Greener pastures
Published 5:40 am Thursday, June 2, 2022
- In this March 10, 2021, file photo, two Salt River wild horses kick up dust as they arrive at a site for emergency feeding run by the Salt River Wild Horse Management Group near Coon Bluff in the Tonto National Forest near Mesa, Ariz.
Even in a tamed-down 21st-Century American landscape that’s still mostly rural, more than a few wild horses still roam. This weekend in Cullman, some of them will start a new journey — one that coexists with new human owners — as the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) holds a wild horse and burro placement event at the Cullman County Agricultural Trade Center.
The event is from 8 a.m. -5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday from 8 a.m.-1 p.m.
Approx. 75 wild horses and burros available for adoption or sale.
A work of the BLM’s Adoption Incentive Program, the event will take place at the Trade Center on Friday, June 3 and Saturday, June 4 as part of the Bureau’s larger effort to improve rangeland health and cull overpopulated wild herds by finding domestic homes for eligible stock.
It’s not exactly an auction: The program isn’t aimed at driving up competing bids. Rather, the Cullman auction will feature approximately 70 horses and burros taken from western rangelands, and they’ll be available to qualified owners either for a usually-modest sale price (under the Bureau’s sale program for older animals), or for an adoption fee of $125 per animal.
According to the agency, which operates under the U.S. Department of the Interior, qualified local adopters “are eligible to receive a $1,000 incentive payment upon title issuance for an untrained wild horse or burro.” It’s an incentive aimed at giving a second life to wild equine healthy enough for life in a domestic setting, but it comes with stipulations: “Adopters and buyers must be at least 18 years old and be able to verify they can provide access for the animal to feed, water, and adequate shelter,” BLM explains, and animals obtained at the event must be transported from the Ag Center in an approved trailer.
Training wild horses will be a part of the deal for any local farmer or rancher who wants to adopt mustangs and burros under the BLM’s placement program — but, says the agency, that comes with its own benefits. “Wild horses are known for their sure-footedness, strength, intelligence, and endurance. With kindness and patience, these animals can adapt successfully to become wonderful equine partners for work or pleasure,” BLM noted in a press release.
Since the program’s start in 1971, BLM has placed more than 240,000 wild horses and burros into private care, according to the agency. “Many of those animals have become excellent pleasure, show, or work horses,” BLM Southeastern States district manager Robert Swithers said in the release.
The placement event is open to the public, and features educational showings that are available by appointment. Visit https://www.blm.gov/programs/wild-horse-and-burro/adoption-and-sales to learn more about the program, including answers to frequently-asked questions about adopting or purchasing a wild horse or burro.
