The U. S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has been using adoption as an outlet for excess wild horses since 1973. Recent adoption numbers have decreased and the BLM is offering a pilot program in some states as an incentive to people willing to give a wild horse a good home.
Wild Horse Protection
The BLM protects, manages, and controls wild horses and burros under the authority of the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 and insures that healthy herds thrive in healthy rangelands. A herd will double in size about every four years and there are nearly 33,000 mustangs roaming federal lands across the West.
The BLM oversees the adoption of wild horses and burros through public adoptions and special events held throughout the United States. Since 1973, more than 220,000 wild horses and burros have been adopted. The first National Wild Horse Adoption Day is to be held September 26, 2009.
Wild Horse Management
To prevent over population, 5,000 to 10,000 horses are gathered each year. Hopefully all these horses would be adopted but realistically only about 3,000 of them find homes. Prospective adopters must meet numerous requirements before a mustang is released to their care. Rather than euthanize or sell the remaining animals, the BLM instead sends them to long-term holding facilities. Oklahoma has long-term holding facilities.
These facilities are fenced pasture settings where the horses are well cared for at the taxpayer’s expense. Twenty million tax dollars are used each year to keep un-adopted horses in long-term facilities. To keep a horse for the remainder of its life can cost from $10,000 to $12,500. Adoption rates have been declining since 2007.
Adoption Incentive
The BLM offers an incentive program in Oklahoma because the state has been a robust area for adoption. At the end of one year, after proving the animal is in good condition and well maintained, $500 is given to the new owner. This amount is roughly the cost per horse to maintain in a long-term holding facility.
Adoptees must have met all standard requirements. There is a $125 up-front adoption fee with a limit of four adoptions per year. Final transfer of ownership does not occur until the end of the first year. This incentive will be expanded to other states if proven satisfactory.
Adopting a Wild Horse Event
State BLM offices, as well as wild horse groups, rescue centers, and volunteers will be engaged in activities leading up to and on September 26 to promote an understanding of and interest in opening new home opportunities to these magnificent animals. One such event will take place in Fort Worth, Texas when The Extreme Mustang Makeover equine competition returns to the Fort Worth Will Rogers Memorial Center, September 18-20, 2009.
From applications received, only 100 qualified trainers are accepted into competition and mustangs are assigned to the trainers. The trainers have 100 days to break, train and prepare the wild horses for competition in the event.
Trained mustangs are judged on conditioning, groundwork, and a “Horse Course” that requires maneuvers and included obstacles found in trail and recreational riding situations. Each trainer also has an opportunity to showcase their animal’s unique talents in a two-minute “freestyle” exhibition.
The winner of the Fort Worth event in 2008 rode his horse through a burning ring of fire, over a teeter-totter! Total purse for the event is $25,000. At the conclusion of the competition, participating Mustangs are available for adoption by competitive bid. Through these events the foundation offers the public a special opportunity to adopt a true Living Legend.
Horse trainer Terri Lindley from Guthrie is one of six selected participants from Oklahoma in the 2009 competition. She was assigned “He's All The Rage” and started work immediately to prepare him for the upcoming competition. Terri broke and trained her first mustang as a young girl of 10. Contact information for her can be obtained from The Extreme Mustang Makeover site.
For more information about the adoption of wild horses and burros, contact the U.S. Bureau of Land Management at 1-866-4-MUSTANGS or visit the website. The day a horseman or horsewoman brings a mustang into their lives is one they will remember forever.
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