# found loose horse in heber Arizona



## churumbeque (Dec 20, 2009)

Craigslist would be where I would post it. Is it not catchable?


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## ChitChatChet (Sep 9, 2013)

I wonder why it has 2 lead ropes on it?

Makes me think it ran away.


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## JCnGrace (Apr 28, 2013)

It will be a dead horse of it gets a lead rope wrapped around some of that brush and can't graze or get to water.


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## NorthernMama (Mar 12, 2008)

ChitChatChet said:


> I wonder why it has 2 lead ropes on it?
> 
> Makes me think it ran away.


Or someone was using two lead ropes as reins. The horse spooked; rider fell off; horse ran...


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## Rain Shadow (May 1, 2014)

I messaged Karen Chaton on Facebook. She's a well-known endurance rider out of Nevada, but I know she knows quite a few people in Arizona and has a large following. Hoping she can share it and get some more attention.


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## KigerQueen (Jun 16, 2013)

well if the horse is a mare it may have already been covered by the band stallion. im also thinking it a mare because the stallion has not chased it off. 

(dark horse is the stallion)


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## Rain Shadow (May 1, 2014)

Just saw that she's a wild mare that someone was trying to capture and the goal is to get the halter and leads off, and leave her be. She's not domesticated.


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## KigerQueen (Jun 16, 2013)

wow! umm why try to get a wild horse when there are PLENTY of domestic/blm horses needing homes? poor girl. ill pass that on.


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## ChitChatChet (Sep 9, 2013)

Rain Shadow said:


> Just saw that she's a wild mare that someone was trying to capture and the goal is to get the halter and leads off, and leave her be. She's not domesticated.


Thus the 2 lead ropes.


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## KigerQueen (Jun 16, 2013)

yep. apparently last year there was a mare with a rope around its neck. no one has any info on it after that so the mare may have died. I hope someone can get the halter off of her. it may take a few people to rope her and put her through some sort of shoot to get it off.


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## churumbeque (Dec 20, 2009)

If that the case Im sutre they can shoot her with a tranq and remove halter


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## JCnGrace (Apr 28, 2013)

I hope someone steps up and is willing to do what it takes to get the halter and leads off.


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## trailhorserider (Oct 13, 2009)

I know nothing of this particular horse, however, the predicament doesn't surprise me at all. I am not all that far from Heber and we ride in wild horse country a lot. We frequently see domestic horses with various lameness's that have been turned loose, wild horses that have been haltered only to get away, etc.

My friend tried to get a halter off a young horse last year and failed. They get close enough for you to touch/feed, but when they realize you are trying to do something with them they bolt away. So you can't even get the halter off them. Hopefully someone got the halter off the mare. :evil:


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## trailhorserider (Oct 13, 2009)

This is a horse we tried to get a halter off of last year without success. 

They get close enough to come up to you for food, but won't let you really touch them. So if you ever DO get a halter on, you really can't get it back off. This guy had a broken halter, so I suspect someone tried to tie him. :-(

They are only semi-feral. Some are obviously domestic horses that have been turned loose. Some are wild as march hares. Most are in-between.


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## trailhorserider (Oct 13, 2009)

They are actually really attractive, well-built horses for the most part. I can see why someone would want one. They have nice bones and feet, come in beautiful colors, are just all-around nice looking horses. Their only short coming is they aren't super tall. But they aren't super short either. Their bone and hoof quality is better than most domestic horses, imo.

This is a really healthy looking herd I photographed last year. The gorgeous buckskin is the stallion.


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## DraftyAiresMum (Jun 1, 2011)

trailhorserider said:


> The gorgeous buckskin is the stallion.


That buckskin. :shock: Absolutely gorgeous!!!


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## trailhorserider (Oct 13, 2009)

DraftyAiresMum said:


> That buckskin. :shock: Absolutely gorgeous!!!


I know.....hubba hubba!


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## DraftyAiresMum (Jun 1, 2011)

trailhorserider said:


> I know.....hubba hubba!


I just keep staring...and wiping drool off my desk... :lol:


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## trailhorserider (Oct 13, 2009)

DraftyAiresMum said:


> I just keep staring...and wiping drool off my desk... :lol:


More photos for you.


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## DraftyAiresMum (Jun 1, 2011)

Gah! He is literally my dream horse!


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## JCnGrace (Apr 28, 2013)

Drafty, sounds like you need to go on a wild horse round-up.


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## DraftyAiresMum (Jun 1, 2011)

JCnGrace said:


> Drafty, sounds like you need to go on a wild horse round-up.


I wish. I seriously can't stop coming back and looking at him.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## trailhorserider (Oct 13, 2009)

My BLM Mustang from Wyoming was built similar, but he didn't have the buckskin color. But it seems like a lot of the Mustangs are built nice. 

Unfortunately he died of colic in his early 20's. He was the most wonderful horse. 

He was only 14.3 but built like a sherman tank.


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## KigerQueen (Jun 16, 2013)

well they are talking about rounding them up. the main issue is that the herds are almost under populated (the herd size has shrunk in the past 10 years as well). and since they are not on BLM land they could easily sell for $25 a head and head to mexico.


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## DraftyAiresMum (Jun 1, 2011)

If you hear more about this, can you post it, Kiger? Please?
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## trailhorserider (Oct 13, 2009)

I've heard that the forest service would like to round them up and auction them off as well. But that the horses are kind of in a no-mans-land as far as who has jurisdiction over them. And that there actually WAS a horse management area around Heber at one time, which would offer them BLM protection from being removed completely but that those horses died out of the horse management area and that these aren't the same horses. These are Johnny-come-latelys off the Apache Reservation.

I believe most of these horses were pushed off the Apache reservation and onto forest service land when the huge Rodeo-Chediski fire came through around 2002. The fire moved north off of the reservation and pushed the horses with it. 

But I have seen quite a few foals out there. More every year. If anything, I think they are in danger of being rounded up because there are too MANY, not too few. 

What makes matters worse, is everything is fenced into grazing allotments for cattle. So the horses are basically trapped in giant pastures. They have a hard time moving long distances because everything is fenced with barbed wire. When the fire came through, it tore up a lot of the fences. But a lot of those have since been fixed. So it's not like they are truly free to travel around. Thus I worry about the herds getting too big and then the forest service will have to do something whether they like it or not. 

I think it's best for the horses if they can quietly go on living their lives without too much notice by the forest service. And that's why I don't get too upset if I think people are out there catching one here or there. I know technically it's not legal. But those horses, with a little luck, may end up with some training and hopefully not go to slaughter. 

Heck, some of the horses are obviously tame and have been dumped. There was a one-eyed horse out there with brands on it and it came up and ate out of a bucked but wouldn't let us get close. And another time my friend brought home a lame mare that was very sweet. (You know it's a tame horse if it loads in the trailer, right?!) She contacted the county, they put up a notice, "auctioned" the horse (I don't think anyone showed up) so she could legally own the horse and give it to someone she knew that would give it a good home. 

Heck, I think I sometimes fantasize about decent, tame horse wanting to go home with me. :lol:


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## KAB (Mar 12, 2011)

TrailHorseRider your horse is very nice too!Really powerful built.


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

I'd be out there every day scattering oats around to get them coming to the piles. Those horses look pretty nice for feral horses, more than likely turn-outs when people couldn't afford to feed them. They can get pretty wiley but usually remain a sucker for grain. It might take a few weeks. I'd walk away at first then gradually move in as close as they will tolerate. It would be easy then to tranq the one wearing the halter.


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## 4horses (Nov 26, 2012)

I would ask the vet about some dormosedan gel to put in their feed.

Just tell the vet you have a problem loader and need the gel to help get your horse in the trailer!!! 

The vet doesn't need to know more than that. If those wild horses were living near me, I would be tempted to catch them!


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## rideprosperously (Nov 19, 2015)

ChitChatChet said:


> Thus the 2 lead ropes.


LOL if I had seen it I would have removed all the tack and claimed them. I hope there's already been a closure to this case though.


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## KigerQueen (Jun 16, 2013)

i think she still has a halter on. there was another foal with a rope on its neck and they managed to remove that though.


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## Yogiwick (Sep 30, 2013)

trailhorserider said:


> This is a horse we tried to get a halter off of last year without success.
> 
> They get close enough to come up to you for food, but won't let you really touch them. So if you ever DO get a halter on, you really can't get it back off. This guy had a broken halter, so I suspect someone tried to tie him. :-(
> 
> They are only semi-feral. Some are obviously domestic horses that have been turned loose. Some are wild as march hares. Most are in-between.


Drugs R good


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## Hoofpic (Aug 23, 2015)

Please save the horses. Please dont send them to auction. That just breaks my heart and makes me so upset inside. Im surprised animal rescue hasnt come out to get them yet.


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## Yogiwick (Sep 30, 2013)

^What?


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## DraftyAiresMum (Jun 1, 2011)

Hoofpic said:


> Please save the horses. Please dont send them to auction. That just breaks my heart and makes me so upset inside. Im surprised animal rescue hasnt come out to get them yet.


Hoofpic, it's more complicated than a rescue just coming out and picking them up. A private rescue would have to go out there and do it because animal control and the ASPCA won't have anything to do with them since they're on tribal land. However, the problem becomes "Who is responsible for these horses?" No one wants to claim them. BLM can't, as they're on tribal land. Tribal doesn't want to be bothered with them. Private citizens may be able to go round them up, but it'd have to be similar to the BLM mustang roundups and the majority of the private sector doesn't have the means to do that.


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