BLM to hold wild horse adoption near Meeker

MEEKER, Colo – The Bureau of Land Management’s White River Field Office will host a wild horse and burro adoption Saturday, Sept. 30 at the Yellow Creek Corrals, 30 miles west of Meeker, Colo.

Registration for the adoption and horse viewing will be from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Sept. 29 and from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. on Sept. 30. Bidding will begin at 9:30 a.m. on Sept. 30.

“We will feature a nice selection of about 25 animals including studs, mares, and yearlings recently gathered from the Piceance/East Douglas Herd Management Area near Meeker,” said Fran Ackley, Wild Horse and Burro Program lead for BLM Colorado. “Most animals will be 5 years of age and younger.”

These horses are predominately bay, black, sorrel, and brown but there is also a mixture of gray, buckskin, palomino and pinto. Their size typically ranges from 14 to 15 hands at maturity.

The event will be conducted as a silent-bid adoption. The minimal bid for each animal is $125. Loading will begin at approximately 11:30 a.m., once bidding has concluded. Any animals remaining after the adoption will be transported to the Canon City holding facility.

The Yellow Creek Corrals are approximately 30 miles west of Meeker on County Road 20.

For further information regarding the adoption, contact the White River Field Office, (970) 878-3800. Interested groups or individuals may also contact BLM at 1-866-4-MUSTANG. For more information about adopting a wild horse, log on to http://www.wildhorseandburro.blm.gov.

Federal law authorizes the BLM to remove wild horses and burros from the range to control herd sizes; those animals removed are cared for in holding facilities and thousands are placed into private ownership through adoption each year. The BLM manages wild horses and burros under the authority of the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act.
Since 1973, the BLM’s adoption program has placed more than 213,000 animals into private care.

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