Iconic Salt River Wild Horses Face Significant Herd Reduction Under New Management Contract

The future of the Salt River wild horses is drawing renewed attention after Arizona officials awarded a new five-year management contract that calls for cutting the herd nearly in half.

The Arizona Department of Agriculture (ADA) recently awarded the Salt River Wild Horse Management Group (SRWHMG) a new contract to continue overseeing the iconic herd.

However, the agreement comes with a significant condition, reducing the current population of 274 horses down to 120 over the next five years.

The management group's founder, Simone Netherlands, acknowledged the difficulty of accepting removal requirements after years of opposing them.

"So we prevented the mass removal of the Salt River wild horses and we think that was most important," Netherlands said. "But considering the alternative contractor, we determined the herd would be worse off without us."

That alternative contractor carried significant weight in the decision. The competing bidder was previously involved in large-scale removals of Alpine horses from the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, with many animals sent to auctions in Texas, an outcome SRWHMG is currently fighting in litigation.

Netherlands said walking away from the bid simply wasn't an option. "If we had not submitted our proposal, the state would have turned management over to a contractor whose approach focuses on large-scale removals," she said.

What the New Contract Entails

Under the new contract, SRWHMG plans to relocate horses gradually to pre-vetted sanctuaries while using fertility control to minimize annual removals to roughly 25 horses per year.

The horses have roamed the Tonto National Forest for centuries and have been protected under Arizona state law since 2017. SRWHMG has already reduced the herd from 450 to 274 through fertility control alone, without a single removal.

Now, legislation is emerging that could put the brakes on the reduction plan altogether. State Representative Cody Reim (R-AZ) has introduced SB 1199, a bill that would amend the existing Salt River Horse Act to place a temporary moratorium on horse removals from the area.

The pause would remain in effect until more reliable scientific data on the herd's genetic viability and overall health become available, a direct pushback against the current management plan's timeline to bring the population down to 120 animals by 2030.

How Arizona ultimately balances ecological concerns with the preservation of a centuries-old herd will likely shape wild horse policy across the state for years to come.