Updated plan for wild Salt River horses means higher population goal, pause on removals

An updated management plan for reducing the wild Salt River horse herd released Tuesday means no horse removals in the near future. It also sets a higher population goal.

The horse herd is managed by the state, and must be reduced in size due to ecological concerns. The horses are non-native to the area and are affecting the river’s ecosystem, largely due to overgrazing.

The horse herd’s management plan includes a planned removal of horses for adoption, but that is now suspended for two years while a genetic study is underway.

The Arizona Department of Agriculture is charged with managing the horses and requested a study on the genetic viability of the herd last year.

The herd is taken care of by the Salt River Wild Horse Management Group, which contracts with AZDA.

The group is pleased by the suspension of removals and the boost in the population end goal written into the new plan.

“The end goal for the herd in the original contract was 120, and now it's 170, so that’s a pretty significant jump up, and 170 is a much better number for keeping a viable herd that doesn’t extinct themself in the future,” Salt River Wild Horse Management Group President Simone Netherlands said.

1 of 5

Horses wade in the Salt River in August 2018.

Bridget Dowd / KJZZ

2 of 5

At any given time, there are about 250 wild horses along the Salt River, according to Salt River Wild Horse Management.

Bridget Dowd/KJZZ

3 of 5

When the past winter didn’t bring its usual rains, wild horses along the Salt River lost some of their resources and their health started to decline.

Bridget Dowd/KJZZ

4 of 5

A wild horse along the Salt River.

Bridget Dowd/KJZZ

5 of 5

The Salt River at sunset.

Bridget Dowd / KJZZ

The group is committed to reducing the herd’s population through fertility control. The strategy has been working, but it’s slow going.

The herd’s population was 274 as of January, and it's now down to 267.

The previous version of the management plan called for eliminating 25 horses a year including removals, and was a more aggressive approach than the group wanted.

Netherlands said it raised concerns of the population growing so low that the horses would ultimately go extinct.

“These removals were actually really threatening the genetic viability of that herd because if you don't have enough scientific data and you remove horses and the population then gets so low that you can have the effects of inbreeding,” she said.

That’s what the genetic study will explore.

Gov. Katie Hobbs announced the Arizona Board of Regents will pay for the study, and it will be conducted by one of Arizona’s state universities.

“Arizona's public universities have the expertise and research capabilities to help answer important questions facing our state,” Arizona Board of Regents Executive Director Chad Sampson said in a statement. “The Salt River Horses are an important part of Arizona's heritage, and this Regents' Grant will provide the research and data needed to support science-based decisions about the herd's long-term health and the ecosystem they share.”