Out on a hike with her grandchildren, the woman didn't think much of what sounded like a squeaky pickup hauling a rattling old horse trailer. She was busy showing the kids the unusual rock formations in the Santa Fe National Forest between Pecos and Colonias, and besides, she herself had ridden plenty of horses in the area.

As she walked into a clearing, her stomach turned: A horse, not more than skin and bones, was in the road abandoned, apparently by the pickup driver.

Her first thought was to take the horse home and care for it, said the woman, who asked not to be identified. But worried about disease, she called as many agencies as she could to find help for the horse.

The only luck she had that Sunday evening was Natalie Owings at the Heart and Soul Animal Sanctuary in Glorieta, who quickly dispatched her worker, Paul Vigil, to find the horse.

The bay horse with a star marking on its forehead hadn't moved much when he got to him, Vigil said, on Lower Colonias Road near the K-Bar Ranch exit. Standing in the pouring rain, the horse probably wouldn't have lasted the night.

"He was just hunched up, shivering — it was really coming down," Vigil said. "It was horrible. I just walked up to him, put a halter on him, and I had a grain bucket and he just stuck his face in it."

It's still not clear if the horse will survive its malnourished state. Aside from starving, the horse suffered wounds from being bound in a too-tight halter.

"I've never seen anything like it," said the woman. "It was nothing but a skeleton. I know things are tight, but I can't understand why anyone would do that."

New Mexico has seen a marked increase in neglect and abandonment of horses, said Phil Carter, manager of Animal Protection New Mexico's Equine Protection Fund. The nonprofit responds to cases of animal abuse and neglect through its own hot line and the attorney general's animal cruelty hot line.

The uptick appears to be a direct consequence of the downturn in the economy, he said. It's not unusual for horses to be left in forests or wilderness areas.

"The thinking is that it's compassionate, where the horse might be able to survive by foraging," he said. "But that's rarely the case."

The woman said she sees carcasses of horses in the area about once a year. The person's lack of concern is frustrating, she said.

"I'd like to see the person arrested," she said, adding that the state Livestock Board and Forest Service officials said they'd try to track down the owner through branding marks.

The markings appear to be Mexican, Vigil said, and other indications are that the horse originated in Mexico. The horse shoes, for example, are finished in a way that's popular in Mexico.

The horse might have been ridden from Mexico, Owings said, and abandoned when the owner was done with it.

The gelding, now named Prince, has probably lost about half its proper weight of around 1,200 pounds. Owings is offering the horse as much senior equine cereal, both dry and in mush form, as it wants, along with alfalfa. It's not the first horse Owings has saved from near-starvation this summer.

One horse, rescued from a ranch in La Cieneguilla, also was in dire straits from lack of food. That horse has since regained weight and found a new home in Tesuque. Three other neglected horses rescued from other areas have also found new homes.

The Horse Shelter in Cerrillos is also dealing with an increase in abandoned horses.

Owings said she thinks people don't put enough value on the animals, and simply dump them when they can't afford them or don't want them.

"I'm sure they thought this horse would die," she said. "If that lady hadn't been there at that particular time, we wouldn't have found him either."

Carter, the manager of APNM's equine program, said in addition to educating people about the proper care of horses, it's also offering temporary help to horse owners through its Emergency Hay Assistance program.

Since it started in May, the statewide program has helped 10 families with 28 equines, which includes horses, donkeys and mules. The program provides feed assistance to qualified people for four equines for up to two months.

As for Prince, Owings said she thinks he's suffered a lot to survive. She thinks he'll pull through and find a permanent home.

"He's done all he could to survive," she said. "It's going to take months, but he'll make it."

On the Web

• For more information on Prince and Heart and Soul, visit the web site at www.animal-sanctuary.org, or call 505-757-6817. For more information on the APNM's equine fund, visit equineprotectionfund.org.