Wild Horses and Burros Will Be Available for Public Adoptions

Northern California horse fanciers can get free tips on horse gentling techniques, when the U. S. Bureau of Land Management hosts a wild horse and burro adoption event Saturday and Sunday,Oct. 21 and 22,  at the Solano County Fairgrounds, Vallejo.

Trainer Lesley Newman of Rescue  will work with wild mustangs from the BLM adoption pens during the two-day event.  She will demonstrate the basic steps in resistance-free training methods.

During the adoption event, 60 wild horses and 20 wild burros will be available for public adoption for a fee of $125 each.  The BLM recently gathered the animals from California and Nevada rangelands to keep wild populations in balance with other range users.  Anyone interested can get an early look at the animals when they arrive at about 2 p.m. Friday, Oct. 20.

"We have an excellent selection of horses ranging in age from under a year old to five years old," said Rich Burns, manager of BLM's Ukiah Field Office, which is organizing the adoption event.    "We will also feature three horses that have been gentled by prison inmates in a vocational horse training program."

The adoption event runs from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day.  The event opens Saturday morning with two hours of competitive bidding.  Animals not taken during the bidding will be available for BLM's standard adoption fee of $125 per animal.To qualify, adopters must be 18 years old (parents can adopt for children), a U. S. resident, and have the ability and financial means to care for a wild horse or burro.

Title to adopted animals remains with the U. S. government for one year.  After providing a year of good care, adopters receive title.

At home, adopters must provide a corral with a minimum of 400 square feet of living space, required until the animal is gentled.  Horse corrals must be surrounded by a six-foot fence built of pipe or boards.   Horses under two years old can be kept in a corral with five-foot fences;  burro corrals can be surrounded by four-and-a-half-foot fences.

Horses must be transported from the adoption event in a covered stock truck or trailer equipped with swinging gates.  Two-horse trailers are allowed only for horses under a year old and for burros.  The center divider must be removed and the gates must extend fully to the roof.

BLM wranglers will halter and load adopted animals with halters and lead ropes provided by adopters.

"Our adopters have great successes with their trained wild horses," Burns said.  "They are great for pleasure riding, farm and ranch work, and competition.  Adopters use their burros for pets, and some find them useful for guarding livestock."

Wild horses and burros are protected by federal law recognizing them as "living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the west."  The BLM reduces wild populations when necessary to keep wild herds in balance with wildlife and livestock that use the range.  This ensures that the plants and water on which the animals depend will not be over-used.

This year, even more horses than normal are being removed, because rangelands in many areas of the west have been damaged by drought or wildfire.  The BLM must find adoptive homes for 4,000 animals displaced by damaged ranges, in addition to the animals removed for population management reasons.

For additional information on the adoption event or wild horses and burro management, call the BLM at (707) 468-4000.

-BLM-

                 Northern California Support Team | 2950 Riverside Dr.  Susanville, CA  96130