As wild horse populations have grown within the Village limits, a number of citizens have expressed concern both for the safety of our residents and guests, as well as the wellbeing of the horses.
The law on the management and treatment of wild horses is scarce, but complex, and has resulted in litigation around the state up to the appellate courts. There is currently a case from the 12th Judicial District pending in the state court of appeals following others that have preceded it.
Despite the amount of litigation, there is only one section of our state statutes that addresses the treatment and management of wild horses. That section of statute states that the DNA of wild horses shall be tested for to determine whether or not the horses are descendants of the horses brought to this area at the time of the Spanish conquest and colonization of the New World.
That same section of state statute also provides that a the Mammal Division of the Museum of Southwest Biology at the University of New Mexico may take certain actions to control wild horse populations.
The Village of Ruidoso has a statutory obligation to manage and protect real and personal property that belongs to the Village. The Village also has a legal obligation to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the residents and visitors in the Village. However, it is not clear in the law what lengths the Village can go to manage the wild horses within the boundaries of the Village.
What the Court of Appeals has made clear is that the New Mexico Livestock Board is the entity responsible for testing the DNA of wild horses and relocating them if they are descendants of the Spanish colonial horses.
This Resolution calls on the Livestock Board to perform its statutory function of testing the wild horses and relocating them to a safer environment for the sake of the horses and of the residents and guests of the Village.
The Resolution further calls on the Mammal Division of the Museum of Southwestern Biology at the University of New Mexico to exercise its statutory authority to control the population of the wild horses in the Village of Ruidoso.