😢This beautiful young mare, Nellie, has been missing from her band since July 22nd. Because it is not unusual for a 6-year-old mare to leave her band and join another, or to be “stolen” by bachelor stallions, we did not immediately consider her absence cause for great concern. We wanted to allow time for that possibility, before drawing any conclusions.

🔎 However, we have now conducted an extensive search for Nellie, checking other bands and carefully looking for her among the horses throughout the Salt River area. We have also been actively looking for evidence that she may have died, since this was during the dangerous period after the rains when mesquite beans can form impactions and cause colic. Despite these efforts, we have been unable to locate her.

💔 At this point, based on our continued inability to find her, we are sad to say that we have to presume Nellie is no longer with us. Of course, we would be absolutely thrilled to discover that we are wrong and find her with a bachelor stallion somewhere. If that happens, we will gladly add her back into the official count.

🌈 For now, however, we have to presume she is deceased. We hope she did not suffer, and we will miss and remember her. Run Forever Free, Nellie.

🌱 Nellie is a big loss, not only because she was very cute, but also because she was scheduled to be left open this year. ( was not going to be darted for fertility control.) Nellie’s sire is Suske (full name: Susquehanna), and her dam was Mellie, who died in 2025. Mellie now has only one living offspring left, – Kellie, born in 2019, -whom we have high hopes for.

📊 After accounting for Nellie, Maverick, and Violet’s deaths, and deducting Little Pearl, who was rescued, the Salt River wild horse count now stands at exactly 267 horses, a rapid decline from 274 animals at the beginning of this year.

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SRWHMG