EAGLE — Wild horses are feeling the effects of the recession, as federal authorities find fewer horse owners willing to take on extra animals.
At a wild horse auction run by the Bureau of Land Management on Saturday in Eagle, only 10 of 39 horses were adopted. Most went for the minimum bid of $125.
The trend is a national one. In 2002, more than 7,700 wild horses were adopted nationwide. Last year, the number was 3,700.
“In today’s economy, horses are more of a luxury than a hobby,” said Fran Ackley, head of the agency’s wild horse and burro program in Colorado. “Right now, we’re just feeding a lot of these horses. Nothing else to do with them.”
About half the wild horses at the auction were gathered from the Sand Wash Basin in northwestern Colorado and the Book Cliffs area north of Grand Junction.
The backlog of unadopted horses is leaving the government with a higher tab to care of them.
Last year, the BLM spent $27 million on housing and caring for unwanted wild horses and burros. Officials say the tab could rise to $85 million by 2012 if private adoptions don’t pick up.
“We’ve got the money for this year and next,” Ackley said. “But after that, I don’t know.”
