The animal companions of conquistadors still roam New Mexico, and one organization is trying to make sure they don’t run off into the sunset.
The New Mexican Horse Project, founded 12 years ago, is raising awareness about the New Mexican Wild Horse with an educational presentation this weekend, said Paul Polechla, UNM research biology professor.
“This involves Hispanic people, Native American people, African American, Anglos — anybody that was anybody and their brother and sister, mom and dad, grandpa and grandma,” Polechla said. “Everybody rode this horse because it was the sole means of transportation.”
The presentation will be at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge near Socorro, and the NMHP will encourage participation through a multi-disciplinary “educational package,” Polechla said.
“Many different disciplines of science, technology and mathematics are involved,” he said. “We are also including an art component to inspire people that are not interested in science to become interested in it.”
The presentation will also offer a museum exhibit, documentary film series and an interactive book series with a teachers’ guide and a Web site, Polechla said.
“This conference is the first time we will have experts in all different fields coming together, sitting together at the same table and talking,” he said. “(It will be) getting public input from people that range from being school teachers to janitors. It will cover the whole gamut of anyone that likes horses, nature, history or education.”
Student Brittany Berget became interested in the project after taking Polechla’s class, where students were able to interact with the horses.
“He took us out to the horse preserve and we helped with the roundup,” she said. “My classmates and I got to see the horses in their natural habitat … It was really cool to see them just in their habitat and being horses.”
The New Mexican Wild Horse is a breed of mustang with Iberian DNA, Berget said, and the horses are a living reminder of New Mexican history.
“I think it’s important that we conserve as much wild diversity as we can. Especially from a historical standpoint, a lot of our history was on the backs of horses,” she said. “These particular horses, they are very hearty and they adapt to their environment very well. Compared to other horses they are fairly small, but they are really strong and really hearty.”
Polechla said, the rare breed was subject to dire climates and harsh conditions, but survived and has served the population of the Western Hemisphere ever since.
“Three times they went through dry conditions: In the Mediterranean, the horse latitudes and five American deserts and prairies,” he said. “These animals have gone through it all.”
The New Mexican Horse Project has the two largest plots of land set aside for wild horses in the nation, Polechla said. Between 1,500 and 2,500 horses live in the 30,000-acre area.
“We’ve got two private preserves and we are always trying to work on another one because, besides the horses, the land is the most important thing,” he said.
Anyone interested in attending the conference or helping with the project is welcome to, Berget said.
“People can certainly volunteer. Any kind of expertise is welcome,” she said. “There are people here with media expertise — I’m a biology student so that is my expertise — people with clerical skills (and) anyone’s skills would be beneficial.”
Polechla said the project aims to allow people to better appreciate the breed’s persistence and help ensure it continues.
“What makes the story appealing to the general public is that we have something modern, something here today,” he said. “These are living legends here to compare our history with. That’s why we have to have the New Mexican Horse Project.”
*New Mexican Horse Project conference
Saturday and Sunday
12:30 to 8 p.m.
Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, UNM field station*
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