Howdy Wranglers and cowboys:

There are thousands of free ranging wild horses ( and donkeys ) on public lands in the west, multiplying at the rate of 18% per year, competing with the wild game for feed. There are 24,000 in Nevada, 7,000 in California, 5,000 or more in Wyoming for example. They are protected by law. The public cannot capture, shoot, slaughter, molest them. They are the symbol of pioneer and national spirit.

The BLM Bureau of Land Management rounds them up, holds them for 90 days, examines their teeth, gives them shots and them disperses them throughout the USA to specific locations where they are auctioned off. You can bid on these horses by requesting an application and having it approved. You must be 18 years old, have adequate facilities and the capability of caring for the horse ( or donkey ) . The BLM website is:

www.adoptahorse.blm.gov/

The minimum bid/deposit is $125. Locations and dates are listed at the website. On the day before the bid you can go to the auction site and examine the horses. Then on the day of the bid you can bid in person. Some horses do not receive a bid. If so, on the day following you can go and "buy" the horse for the minimum bid fee of $125. Many horses go for $125 to $250. A few good looking horses with popular colors, crowd pleasers, may go up to $600 but that is about the upper limit. Unsold horses are trucked to a holding facility in Tennessee east of the Mississippi and Oklahoma west of the river. There are numerous unsold horses now in those facilities that can be "bought" for the minimum $125.

The horse has to be picked up and hauled in a horse/stock trailer that is a double for one single horse. It must have a side swing gate or door and not a drop gate or ramp. The BLM will not load a horse in a ramp trailer. They will send you home. The horses are wild. They are not halter trained and not saddle broke in most cases. They jump into a ramp trailer and they kick. The BLM is concerned about your getting kicked when you stoop to lift a ramp. And they may jump or bolt when unloading. I f you do not like the looks of your horse on the pickup day you may leave it without penalty.

You must have a 6 foot high wood or pipe corral. It should be 20' x 20' to 30' x 30' for the most ideal gentling. A 50' x 50' will take longer to gentle. There must be a shelter adjacent to the corral. Mares "rule the roost" in the wild.. They can be "moody" when broken. Stallions, when gelded, gentle better, have a better disposition and handle better than the mares and they are preferred.

The horses have a variety of color description like "palomino" or " appaloosa" but that does not imply that they are pure breeds. They have been running wild, co-mingling and interbreeding. Most are not the splotched "paints" or "pintos' like Indian ponies.

It costs from $500 to $1,000 a year to feed and care for a horse and that can go higher in some parts of the country and when boarding.
For a period of one year you cannot trade, sell, slaughter, mistreat, abuse or otherwise transfer title. After one year, and the satisfaction of the BLM, you will then get clear, free title. You one it.

It will be interesting to hear your opinions of the program. Your youngsters can obtain brochures from the BLM to give out to friends and interested parties. You will be helping out to clear the land for the benefit to the wild game.

Thanks Pardners;

Kendall Dace

I'm sure I will be flamed to a crisp, but as one who has lived in Nevada and Arizona, and seen the destruction of the range and damage to wildlife, I feel that the Wild Horse and Burro act should be scrapped, and the dog food companies can go back to keeping the populations down. I have seen waterholes fouled so badly by wild horses, that cattle and game refuse to drink from them. I have scouted out area that held good herds of Mule deer, only to find that those damn horses have moved it, and the deer driven out. The only symbols those ragtail pieces of dog food are to me, is that we hunters and other lovers of real wildlife have been boondoggled and screwed over by a little old lady in tennis shoes and the stupid ass kids she got to write Congress.
Good deer areas have been ruined, and Bighorn sheep in the Grand Canyon area have beed decimated by the burros in that area.
I have no problem with a few wild horses and burros. They can be a thrilling sight out on the open range. But when they become detrimental to the natural wildlife indigenous to the area, then as far as I am concerned, the horses and burros can go.
I'll give one example. A small canyon located in north central Nevada held a nice herd of mule deer. Good feed. Plenty of water from a year round spring that kept a basin full of clean fresh water. We scouted it in August. Plenty of deer sign, and saw a few animals. Come September, a herd of horses had moved in. Still saw a few deer. Come hunting season, in October, no deer sign anywhere, no horses either, Ground was as bare as a baby's bottom, brush that the deer fed upon broken and dying. The spring was still running, but the pond was fouled with horse droppings and stank of urine.
Before someone tells me, well the deer just migrated, horse poop! That canyon held a year round resident deer herd. There were always deer there. We hunted it every year for over six years.
Frankly, I hope Wild Horse Annie is burning in hell for the damage she caused to be done to the enviornment.
Flame away gang, but you won't change my mind on this issue.
Paul B.

Kendall,
I appreciate what you posted on the mustangs. My family happens to own 2. Actually the colt is out of a mustang mare & stud. He was born 4 days after we got his mother from one of the competitive bid adoptions. We had to get rid of mamma but the baby stayed. My other mustang is about 5 years old & she came from the herd over by Rawlins Wyoming.
In my opinion mustangs make about the best mountain horses anyone could want. Mine is about l4 hands tall and does't go 900 lbs. Me & my saddle together go about 255 - 260 lbs. She carries me in the mountains all day long and does not stop until I stop her. She rides and packs. I have a picture of a little 4 year old girl riding her & I wish you could see the joy on her face.
My advice to someone thinking about adoption would be to not get a horse over 2 years old. They are much easier to train.

Paul B.
As you can tell from my post I am very pro mustang but I will in no way try to change your mind ot flame you. I think if I did the would invalidate your feelings & opinions. I think if anybody flames someone for stating their opinion it shows something wrong on their part.
I do heartily agree with Kendall's last statement. Adopting out the horses gets them off the range and clears up more resources for game.

Best Wishes to All,
WyoJoe

Paul H and WyoJoe:

Appreciate your comments. Thanks.

The amount of damage the mustangs causes is controversial and it is spotty. There are areas where they interfere and places that they do not. The Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range, in Wyoming, is 47,000 acres on the western side of Big Horn Canyon. It was established in 1968 and it was the first in the nation. Pryor Mountains desert supports 3 herds in an area with a carrying capacity of 120 horses. The BLM removes 25-30 horses every other year. Prior to 1971 many horses were rounded up and taken to ranches or the glue factory. After 1971, when it became illegal to harass or kill them, the herds began to grow rapidly 20% per year and they competed with the Mule Deer and Big Horn Sheep.

Most wild horses in the west are mixed origin . Some were primarily domestic horses released by ranchers, but some are Spanish Mustangs brought by the Spaniards in the 16th century and there has been very little interbreeding in the Pryor Mountains. The purity is distinctive by the coloration that includes dun, blue roan, grulla and sabino. Most have dark manes and tails. Others have dark leg banding and a dark line running down the back. Many of these horses remain out of sight in box canyons but you can see some of the tame ones along the road between Horseshoe Bend and Layout Creek Ranger Station.

There are about 3,000 wild horses in the Red Desert of southwestern Wyoming. Two other National wild horse preserves/ranges now exist in Nevada and Colorado.

In the 19th century there were 60 million bison ranging in the west. And they co-existed with the mule deer, elk and antelope.

Yellowstone Park is 63 miles by 54 miles and covers 2.2 million acres. There are 2,500 bison and 30,000 elk that summer in the park. Approximately 15,000 elk winter over. The snowmobiles have proliferated and track all over. They make trails that the bison will follow and the bison and elk leave the park invading ranches in Montana and Idaho. Were it not for those trails the bison would remain in the park. The bison then compete on the ranches for feed. And the ranchers are alarmed that the bison will bring bruscellosis.

In the late 1908's there was a special "hunt" that allowed hunters to shoot bison that wandered from the park. Wouldn't you know it. After a big public outcry the job was turned over to the Montana State Division of Livestock. In the heavy snow winter of 1996-97 1,100 stone bison were slaughtered cutting the park herd by one third.

Before there was a National Elk Refuge, just outside of Jackson, winter kills of elk saw carcasses piled on each other for a mile. Now the elk are fed over the winter. I believe it in on the order of 30 tons a day of alfalfa pellets. And it is financed partially by the Boy Scouts sale of elk antlers picked up on the reserve.

If you come to some of the ranchers haystacks in December they will be ringed with 5 dozen mule deer all munching away.

This year the reports are that the elk herds are way above Game and Fish desired levels and mule deer are at or above. This is due to a couple of mild winters.

So, it all depends on management, control, weather and I guess a little bit of luck. But we do need to move some horses. Hopefully you fellows will be able to spread the word and get these mustangs moving into good homes.

Kendall Dace

I agree that a mustang can be an excellent mountain/trail horse. However, they are not for just anyone. I know several people who do well with them and a few where the mustang is still wild as the owner is not competent to manage one. If you are able and willing to spend many hours, it can be very rewarding. As far as destruction of habitat, just like any species, too many is not good.

WyoJoe, what happened with the mare? I thought that you were required to keep the animals for a period of time before you had "official" ownership. At least that is what I'm told as I have to certify the care of adopted mustangs occasionally on a form sent from the BLM.

MFH

MFH,
The mare went back to the BLM. You are allowed to do that. She would not retain anything we taught her and she tried to kick. She kicked me and almost broke my hip. She was a 4 year old and that is one reason I think if someone is adopting they should look at one of the younger horses.
A friend of mine is into mustangs and he is the one who got me started on them. All of his horses are mustangs. He has on so gentle any kid can ride her.
I agree with you it takes an experienced hand. Fortunately the BLM reconizes this and is offering clinics & such.
They make great horses. There are several military outfits that use them as colorguard horses. Also a world ranked dressage horse "J.B. Andrew" is a mustang. Also one of LBJ's secret service agents rode a mustang gelding. It was one of the few horses that could keep up with him.
I was riding my mare in the mountains and had stopped for lunch. Some mt. bike riders came down the trail and the horses spooked. My mustang handled it better than my friend's Quarter Horse
I would like to see more people get involved in the adoption.

Best Wishes,
WyoJoe