For decades, visitors and Arizonans alike have flocked to see a herd of wild horses that roam near the lower Salt River.
Known as the Salt River Horses, the animals are believed to have lived along the river in northeast Mesa for more than 100 years. They are iconic symbols of the West, beloved by everyone from nature photographers to those looking for a respite from the urban sprawl of metro Phoenix. People come from all over to the Tonto National Forest to watch their brown and splotchy white coats dipping into the river to find fresh eelgrass, or to see a foal chasing after a mare.
But just as the horses inspire passion, they also inspire passionate arguments. Some think the horses should be removed because they will eventually overgraze the land to the point where it cannot sustain them. Others want the horses left alone, with numbers carefully managed via fertility treatments. Arguments play out in court cases and Facebook groups, each side suspecting the motives of the other…