Maybe you just want to see a real American Mustang and have no intention of adopting one. Possibly you’re thinking of adopting, but want to see the Mustangs in person before you decide. Just maybe you’ve already made the decision to adopt and have your application in hand, ready for the approval process. An adoption event is scheduled near you and you’re on your way. What can you expect when you get there?
Bureau of Land Management (BLM) adoption events are scheduled throughout the year all across the Country. The current schedule can be found at www.wildhorseandburro.blm.gov or by calling 1-866-4MUSTANGS. Some events are held at BLM holding facilities and others are held at satellite locations around the Country, such as a local fair grounds or livestock arena.
At every adoption event, an office area will be set up. In addition to handling the paperwork of adoption applications and agreements, the BLM employees are there to answer questions about the Mustangs and the adoption process. There will also be brochures and other take home materials for your information. At many adoption sites, there will also be a posting area where people who have experience with Mustangs can post fliers for training the new adoptees, or for hauling them to their new homes if an adopter doesn’t have a trailer or if the adopter’s trailer doesn’t meet BLM requirements. This area is busy with people asking questions and submitting applications for adoptions.
Some adoption events also have activities going on for both entertainment and education. At various events there have been Natural Horsemanship demonstrations, Mustang and Burro Club booths, and occasionally even some previously adopted Mustangs that demonstrate just how gentle and talented these animals can be with the right care and training. At most adoptions, previous adopters are around to answer questions and share their success stories either formally or informally.
Most adoptions are three-day weekend events. Friday is usually a preview day when visitors and potential adopters can view the animals in the pens. Adoptions usually begin Saturday morning and continue through Sunday afternoon.
The Mustangs, and possibly a few burros or mules, will be sorted into groups in pens based on age and sex. Each horse will have a thin rope around its neck with a heavy plastic ID tag on it. This is known as the “neck number” and it uniquely identifies that particular Mustang. Each Mustang also has a freeze brand on the left side of its neck near the mane. This freeze brand’s symbols tell the year of birth and the registration number, the last four digits of which are on the neck tag.
Outside each pen, there will usually be a listing of all animals in that pen by neck number. Beside each neck number, there may be other information about the horse, such as if it is gelded, halter broke, or even green broke. A few such animals are actually available at some adoptions. The training usually takes place as part of a prison program where the inmates earn the privilege of working in the Mustang program. Most Mustangs however, will be truly wild and totally untouchable on the day of adoption.
After a short preview period on Saturday, the adoption begins. There are at least three possible formats for an adoption: competitive bidding, lottery, and first come first served.
If it is a competitive bidding adoption, each Mustang will be up for bids starting at $125. If only one person bids, the adoption fee is $125. If more than one person wants that horse, competitive bidding ensues. If the Mustang is a pinto, buckskin, or other coveted color the price may go up to several hundred dollars, but usually it settles into the $125 to $250 range. A 2003 BLM publication, Adopting a Wild Horse or Burro states, “Since March 1997, when competitive bid regulations were approved, the average adoption fee has been about $185 for horses, $135 for burros, and $160 for mules.”
A lottery adoption is not competitive. Any horse can be adopted for the base $125 fee, or $250 for a mare and her unweaned foal. Depending upon the site, either the adopters will draw numbers, or each adopter’s name or assigned adoption number will be drawn to determine the order of choosing. Having multiple choices ready is a good idea at any adoption, but it is especially important at a lottery format adoption since your first, second, or even third choice could be taken before your chance to choose comes.
At a competitive bidding or lottery adoption, animals that were not adopted through the initial selection process remain available on a first come first served basis throughout the weekend.
The final format, a first come first served adoption, is exactly what it sounds like. Once adoptions begin, all Mustangs are available for the base fee and will be adopted out on a first come first served basis.
Regardless of the adoption format, many events will offer “specials”. One example might be getting a second Mustang for $25 after paying the full adoption fee for the first. Other specials have included adopting a mare and getting her unweaned foal for no extra fee or even occasionally a two for one deal on any two Mustangs. Availability of specials varies and depends on population numbers in the holding facilities at that time.
As soon as the first few Mustangs have been adopted, activity will pick up in the office area as the new adopters begin filing in to complete their adoption agreements, pick up their horse’s identification and health records, and prepare to take their new Mustangs home.
The holding pens will start getting very active as well. Adopted Mustangs have to be sorted from the pens and moved towards the loading area. Experienced BLM wranglers separate and move the horses through a series of chutes, lanes, or pens without ever having to touch them. This can be very interesting to watch. Some horses will move along quietly as if they were born in a barn. Others will be more fearful and charge into the fences and panels that are, fortunately, designed to withstand such treatment. A skilled wrangler will apply just the right pressure to each Mustang to move it along fast enough, but not frighten it into a panic.
Once in the loading area, each adopted Mustang goes into a chute where the neck tag is cut off and the adopter’s halter and attached lead rope are placed on the Mustang’s head. Haltering is not mandatory, but is a service provided by BLM if the adopter wants their animal haltered. Some adoption facilities allow the adopter to keep the neck tag as a memento, but some do not. Finally, the chute is opened and the horse is loaded in the adopter’s trailer. As soon as one trailer pulls away from the loading chute, another backs in ready to load the next Mustang.
Throughout Saturday and Sunday this sorting, moving, haltering, and loading continue until all adopted animals have been loaded up and sent on to their new homes. Not all of the Mustangs will be adopted though. If the adoption is held at a satellite location, the unclaimed Mustangs must be loaded back into the semi trailers that brought them there, to return to a BLM holding facility where they will stay until the next adoption opportunity.
A BLM Mustang adoption event’s main purpose is, of course, to get the Mustangs out of the BLM holding facilities and into approved homes. However, it is also an event that can be enjoyed by just about anyone. It’s an opportunity to see a real American Mustang up close and personal and just maybe it will be the inspiration for visitors at this event to become adopters at the next one.
