Circling back: Horses rescued from illness, injury, abuse and circumstance prepared for a better life

S TANLEY — Armando, a buckskin gelding, 2- to 3-years-old, is stirring up plenty of dust as trainer Colton Smyth puts the young horse through his paces in a covered round pen at Walkin N Circles Ranch.

It’s a recent dry afternoon, the temperature stretching into the high 90s, at Walkin N Circles, a 30-acre horse-rescue operation in this small community about 40 driving miles east of Albuquerque. Since its founding in 2002, the ranch reports, it has saved more than 500 horses put at risk by illness, injury, abuse, abandonment and difficult situations.

“Some of our horses are surrendered to us by owners who can no longer take care of them,” said Larry Smyth, 67, Walkin N Circles executive director and father of trainer Colton. “But a lot of horses have been abused and have psychological scars.”

He said Armando and another horse, named Brave, were found by the New Mexico Livestock Board, abandoned on property not far from Walkin N Circles.

“Brave was down and Armando would not leave him,” Larry said. “We picked up Brave and loaded him on a trailer. That’s how we got Armando on the trailer.”

Both horses had West Nile virus. Brave was not expected to survive his first night at Walkin N Circles, but he did and has since been adopted.

Larry said Walkin N Circles’ mission is to do what’s best for the horses it rescues. But the ranch is not a horse sanctuary. Its goal is to rehabilitate, retrain and adopt out as many horses as possible, to give the horses a chance at a new, safer, healthier and more content life. According to Walkin N Circles, the ranch rescued 35 horses last year and found adoptive homes for 22 of those.

Armando, however, is an exception. He is not up for adoption.

“We are trying to make him into an all-around training horse,” Larry said. “We are going to keep him around as a mascot, use him for parades and shows and stuff like that.”

Colton, 22, selected Armando for that role because the buckskin is young and built beautifully and because Colton admires the loyalty and courage Armando showed in staying with Brave when that horse was unable to move. On this day, Colton intends to introduce Armando to the horse-drawn cart.

“Carts are becoming popular with people who can no longer get up on a horse,” Larry said.

Coming out party

On Saturday, Aug. 5, Walkin N Circles will show 14 horses ready for adoption during an Adopt-A-Thon and Festival at the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Posse Arena, 10308 Second NW.

The event will include music, vendors and food trucks, but its primary purpose is to introduce rescue horses to people looking to make a home for such animals. Horses such as Bryce, Gilly, Kenia, Prancer, Vixen and Wynonna will team up with Walkin N Circles volunteers to show off their skills in round-pen and obstacle course competition.

“The volunteers and their horses will be competing against each other,” said Lauri Michael, Walkin N Circles Ranch board president. “Winning volunteers will get belt buckles.” Winning horses may be looking at a little extra feed. Horses that win and those that don’t can count on affection and reassurance.

Known officially as New Mexico Horse Rescue at Walkin N Circles Ranch, the operation is licensed, regulated and inspected yearly by the New Mexico Livestock Board. There are about 40 rescue horses at the ranch now. More more than a dozen others, including some former rescue horses, are boarded there.

Boarding fees help pay the bills for the ranch, a nonprofit organization that gets no government funding. Money also comes from donors, sponsors, legacy gifts, endowments, trusts and grants as well as from the ranch’s thrift store in Edgewood.

“Forty percent of our income is from the thrift store,” Larry said.

Adoption fees, which usually range from $800 to $1,000, also go toward the care and feeding of horses, pay for the ranch’s two full-time and seven part-time staff members and the maintenance and improvement of facilities.

During Saturday’s Adopt-A-Thon, Board President Michael herself will be competing with Gilly, 5, 14.3 hands, a paint mare that was found alone in Chaves County.

“She is a contradiction,” Michael said of Gilly. “She likes attention and to be loved, but she is a little stubborn. I am working to get her to be a little bit more accommodating.”

All the horses at the Adopt-A-Thon are available for adoption, but don’t think that means you just pay a fee and take a horse home. Walkin N Circles Ranch staff must approve potential adopters and their horse facilities.

“There will be an adoption table at Adopt-A-Thon,” Michael said. “If someone is interested in adopting a horse, they write their name on that horse’s sheet. Starting with the first name, our team will go out and take a look at your property, make sure you have the proper fencing. Our trainers will take some time to spend with (potential) adopters and a horse to see if they work well together.”

Sometimes, it’s not a good match.

“We will turn someone down for a horse,” said Nicole Candelaria, Walkin N Circles’ board secretary.

Horse tales

Walkin N Circle’s horses can be adopted out for different purposes. Some make excellent riding horses. Others may be better suited to serve as companion animals for horses, or for the humans who adopted them.

Bryce, one of the horses available for adoption, is 15 years old, 14.3 hands tall and has a distinctive star stripe on her forehead. She was pregnant when she arrived at Walkin N Circles in 2019 and gave birth to a foal that was named Denali.

Larry said Bryce was scared when she got to the ranch but is calm and quiet now. She leads well and loads into a trailer with no problem.

“We have had a saddle on her, but we have not ridden her yet,” Larry said. “She is going to make someone a nice horse.”

Vixen, 3, 13.3 hands tall, is a white filly with a pink patch on her nose. She and two colts were found abandoned during the Christmas season last year, which is why she is named for one of Santa’s reindeer. Her colt companions were tagged Dasher and Prancer. All three will be at Saturday’s Adopt-A-Thon. Walkin N Circles staff members say Vixen demands a lot of attention, but is otherwise well-mannered.

Kenia, 15, 14 hands, was part of a large band abandoned near Cuba in 2020. Like Bryce, Kenia has a star stripe on her forehead, and, like Bryce, she was with foal when she arrived at Walkin N Circles. She gave birth to a filly in 2021.

“She was as wild as a March hare,” Larry said of Kenia. “We couldn’t work with her until after she foaled.”

Kenia, now ready to be adopted, is a fast learner and a few years at the ranch have helped her build trust in humans. Even so, she is full of personality, is often cautious around new people and has a stubborn streak, which means she needs a human who is gentle but firm.

And then there is Scully, age unknown, a beautiful bay mare found alone near Tucumcari in 2021. She had a vicious head wound in which the hide was peeled back from her head.

“You could literally see her skull,” Larry said.

Scully carries marks from her awful injury on her forehead and scars from her traumatic experience deep within her. Whatever horrible thing happened to her has left her understandably skittish and unsuitable for adoption at this point. The ranch’s staff has been working her lightly in round pens, trying to help her build trust and confidence. For now, however, she eats calmly from a hay bag attached to a pole fence until humans approach. Then she retreats to a safe distance and waits for them to leave.

Like a rodeo

Michael said there are 50 regular volunteers and another 50 semi-regulars at Walkin N Circles.

“We would not be able to run our operation without volunteers,” she said.

Some volunteers want to be with horses as much as possible, and the ranch offers several levels of training which range from preparing volunteers to muck stalls, feed and water horses up to handling more difficult horses in round pens.

“But we also have volunteers who don’t want to work with horses,” Michael said. “They help with maintenance and groundskeeping and work at the thrift store.”

Both Michael, who grew up raising and showing horses in Indiana, and Larry Smyth, who was born on a New Mexico ranch, started as volunteers at Walkin N Circles. Larry, who has been a working cowboy, began training horses in 1974 and has worked with horses in Colorado, Texas and Oklahoma as well as New Mexico. He was with the Albuquerque Police Department from 1986 to 2022, working patrol, gangs, metro, traffic and with APD’s mounted patrol. He still trains APD’s horses.

“Horses learn from the release of pressure, not the addition of pressure,” he said. “That’s pretty much our mantra (at Walkin N Circles). Suggest, ask, tell.”

Larry’s son, Colton, thought he had that all figured out as he got Armando hooked into the cart. But no such luck. Turns out Armando did not see cart pulling as a popular trend.

“He broke up like a rodeo horse and drug that cart all around the round pen,” Colton said. “That was actually a good representation of how you can do every thing right with a horse and still have a blowup. They are living, breathing animals, not machines. You can’t just push a button. It takes a lot of time and a lot of patience.”