49everything from Second
Amendment rights to the myth-
ological symbolism of horses.
Most locals say they want the
shootings to stop, but some
people have cheered the horses’ deaths or accused defend-
ers of the horses of falsely pointing ingers at cattle ranch-
ers. Business owners worry about the impact on their live-
lihoods if people who visit the area to camp, hike, and ish
are scared of by the shootings. Even some locals say they’re
scared of the forest now.
For ranchers, the outcome could mean the diference be-
tween economic survival and insolvency.
Nelson Shirley pays for a permit for his cattle to graze on
the land, but says the horses have decimated some stretches.
“I can’t graze my cattle if I don’t have that piece of habitat
intact,” he says. “If I’m going to have a ranch 50 years from
now, it’s got to support all the wildlife if it’s going to be good
for my cattle.”
The Forest Service says its analysis shows that 104 horses
is the most the Heber territory can handle to ensure enough
food for all the animals grazing there. Nixon, though, fears that
number is “not genetically viable” for a healthy herd; they’ll
start inbreeding, which leads to disease and abnormalities.
AS THE WEATHER warms up,
if history is any indication, the
horse killings may subside for a
while. Shootings generally hap-
pen in winter, when the area
population drops to about 3,000 from a summer high of
18,000, making it easier for an assailant to operate unnoticed.
Alford, with support from the Navajo County sherif ’s oice,
says the investigation continues. And while Nixon has accused
the Forest Service of being slow to respond to crime scenes
and collect evidence, she and law- enforcement oicials have
no choice but to work together until the shootings are solved.
“Betty’s helping us patrol the area,” Alford says. “She’s giv-
ing us more eyes out there to identify problems.”
In the forest, Nixon continues her watch.
The sight of a horse sparring with another horse in play, or
of a band relaxing in the sun, leaves her awestruck. When she
spots a survivor orphaned in a shooting, Nixon marvels at its
resilience. “All the survivors are my favorites to see,” she says.
“I’m watching them grow up. I love them all.”
They include the palomino illy Little Orphan Annie, who
ran of after Raven and her mother were killed in 2019.
In 2020, Little Orphan Annie had her own foal. Nixon
named her Fawn. The skeletal remains of a 3-year-old illy
found shot to death in January 2020 in the
Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests