11/25/2025
This morning (Tuesday, November 25, 2025) we relocated wild stallion Topnotch to our farm sanctuary on the mainland due to habituation that resulted in him becoming food conditioned and aggressive.
Over the last several years Topnotch became increasingly resistant to being moved away from perceived food sources, and also became increasingly aggressive and confrontational towards anyone who attempted to redirect him. Associating humans with food led him to begin seeking people out, and reacting dangerously whether food was present or not.
This kind of behavior is extremely difficult to correct in a wild animal, especially when the habituation is related to food and humans. Despite repeated attempts to discourage Topnotch’s behavior, he became a serious threat to public safety. Over the last several months our herd management team, along with our board of directors and multiple concerned residents, discussed different management options. It was ultimately agreed upon that relocation would be in the best interests of the horse and the community.
While removal is always the last resort, when wild animals and humans live in close proximity to each other there is always a risk of conflict. In these cases we sometimes have to make very difficult decisions in an effort to maintain a balance between public safety and wildlife. Despite the many difficulties associated with decisions like these, we are very fortunate to have a place for horses like Topnotch to go, where they will be safe and handled with great respect for their specific needs and dispositions. We hope his story serves as a stark reminder of why it’s so important to maintain a 50ft distance from the wild horses at all times and never feed them.
Topnotch is quite advanced in age. He’d not had a harem of mares in many years, and was most often alone as is typical for a stallion his age. When he was younger he did have a large harem of mares and while we have yet to identify any offspring through DNA testing, he certainly had plenty of opportunities to leave his genetic mark on the herd.
We’d like to extend our gratitude to the residents who reached out directly to us to discuss their concerns about Topnotch’s behavior. Thank you for your willingness to have constructive conversations about this; your input was valuable and very much appreciated.
