, then hauled off by the livestock board. These 6 followed 8 removed several weeks ago on Archeological Society property. Same crew: Neas, Dohner and minions rounding them up. Neas is part of the wild horse task force but seems to think he IS THE TASK FORCE and is obviously under the impression that his opinion and that of about half a dozen others should take precedence over ALL the citizens of Placitas.
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