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BLM holding final wild horse adoption events for the year

Bureau of Land Management
/
U.S. Department of the Interior

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is wrapping up its wild horse adoption events in the coming weeks. This is almost a year after one of the largest roundups in state history.

The BLM held 32 wild horse adoption events in Wyoming since late April. At the adoption event at Cheyenne Frontier Days, 15 horses and burros were available and all were adopted, according to Azure Hall, the public affairs specialist with the Wyoming BLM.

Hall said the goal is to find a home for all the animals, but owning them takes work.

“The amount of training that they need is definitely something that people need to take into consideration,” she said. “You're not just buying a decoration for a farm, because they are originally wild animals.”

The BLM gathered more than 4,000 wild horses last winter in southwest Wyoming, making it one of their largest roundups to date. However, Hall said this did not affect the number of adoption events this year.

“Most of the facilities that we work with that adopt our BLM horses kind of already have their schedule set for the year regardless of roundups,” said Hall.

As of August, there were more than 4,000 horses in the state that have not been adopted and remain in holding facilities, which can include corrals, pastures and training facilities. Wyoming has two wild horses training facilities at the Mantle Ranch and Riverton Prison.

The final three adoption events will be at the Mantle Ranch in Wheatland Sept. 17 and at the Wheatland Off Range Corral Oct. 7 and Oct. 21. Additionally, horses are available for adoption online. Hall added that wild horses are typically offered for adoption three times before going to long-term facilities or eco-sanctuaries permanently.

Hall said there will likely be another wild horse roundup before the end of the year.

Caitlin Tan is the Energy and Natural Resources reporter based in Sublette County, Wyoming. Since graduating from the University of Wyoming in 2017, she’s reported on salmon in Alaska, folkways in Appalachia and helped produce 'All Things Considered' in Washington D.C. She formerly co-hosted the podcast ‘Inside Appalachia.' You can typically find her outside in the mountains with her two dogs.
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