KBR Wild Horse and Burro News

Horse Agency Develops Fresh Approaches

  BLM Inaugurates "Wild Horse U."
Story date: April 15, 2006
Wild horse volunteers gentle wild horses and burros
Palomino Valley, NV
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) administers millions of acres of public lands throughout the west. On those lands range several thousand free-roaming horses and burros. When the agency determines that populations of these animals have exceeded what the range can sustain, excess animals are removed. In accordance with federal law, healthy animals are made available to private citizens who have appropriate corrals and shelters and wish to adopt them.

Since the adoption program began the BLM has placed over 210,000 animals in private care or with other government agencies that use horses. These animals have become pleasure horses, competition horses, police horses and even cavalry mounts for Army and Marine Corps mounted parade units.

The BLM and most wild horse groups agree that it is important for these animals to be placed with appropriate and caring adopters who have some understanding as to the dynamics of bringing home, gentling and training a wild animal. One answer that addressed this issue involved an experiment between the BLM and Least Resistance Training Concepts, a non-profit educational group. This experiment was called "Wild Horse U."

In April, 2006, interested volunteers tuned up their gentling skills and came out to BLM's National Wild Horse and Burro Center in Palomino Valley, north of Reno, NV, to work with many of the animals scheduled for adoption. In fact a couple of participants came from as far away as Florida. These wild horse mentors were able to work with a variety of animals and just as importantly, potential adopters could see what the animals were like prior to bidding to adopt them.

Wild Horse U is just one of several programs that the BLM is developing to modernize its relationship with wild horse groups and to more proactively engage wild horse and burro adopters with a goal of placing more animals in better quality private care.

A rather wild pinto needs to run around for a bit.
"First touch."
This burro gets comfortable around people.
A colt gets used to having his feet picked up.
This participant from California seems to have found the horse she wants.

To view a more complete photo collage of the horses and burros gentled at Wild Horse U
please Click Here

Go to the Wild Horse U Site

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