Close to 100 horses observed north of Arrowhead Drive in Carson City
Submitted by Brett Fisher on Sun, 01/06/2019 - 1:56pm
The Carson City Sheriff's Office observed three separate large bands of wild horses Sunday morning, totaling close to 100 head, just north of Arrowhead Drive in Northeast Carson City.
Due to the sheer numbers of horses, the planned herding operation to move the equines up farther into Goni Canyon was called off Sunday.
In addition, the two horses that had been feeding in the East Nye Lane area and along East College Parkway at Airport Road appear to have left the neighborhood on their own.
The pair were spotted joining a band of about 25-30 horses along the northwest boundary of the Centennial Park Sports Complex.
Carson City Sheriff's deputies also identified a large band of 40-50 horses along the hill directly behind the Carson City Trap Club as well as another two or three dozen off Goni Canyon Road Sunday morning.
Two of the three horse bands are currently feeding along the Eagle Valley Golf Course.
Carson City Sheriff's Mounted Division Commander Joe Bruno said a herding operation at this point would not be effective, because of the water and nutrition available along the golf course.
Moving them at this point would only be a temporary reprieve as the animals would likely return to where their water and food sources are most plentiful.
Moreover, three separate bands would need to be herded or corralled, Bruno said, because they cannot be combined due to the territorial behavior of their studs.
Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong said the best offense at this time appears to be a good defense.
Residents and motorists need to be watchful, especially at night when visibility is poor.
In order to keep the horses to the north of Arrowhead Drive, where food and water are available along the golf course, residents in nearby neighborhoods should avoid feeding and watering the horses.
This will only encourage them to continue crossing Arrowhead Drive and coming back into town, where they pose a greater danger to themselves and people.
Instead, Sheriff Furlong encourages the public to continue reporting their sightings if they are seen in neighborhoods in town. This will help authorities keep track of where the horses are and what areas they tend to frequent.
Bruno said the horses in this area are feral, part of the Virginia Range herds that had been in the news in recent years over controversial proposals to sell them to private interests.
Because they are feral, and had at one time been owned privately, this particular group of equines may be especially prone to seeking out food and water in populated areas, behavior that the Sheriff's Office feels needs to be discouraged for the safety of the horses and the community.
- Carson City
- Carson City Sheriff's Office
- Airport
- animals
- Band
- carson
- carson city sheriff
- City
- club
- college
- community
- Community,
- deputies
- eagle
- feeding
- Food
- help
- Horses
- May
- Morning
- need
- News
- news
- Nutrition
- Order
- public
- Safety
- sell
- sheriff furlong
- Sheriff Ken Furlong
- sheriff's office
- Sports
- Sunday Morning
- water
- Centennial Park
- Eagle Valley Golf Course
- golf
- Ken Furlong
- sheriff
- Wild Horses
