Many Fountain Hills residents had been noticing a pair of wild horses in their backyards and neighborhood streets for the past several weeks. On Sunday, a group of volunteers from the Salt River Wild Horse Management Group joied law enforcement in freeing the trapped horses.
The horses had been welcomed by some neighbors and chased by others.
Following their investigation of the horses’ migrating patterns, the the Wild Horse Management Group (SRWHMG) determined that the two wild horses did not have a way of getting back to the Verde River, because of some recently repaired fencing between Fountain Hills and the Fort McDowell Reservation. It had been repaired with the intent of preventing horses and cows from coming into the neighborhood, but inadvertently trapped the mare, stallion and their foal on the wrong side of the repaired fencing. Tragically, the foal was hit on the road last month and had to be euthanized.
With the cooperation and coordination of the Fort McDowell Reservation, Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) and the Town of Fountain Hills, and SRWHMG, a plan to bring the mare and stallion pair home to the Verde River on the Fort McDowell reservation was made.