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How to Rescue a Wild Mustang

Mustangs are the feral horses of America. Their pedigree is not entirely known, but most likely they descend from Spanish steeds --- the first horses to "re-colonize" the continent after the extinction of prehistoric species, dispersed both by the Spaniards and later American Indian horse cultures. As of 2009, the Bureau of Land Management --- which administers the steppe, desert and mountain country where most mustangs are found --- estimated there are more than 30,000 wild horses in the country, scattered over Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada (with the most), New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Wyoming. To regulate herd numbers, the BLM periodically rounds up mustangs and auctions them to private individuals. You can give one of these vigorous creatures a new home, while supporting range management.

Instructions

- 1
  Make sure that you qualify to adopt a mustang from the BLM. The agency requires that applicants be 18 years or older, be free of animal-abuse convictions or any transgressions against the federal Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act and be able to provide the infrastructure and resources to properly take care of the horse.
- 2
  Provide the required facilities. The BLM lays out specific guidelines for these, including a minimum space of 400 square feet for each adopted mustang, six-foot-high enclosures for adult horses until they are fence-broken and corrals built from pipes, poles or planks of at least 1.5-inch thickness.
- 3
  Apply to the BLM for a mustang adoption once you're certain you qualify and can provide for the animal. Applications can be submitted by mail to the pertinent BLM office --- the one administering your particular region --- or through the online system.
- 4
  Pay an adoption fee. As of 2010, the BLM set a minimum opening bid of $125 per single horse and $250 for a mare and foal pair. In a competitive-bidding situation, the ending price may be higher. As of 2010, you may adopt up to the four mustangs in a one-year period from the BLM, or apply for special permission to take on more.
- 5
  
  Recently rounded up feral horses will not be used to people.
  
  Prepare yourself for the challenges of breaking and managing a formerly free-roaming mustang. Depending on the horse's disposition, you may have plenty of work cut out for you to earn the creature's trust and devotion. Keep in mind that these horses grew up in semi-arid wilderness, covering huge swaths of country and dealing with equine herd dynamics. It won't be an overnight transformation.

Nature