Committee backs bill creating certified free‑roaming horse experts, banning slaughter and enabling contraception and rehoming

A House committee recommended do‑pass for House Bill 284, a measure authored by Representative Matthew McQueen that would create a regulatory path for humane management of free‑roaming horses through certified experts, fertility control, and expanded options for relocation and adoption.

Representative Matthew McQueen, sponsor of HB284, told the committee the bill is aimed at reducing suffering on overgrazed ranges by providing two principal tools: targeted fertility control for mares and an avenue for adoption or relocation to preserves and sanctuaries. The bill also makes transporting or delivering free‑roaming horses for slaughter a misdemeanor punishable by a fine and up to one year in jail for each horse involved.

"No crime bill is gonna solve our crime problem. We chip away at it, we do what we can," McQueen said, describing HB284 as a step that ‘‘chips away’’ at herd‑size pressures and improves outcomes for horses left on the range or rehomed.

The bill would authorize the New Mexico Livestock Board to adopt rules for registering free‑roaming‑horse experts, including education and experience criteria. Those certified experts could contract with governmental entities or landowners to administer fertility control — testimony discussed PZP (porcine zona pellucida) hormonal contraception that supporters said reduced foaling rates by 88 percent in five years in a Sandoval County pilot.

Stacy Kirby, appearing as a representative of Bridal Protection Voters, said the current statute is “unworkable” and that mandatory DNA testing to prove Spanish colonial lineage has prevented relocations; she said HB284 would permit evidence‑based best practices and explicitly ban methods that result in slaughter.

"House Bill 284 explicitly makes it illegal to slaughter, transport for slaughter," Kirby said, adding that the bill would allow experts to use humane science‑based tools to bring herds into balance.

Supporters included county officials and local residents who described range degradation, vehicle collisions with horses, and rising feeding burdens on neighborhoods in Placitas and Sandoval County. Catherine Brooks, a Sandoval County commissioner, said the local herd and the county’s 2019 pilot were driven in part by public‑safety concerns on roads near Placitas.

Opponents — including conservation organizations, land grant representatives and community members — raised concerns about giving the Livestock Board authority over wild horses, potential conflicts of interest, lack of protections for maintaining wild status, and the absence of funding for long‑term care. Tom Patterson of the New Mexico Cattle Growers Association said the bill addresses a real problem but said the association remained in opposition pending further draft changes.

Committee members asked detailed questions about landowner permission, how the law would interact with federal and tribal jurisdiction (the bill does not authorize activity on federal or tribal land), and whether certified experts exist. McQueen and expert witnesses said the Placitas program demonstrates the fertility control approach and that the new statute would create a feasible pathway for relocation and adoption that currently does not exist in law.

Committee members voted to recommend the bill. Representative Zamora, who voted yes, said the bill needs more work but called it ‘‘a good step in a humane way to deal with wild horses.’’