Regarding the beloved Salt River Horses, it has just come to my attention from an article posted in the media that Scottsdale Mayor Lisa Borowsky has suggested the wild/feral horses be moved to the McDowell Sonoran Preserve! This idea is untenable.

The McDowell Sonoran Preserve is not the answer for these horses. First, there is no natural water source for horses. Also, there is no shade for the horses. The Salt River horses in their current location have more than enough shade and water from the river to survive. There is nothing appropriate in the McDowell Preserve for the horses to eat, so they would destroy the native vegetation while slowly starving at the same time.

This destruction of the native vegetation would then lead to degradation of the natural habitat of all of the other native animals, which would defeat the entire purpose of the Preserve.

The Preserve is not fenced for horses, and is surrounded my major thoroughfares and neighborhoods on all sides. There is no way to contain wild horses in the area due to the open trailheads and lack of horse fencing. Fencing 30K acres would be cost prohibitive. Horses leaving the Preserve at would create a huge liability for auto accidents with injuries and/or death to both horses and people!

The Preserve is designed to preserve the natural Sonoran Desert wildlife and vegetation for hikers, bikers and trail riders to enjoy. The introduction of herds of loose horses running at will, though beautiful, would not be in the public interest.

Let’s do better. Let’s come up with a more viable plan for the horses.

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