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Twenty-two of those horses came from the New Mexico Livestock Board, and were horses that were seized or signed over to the board by owners accused of abuse and neglect.
"This is what I call the Year of the Horse in New Mexico," Coburn said of the high number of horse seizures and abuse cases throughout the state.
The number of horses at the Aztec rescue is "absolutely high," Coburn said in an interview Friday.
"It's kind of the perfect storm," she said. "The drought is kicking our butt and then the recession, and subsequently the price of hay because of the drought and of course irresponsible owners" all add to the high numbers of abuse cases.
Coburn's remarks follow last week's seizure of six horses from a Waterflow man by the livestock board.
The horses — three stallions, one mare and two yearling fillies — were taken Tuesday from the home of Joe Gallagher, who Coburn believes was a backyard breeder.
While the three stallions were in worse condition physically, one of the phillies called Liz, will need long term rehabilitation to get her feet back underneath her.
Horses hooves need regular care and trimming for the horse to walk properly.
"Her feet have not been touched since she was born," said Dr. Joe Quintana, at Animal Haven in Farmington where the horses are receiving care. "She's young and she's
The six horses, though, are settling in and their bellies are full.
"They are getting used to having a grocer on a pretty regular basis," Quintana said.
Despite the malnourished and physical condition of the horses, Quintana believes they will all be rehabilitated.
Gallagher faces six counts of animal cruelty and is scheduled to appear in court Aug. 14.
But legal action is not a fix-all solution to the problem, Coburn said.
Coburn said she turned Gallagher away seven years earlier when he came to the rescue looking to adopt several horses.
Although at that time he denied being a breeder, Coburn suspected him of breeding by the types of horses he wanted to adopt. Gallagher, she said, also was unwilling to adhere to some of the guidelines she requires of owners wanting to adopt.
Once a person is off probation, they can do it all again, she said.
Tuesday's rescue follows several other highly publicized rescues in New Mexico.
In June, horse auction owner Dennis Chavez was charged with 12 counts of animal cruelty charges related to four horses that were so malnourished they were unable to stand in their pen. All four horses had to be euthanized.
Coburn expects there to be another horse seizure by the livestock board in the coming weeks, though she declined to comment further.
"There are horses we put in a pen and starve," she said of humans' maltreatment of horses. "That's not okay. How we do that I could not tell you."
"Sometimes is a financial reaction, sometimes it's ignorance, sometimes it's just ... they actually think it's okay," she said.
There are 147,000 horses in New Mexico, many that are on tribal lands. About 9,000 unwanted horses exist in the state, a number that Coburn believes is fixable with cooperation and work.
"To me that's not unmanageable. I think that's something we can deal with," she said.
Coburn, a big opponent of horse slaughters, said it's a matter of various agencies working together, raising awareness and hopefully getting some funding from the state to address the problem.
There are nine licensed rescues in the state, Coburn said, although "there are many, many that are not."
Being licensed is important because there is oversight, which includes annual inspections, surprise inspections and it sets minimum standards which owners must follow, ensuring the proper care and safety of the horses.
Quintana is not convinced cases of abuse are on the rise, rather he believe people are more aware of it.
"I've been dealing with this problem for 35 years," he said. "In some ways because of the drought and the lousy economy, it's a lot more obvious and also people are more willing to speak out. A lot of times before people tended to keep more quiet and not rat on their neighbors. Now, there is a lot more awareness."
Coburn believes horse advocates are beginning to effect change but it's going to take more hard work.
"In the meantime, we'll do the best we can one horse at a time, but I do need help," she said.
