Arizona halts Salt River wild horse removals, orders genetic study

Arizona will stop removing Salt River wild horses from their habitat while university researchers study whether the herd is big enough to remain healthy long term.

“I am taking action to ensure the sustainability and health of the Salt River Horse Herd for generations to come,” Gov. Katie Hobbs said in a statement Tuesday.

The herd numbered 274 horses as of January and roams about 19,000 acres of the Tonto National Forest along the Salt River, according to the updated management plan.

The Arizona Department of Agriculture manages the herd under state law and contracts with the nonprofit Salt River Wild Horse Management Group for daily care and monitoring.

The group said it has documented every horse born on the river for 25 years, tracking bloodlines and administering fertility control at a cost of about $1 million a year, all funded by donations.

The plan calls for reducing the herd to about 170 by the end of 2030 through fertility control, natural deaths and adoptions.

The original plan set a floor of about 120, a number group president Simone Netherlands called dangerously low. Without enough breeding animals, she said, the herd will have worsening health and possibly deformed foals.

Before the pause, Netherlands said, the group had planned to relocate horse families together to its own sanctuaries.

“It was really going to break our hearts to have to do that,” she said. “Our real mission has always been to keep these horses here where the public has a right to see them.”

The Arizona Board of Regents is scheduled to vote Aug. 27 on funding the study. (UPDATE: The board approved a $325,000 grant to fund a two-year genetic viability study.)

“(The 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,” Board of Regents Executive Director Chad Sampson said in a statement.

KTAR 92.3 FM’s Colton Krolak contributed to this report.

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