Bureau of Land Management hosts wild horse adoption event

The Bureau of Land Management and the Nevada Department of Corrections teamed up to hold a wild horse adoption event Oct. 12 at the Northern Nevada Correctional Center. 

Thirty-five bidders who went through a pre-qualification assessment and adopters from all across the United States were in attendance. 

Twenty-one horses and a burro that were saddle-started from herd-management areas in Nevada, California and Oregon BLM public lands and were trained for approximately four months were adopted. 

“The weather was nice, and the turn-out by the public was great for this event,” said Ruth Thompson, BLM Nevada Wild Horse and Burro Lead. “To see what the inmates and the animals accomplished ensures that the horses and burro are going to good homes, where they will be able to use their training for any job they are asked to do.” 

Successful bidders paid a combined total of $74,550 for the animals. Bids started at $150. The average saddle-trained wild horse averaged $3,502 each, with an exception for the highest bid on “Remington,” a three-year-old, 15-hand Gary Gelding from the Roberts Mountain herd management area in Eureka County. The burro, named Jennifer, a three-year- old female, was adopted for $1,000. 

After properly caring for their animals for one year, the adopters will be eligible to receive the title/ownership documentation from the federal government. The BLM uses its adoption program as a primary tool to place these animals into private care. The animals available for adoption typically come from overpopulated herds on public lands where available vegetation and water can become scarce as populations grow. There are no natural predators that can effectively control wild horse and burro population growth on public lands. The BLM has successfully placed over 313,000 wild horses and burros into private care since 1971. The next saddle-trained adoption will be held Feb. 22, 2025. 

The next wild horse gathering will be Nov. 1 at the Triple B Complex located in the BLM Elko and Ely districts on public lands administered by the Wells and Bristlecone field offices.

The BLM states, “The purpose of the gather is to prevent undue or unnecessary degradation of the public lands associated with excess wild horses, to restore a thriving natural ecological balance and multiple-use relationship on public lands, consistent with the provisions of Section 1333(b) of the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act.” 

The agency added, “Removing excess animals would also enable significant progress toward achieving the Standards for Rangeland Health identified by the Northeastern Great Basin Resource Advisory Council. The action is also necessary to reduce overpopulation of wild horses within and outside the Complex, where there currently is not enough water and/or forage to support the number of horses in the area, and to prevent further degradation of public lands by helping to balance herd size.”

The BLM will utilize the help of a helicopter contractor to gather up to 2,255 wild horses and remove up to 2,155 excess horses. Up to 50 mares will be treated with the population suppression vaccine “GonaCon” and released back with 50 stallions.