Up to 2,000 mustangs will be offered for adoption in Colorado on Sept. 18 by the federal Bureau of Land Management.
The BLM said the adoption is part of National Wild Horse Adoption Day and will take place at the Cañon City Wild Horse Inmate Program.
Among the mustangs are five geldings that were gathered from the Jackson Mountain herd in Nevada in 2007. They were halter-trained by inmates at the Department of Corrections’ East Cañon Correctional Complex.
The five are named after counties in northern Nevada: Churchill, Pershing, Lander, Elko and Humboldt. Churchill, Pershing and Lander are 3 years old; Elko and Humboldt are 4.
The adoption fee for each mustang has been lowered to $125 for the event. Normally, saddle- and halter-trained animals run up to $1,025.
“The Jackson Mountain herd was gathered because the population exceeded the land’s ability to support the horses on the range,” said Fran Ackley, who oversees the BLM horse program in Colorado. “Many of the horses from the Jackson Mountain area are still in holding facilities and awaiting adoption.”
The BLM said almost 37,000 mustangs and burros roam federal lands in the West, which is 10,000 more than the land can support. In order to manage the herds and maintain the land and herd health, the BLM facilitates the adoption of the wild horses and burros.
The BLM’s Cañon City Holding Facility is currently home to 2,000 mustangs.
Since 1973, more than 220,000 wild horses and burros have been adopted.
Prospective adopters must be approved and schedule an appointment by Tuesday. Information about the adoptions is available by calling the BLM in Cañon City at 719-269-8539. Approval is necessary because the adoptions will take place on Department of Correction’s property, a BLM spokesperson said.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
