Celebrating Equine Rescue Efforts in NM and the Horse Shelter Rescue Fund
Santa Fe, NM — The New Mexico Equine Rescue Alliance (NMERA) was founded in
2012 to give all registered equine rescues in New Mexico a stronger voice.
Over the last decade NMERA was able to work closely with the NM Livestock Board on
improving the process of intake of horses that are found stray or seized due to cruelty.
Currently there are over 300 horses in rescues throughout New Mexico and the 10
registered rescues annually admit over 120 horses, which includes owner surrenders.
All horses are given veterinary care and rehabilitated and then, depending on the
individual rescue, will either remain in sanctuary or are trained and offered for adoption
to the public. All kinds of horses are admitted into rescue and some of them are
untouchable or have had very little handling and most arrive in poor health. Equine
Rescues throughout NM provide a valuable service to the State, it’s horses and citizens
by rehabilitating these horses to be safe for the public to adopt, or by giving them
sanctuary.
In the last decade, NMERA has worked closely with Animal Protection Voters (APV) of
NM and legislators to improve the situation for all horses throughout NM. In the 2022
legislative session, a bipartisan group of lawmakers allocated $350,000 in recurring
annual funding to the State’s Horse Shelter Rescue Fund, this is also the fund NM
taxpayers can donate to in their NM personal income tax return. The fund is then
distributed to the registered equine rescues in NM.
This funding is a tremendous help to all rescues, especially since it takes $3,000 to feed
one horse for a year, which does not cover medical, training or facility expenses.
NMERA would like to thank these legislators for recognizing and responding to the need
of homeless horses throughout New Mexico and help the rescues step up to help even
more horses in need. Thank you to all who made this happen!
We want to celebrate and show the public what we do!
NMERA will be at the State Fair’s Equestrian Center in Albuquerque on
September 8, 2022, from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm to show the public what we do!
Four registered rescues will be in attendance with their horses: Four Corners Equine
Rescue – Aztec, Maslena Rescue Foundation – Tijeras, NM Horse Rescue at Walkin N
Circles Ranch – Edgewood, and The Horse Shelter – Cerrillos.
We will be showing our riding horses and companion horses in the arena and talk about
our rescue’s operations, adoption and volunteer programs.
Help us celebrate NM’s rescue horses and let us show you that there are many young
and worthy horses in rescue waiting to be adopted as riding or companion horses.
The New Mexico Equine Rescue Alliance consists of the registered rescues in NM.
NM is a registration state, which means equine rescue facilities are inspected by a state
veterinarian annually and need to adhere to American Association of Equine
Practitioners guidelines in caring for their animals. The NM Livestock Board is the
overseeing registration agency and also administrates the Horse Rescue Shelter Fund
under advisement of a committee that includes representatives of NMERA and APNM.
The rescues who receive funding are 501c3 non-profit organizations and in good
standing with the NMLB and NMAG. NMERA co-founders and co-chairs are currently
Debbie Coburn, CEO of Four Corners Equine Rescue in Aztec and Susan Hemmerle,
Executive Director of The Horse Shelter in Cerrillos, NM. All registered rescues can be
found at https://www.nmlbonline.com/rescue
CONTACT:
Susan Hemmerle, Co-Chair of NMERA Executive Director of The Horse Shelter
info@thehorseshelter.org
505-471-6179
