For Immediate Release: June 17, 2008

Contact: Jaime Gardner, 303-239-3681; Fran Ackley, 719-269-8511

BLM offers mustangs & burros for adoption

Montrose, CO — The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will offer 35 mustangs and burros for adoption Saturday, June 28 at the Montrose County Fairgrounds. This includes 30 mustangs under the age of five years, including some that have been halter or saddle trained, and a few burros.

Registration for the adoption will be from 5-8 p.m. on June 27 and from 8:30 – 10:30 a.m. on June 28. The silent bid adoption will take place on June 28 from 10:30 – 11:30 a.m., with a minimum bid for untrained animals of $125. Opportunities for viewing will be concurrent with registration times. Mustangs and burros that are not adopted during the silent bidding will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.

The mustangs offered for adoption will be from herds in Colorado and Wyoming, while the burros are from herds in California or Arizona. BLM mustangs are known for their trainability and unique coloring, which includes gray, buckskin, palomino, appaloosa, roan, and pinto. All of these animals are certified healthy, have been de-wormed, vaccinated (including West Nile), and come with a complete set of health care records.

Adopters must be at least 18 years old, have the ability and financial means to care for a mustang or burro, and have corrals that meet BLM specifications: Fully grown horses must be kept in a corral with a minimum of 400 square feet (20 feet by 20 feet) per animal that is surrounded by a six-foot pipe or board fence. Five-foot fences are allowed for trained horses and those less than 18 months of age. Four-and-one-half-foot fences are required for all burros. Wire fencing is not allowed because it endangers the animals. Animals cannot be released into large pastures until they can be approached, handled, haltered, and led.

Mustangs and burros are well known for their inherent traits of intelligence, loyalty, stamina, sure-footedness, and soundness. Throughout the 37-year BLM Wild Horse and Burro program, adopted mustangs and burros have found their way into the hearts of thousands of recreational riders and show arenas in both Western and English specialties, dressage competition, and endurance rides, as well as ranch work.

Please contact the BLM Royal Gorge Field Office at 719-269-8539 for an adoption application, or go to www.blm.gov/co and click on the Wild Horse & Burro link at the bottom of the page, for more information.

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