The Back Country Horsemen of America aim to protect the right to ride horses on public lands, which the members believe starts with taking part in maintaining those trails. Members help by doing trail and facility maintenance that public lands managers’ budgets don’t allow.

Since its founding in 1993, the Northwest Chapter of Back Country Horsemen of New Mexico has been caring for a number of protected lands in the Corrales, Bernalillo, Rio Rancho, and Albuquerque Metro areas. Projects range from one-day visits to pick up trash to years-long efforts to reclaim abandoned trails.

Ojito Wilderness

The Northwest Chapter has been working with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) with the long-term goal of building a better horse trailer parking lot and creating more defined trails in the Ojito Wilderness. This 11,823-acre desert landscape northwest of Albuquerque features steep-sided mesas, rocky terraces, escarpments, box canyons, arroyos, and badlands.

Several types of ruins are scattered in the Ojito Wilderness, including those of the prehistoric Puebloan, Navajo, and Hispanic cultures. The erosion process has exposed the bones of huge dinosaurs, including one of the largest dinosaur skeletons ever discovered. This property is also home to three rare plant species, birds of prey, reptiles, mule deer, elk, American antelope, and mountain lions