It was roundup time in Fountain Hills Thursday morning, May 16, as Maricopa County Sheriff’s deputies and public works personnel from Fountain Hills and Fort McDowell worked to herd a small group of four wild Salt River horses out of town.

The horses were first spotted grazing at Desert Vista Park. They had been previously reported in the same general area.

Deputies walked behind the horses, pushing them back toward a gap in the fence where Colony Wash crosses onto the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation. The horses managed to slip past deputies and make their way back into the park before additional manpower, including a rider on horseback, helped press them back toward the fence boundary where they crossed at a different location.

There have been a few instances where the horses and cattle have crossed into Fountain Hills from Fort McDowell. Officials say repairs were being made to the broken fence line.