‼️Contrary to claims you might see, there is no actual real science that justifies the aggressive removal of the Salt River wild horses. Read here, be informed, and stay smarter than the average bear 🐻

👉Every picture of our dry desert right now, and every scientific claim that is being used to support removals of Salt River wild horses— including 2018 and 2025 UofA forage assessments — is based on unverified, non-peer-reviewed data that dramatically overstates forage needs of wild horses and ignores natural climate cycles. These reports fail to consider seasonal rejuvenation, have no long-term field follow-up, and fall short of scientific credibility. Read on to find out why:

‼️Peer review is a critical component of credible scientific research, especially for reports used to justify policy or management decisions, such as decisions concerning our Salt River wild horses. Without peer review, reports can and will reflect the bias or agendas of just one side.

🌱If you have seen the dry pictures of our desert right now, everything looks sad, but we hope you have also seen the thousands of pictures and videos of last year, when it was beautifully green in horse habitat, full of perennial grasses. Could the horses really have “ruined” it all in one single season?

📷 We used pictures of Iris and Venus in order for everyone to know the dates without a doubt, because everyone knows Iris was born in March of 2024, and you can clearly see how she grew also by April. (See picture exhibit 1 and 4)

🏞In the first pictures it shows you how our ecosystem comes back after we get decent precipitation, in the close up you can see that they are good perennial grasses that come back. (even while the horses have been here for centuries.) The horses had it really good for a while and we did not have to feed for 7.5 months! (See exhibit 2 and 3)

🏜In the fourth exhibit picture of Venus and Iris, you can see exactly what happened to the forage. While horses do graze, they did not eat all the forage, it simply withered and died because of our extremely hot AZ temperatures. (See exhibit picture 4 and 5) What actually happens with our forage is a natural cycle here in Arizona. But no one did an ecological study during the wet time, of course.

🔥At this stage, the dried forage starts to represent huge fire danger,.. catastrophic fire danger.

🐴In the fifth exhibit picture, you can see how horses are eating even the dryest of vegetation. In reality, this is a good thing; these horses perform vital ecological services. They mitigate wildfire risk by clearing all that dried brush — a role proven in the same year of 2024 when their habitat remained untouched, while directly across the street, surrounding areas of the TNF burned to ashes (173.000 acres! ) Did you know that the state of Arizona spends tons of money every year on fire mitigation? They pay firefighters millions to do exactly what the horses do for free!

🤏Confined to less than 1% of the Tonto National Forest, sports hunting organisations and CBD make a ginormeous deal about the horses, while ignoring the devastating human recreational impact. In reality, Salt River horse presence is not only sustainable, but highly beneficial, because a wildfire would devastate any and all species along the river.

🐎Horses also consume invasive eelgrass, improving river flow and recreation, and they have coexisted peacefully with wildlife for centuries. (See exhibit picture 6)

🌳Horses are the landscapers of the ecosystem and created and maintain the mesquite forests along the river, that did not used to be there in the 60’s when everyone drove straight to the river. (Exhibit picture 10) The horses eat the mesquite beans and deposit the seeds in a bed of fertilizer in otherwise inhospitable sandy soil. It may be obvious that the mesquite forests benefit all species. (See exhibit picture 7)

For those claiming we have to “restore” the forest, please see what there was in the 60’s to restore it to. (Pic 10) The forest has restored itself amazingly well WITH the horses in it.

🏛In addition, in a recent federal court ruling, a judge dismissed CBD’s claim against the horses 3 times, and confirmed that these horses do not overlap or conflict with any endangered species and that the Tonto National Forest did NOT need to remove horses!

🙀The potential removal of Salt River wild horses would be based not on science, but on misinformed bias — and would rob Arizona of one of its last living symbols of the West. It’s time we stop scapegoating these horses and start valuing them for the asset they truly are.

👊Thank you for reading this in its entirety! We need your help. Its important that we RESEED this message. You can help the horses by sharing this article everywhere, especially to your legislators, to the governor and to the local news, and by signing our petition in the comments as well! THANK YOU for caring about these cherished wild horses, they depend on the voice you are willing to give them.

P.S. and for people who claim they were not here before, or they came from the reservation, or ranchers let them out, please see the photographic evidence from 1957, on the Tonto National Forest, horses in the exact same spot, the spot Salt River wild horses inhabit today. THANK YOU!

Thank you to SRWHMG contributing photographers Erin Yager, Rick Blandford, JC Herbert, Karen Carney, Destini Rhone and Simone Netherlands.