New Mexico Horsemen 
 

New Mexico is a land of wide open spaces, with miles and miles of rugged trails and rolling pasture land. The state has a mild climate and few rainy days. Add these together, and you have a perfect place to raise, train, and ride horses. Perhaps that’s why there are so many horse farms in New Mexico.

The state also offers year round horse racing, especially for Thoroughbreds and Appendix Quarter Horses. Popular tracks include the Downs at Albuquerque, Ruidoso Downs, Sunland Park, SunRay Park, and Zia Park. And horse racing in the state is lucrative. In addition to rich purses, each year the New Mexico Horse Breeders Association pays out millions in incentive awards.

Other breeds and disciplines are popular in New Mexico, too. As part of the “Old West,” the state has many cattle ranches, where horses are used for general ranch work like cutting, roping, and penning. Many of the state’s horse farms that specialize in this type of work often focus their breeding and training programs around foundation-bred Quarter Horses.

While Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses are the two most popular breeds in New Mexico, other breeds are well represented. You’ll find farms and ranches that specialize in Paints, Missouri Fox Trotters, Warmbloods, Appaloosas, Morgans, draft horses, Barbs, Spanish Mustangs, miniature horses, Haflingers, Pony of the Americas, Paso Finos, Peruvian Pasos, Palominos, Andalusians, Shetland Ponies, Percherons, Friesians, and even Irish Sport Horses.

New Mexico also has numerous training facilities that specialize in training horses for barrel racing, Western pleasure, halter, team penning, roping, hunter-jumper, dressage, hunt seat, hack, cutting, reining, racing, parade, pole bending, eventing, trail, driving – just about any discipline you seek training for, there’s a facility in New Mexico that can help you and your horse.

If you’re interested in showing, New Mexico has an active show circuit, with both English and Western events. Several equine facilities around the state also provide instructional clinics in natural horsemanship, specific disciplines, and general horse care.

If you’re considering purchasing a horse in New Mexico, This site is a guide to some of the state’s horse farms and facilities, ranging from small family-run businesses to huge corporations.