Wild horses’ storied past and uncertain future

One of the wild horses of Coyote Canyon walks through a field in the horse-loving community of Ramona in northeastern San Diego County.  (Christina House / For The Times)

The wild mares and stallions graze in a field in Ramona. Their future is uncertain, possibly dependent on the wild-horse policies of the federal Bureau of Land Management.  (Christina House / For The Times)

Kathleen Hayden is a member of the group Coyote Canyon Caballos d’Anza, which is trying to protect the small herd. Here she visits with one of the wild horses and with a “watch-burro,” right.  (Christina House / For The Times)

“I’m just an old cowgirl from Idaho,” says Hayden, 69, here hugging a burro who acts as a guard for the herd.  (Christina House / For The Times)

The wild horses are kept within a barb-wired boundary. The county Board of Supervisors in June endorsed a resolution urging the Bureau of Land Management to devise a plan to relocate the horses to federal land under the 1971 Free Roaming Wild Horse and Burro Act.  (Christina House / For The Times)

Not as large as the thoroughbreds at Del Mar, or as dramatic in their galloping as the famous mustang, the Coyote Canyon horses have what horse-lovers call a square conformation. The most common colors are chestnut brown, red dun and black roan  (Christina House / For The Times)