News Release

For Release: Oct. 1, 2002

Contact:  Jeff Fontana (530) 252-5332

CA-N-03-01                                                              

                    

FREE HORSE TRAINING DEMONSTRATIONS COMING TO EUREKA

Wild Horses and Burros Will Be Available for Public Adoption

 

North Coast horse fanciers can get free tips on horse gentling and training techniques, when the U. S. Bureau of Land Management hosts a wild horse and burro adoption event Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 19 and 20, at the Redwood Acres Fairgrounds in Eureka.

 

Trainer Lesley Neuman of Rescue, Calif. 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, designed to build bonds of trust between horse and human. Neuman has extensive experience with wild horses, and has held clinics across the United States.

 

During the adoption event, which runs from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day, 80 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 a preview look at the animals when they arrive at about 2 p.m. Friday, Sept. 18.

 

The adoption event begins with silent bidding from 9 to 10 a.m. Saturday.  Animals not taken during bidding will be available for BLM's standard adoption fee.

 

"We have an excellent selection of horses ranging in age from under a year old to five years old," said Pardee Bardwell, a wild horse and burro specialist for the BLM.    "All the animals have complete health care records.  They are certified healthy, and they are ready to train."

 

To qualify, adopters must be 18 years old (parents can adopt for children) 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.  A six-foot fence built of pipe or boards must surround horse corrals.   Horses under two years old can be kept in a corral with five-foot fences; four-and-a-half-foot fences can surround burro corrals.  Adopters must provide a two-sided shelter, with a roof, to provide cover for extreme weather conditions.

 

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 to the roof.

 

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

 

"Our adopters have great success with their trained wild horses," Bardwell said.  "They are great for pleasure riding, farm and ranch work, and competition.  Adopters use their burros for pets, and some even use them keeping predators, such as coyotes, away from 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.

           

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