Honor Farm Training Program
...about the BLM & Mustangs
WILD HORSE & BURRO MANAGEMENT
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) protects, manages, and controls wild horses and burros under the authority of the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 to ensure that healthy herds thrive on healthy rangelands. The BLM manages these living symbols
of the Western spirit as part of its multiple-use mission under the
1976 Federal Land Policy and Management Act.
One of the BLM’s key responsibilities under the 1971 law is to determine the “appropriate management level” (AML) of wild horses and burros on the public rangelands. These animals have virtually no natural predators and their herd sizes can double about every four years.
As a result, about 29,000 wild horses and burros roam BLM-managed lands in 10 Western states, a population that exceeds by about 2,500 the number that can exist in balance with other public rangeland resources and uses. Droughts and wildfires also have a determining factor in the number of wild horses and burros that must be removed yearly.
To help restore the balance, the BLM gathers some wild horses and burros and offers them for adoption or sale to individuals and groups willing and able to provide humane, long-term care.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) protects, manages, and controls wild horses and burros under the authority of the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 to ensure that healthy herds thrive on healthy rangelands. The BLM manages these living symbols
of the Western spirit as part of its multiple-use mission under the
1976 Federal Land Policy and Management Act.
One of the BLM’s key responsibilities under the 1971 law is to determine the “appropriate management level” (AML) of wild horses and burros on the public rangelands. These animals have virtually no natural predators and their herd sizes can double about every four years.
As a result, about 29,000 wild horses and burros roam BLM-managed lands in 10 Western states, a population that exceeds by about 2,500 the number that can exist in balance with other public rangeland resources and uses. Droughts and wildfires also have a determining factor in the number of wild horses and burros that must be removed yearly.
To help restore the balance, the BLM gathers some wild horses and burros and offers them for adoption or sale to individuals and groups willing and able to provide humane, long-term care.
The BLM has developed a successful program with state prison “honor” farms which benefits both the mustangs
and the inmates. The mustangs and their honor prisoner trainers learn life lessons from each other. Mustangs that have been
trained by this method are then
offered for adoption to the general public.
offered for adoption to the general public.
Recently, the BLM worked cooperatively with the Mustang
Heritage Foundation to create the first “Extreme Mustang Makeover”. 100 mustangs were to be trained by 100 trainers in 100 days.
This program was such a great success that future Mustang Makeovers” are already being planned. Western Horseman magazine published
an article about some of the trainers an their mustangs in the Oct. 2007 issue.
You can learn more about:
Mustang Adoption by visiting: www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/wild_horse_and_burro.1.html
Mustang Adoption by visiting: www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/wild_horse_and_burro.1.html
Extreme Mustang Makeover program at: www.mustangheritagefoundation.org
