Teen grieves horse killed by wolves

Fifteen-year-old Taylor McQueen and her quarter horse, Pickles, shared a unique bond she fears she will never have again.

On November 25 of last year, Pickles was in a pasture with other horses when she was attacked and killed. The lead investigator of the case, Scott MacDonald, in a depredation report, concluded that Mexican Gray Wolves were responsible for her death.

“I don’t know if I’ll ever get another connection like I had with her,” McQueen said.

The loss of Pickles was extremely difficult for McQueen, making her almost want to give up riding altogether. She described Pickles as her “person” and the only horse she could fully trust and connect with.

This isn’t the first time she’s lost a horse to wolves; in 2019, her previous paint horse was also killed.

When her family first brought home Pickles three years ago, the horse was originally meant for Taylor’s younger brother, but Pickles was too rough for him.

“She was broke somewhat, but she needed a lot of work,” McQueen said, “I was the only one that could ever get that close. Nobody really ever liked her. Like, the first two years we had her, nobody wanted to ride her.”

Even though nobody else seemed impressed by Pickles’ personality, McQueen said she loved Pickles’ attitude, and the two developed an unbreakable bond.

“She always had this problem with rearing up, and everybody hated it,” McQueen said, “My Mom would tell me to jump off of her. And I’m like, no, I love it, she’s telling me she’s ready to go.”

McQueen said it took a lot of time, work, and patience, but eventually, she earned Pickles’ trust, and soon, the horse was willing to do anything she asked.

“I could whistle from the pasture, and she’d run up because I always have little treats and stuff,” McQueen said.

McQueen was the only one who could ride her bareback and daring enough to compete with her.

“I finally got to where I could run her full-speed bareback around the arena. And then nobody had ever roped on her before. And then I started roping on her. And, like, it was just so easy. She was so sweet. She was, like, the most willing horse I’ve ever had. If I asked her to do anything, she was always there. She took really good care of me,” McQueen said.

Taylor and Pickles competed in barrel racing, pole bending and other events, winning multiple buckles together. Their last competition together was at the Catron County Fair in August, where they won first place in barrels and poles.

She explained that Pickles arrived with her quirky name, and since it’s considered bad luck to change a horse’s name, she decided to keep it as a charming reminder of her origins. She believes that her name likely stems from her mischievous habit of sneaking bites of anyone’s food, always on the lookout for a tasty treat.

“Anytime I’d have, like, chips or anything, she’d always try to eat them. It was so funny.” McQueen said.

Talking about the good times with Pickles is easy for McQueen, but it’s hard for her to think about that day in November.

“They chased her and got her legs, and they must have just ran her around forever, because it took her forever to run out of energy,” McQueen said, “I saw pictures because I didn’t want to see her like that. But they buried her and everything, and then I went up and saw her grave and stuff, but I didn’t want to see her like that,”

She believes that it likely took the whole wolf pack to take pickles down.

In the depredation report, photos included bite marks on the throat, shoulder and hind leg with hemorrhaging on the shoulder and throat. The report also contains photos of wolf tracks.

The depredation report concludes that due to the evidence found—collard wolves reported in the area, wolf tracks, hemorrhage, canine spreads, and rake marks—this was determined to be a confirmed Mexican gray wolf kill and depredation.

Although her Mom surprised her with a new horse a couple months ago, she said it’s just not the same.

McQueen is also worried that the wolves now have a taste for horse meat. She thinks the meat logs serving as supplemental feed to the wolves may contain horse meat.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife representatives said they couldn’t comment on the meat logs, however on their website, in the most recent report from January to December of 2023, published in August of 2024 it states: “Supplemental Food Cache: road-killed native prey carcasses or carnivore logs provided to wolves to assist a pack or remnant of a pack when extenuating circumstances reduce their own ability to do so [e.g., one animal raising young, or just after initial releases and translocations (including fostering)].”

According to their report in 2023, investigators confirmed that wolves were responsible for the death of 114 cattle, two sheep, and one dog, and injuries to 14 cattle. Additionally, 12 cattle were identified as probable wolf-caused deaths, and one was identified as a probable wolf-caused injury.

McQueen horse depredation was on the County Livestock Loss Authority agenda last week.