The mustang is not a breed of horse, but a name for animals that roam free in the American West that are descended from others brought to the Americas centuries ago by the Spanish.
Often referred to as wild horses (despite their domestic heritage), mustangs became protected in 1971 when Congress passed the Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act and it was signed into law by President Richard Nixon. Since then, the task of managing mustangs has been tended to by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which oversees herds on huge ranges in several states. Without predators to help maintain their numbers, the BLM frequently conducts events that allow citizens to adopt wild horses and donkeys.
One such event occurred last week at Golden Hills Trail Rides and Resort near Raymondville, where 15 mustangs and six burros were up for adoption. In charge of the event’s application and adoption procedure was Steve Meyer, BLM supervisory wild horse and burro specialist for the northeastern states district, whose office in Milwaukee, Wis., oversees mustang issues in a 20-state area.
“We were saddled with the responsibility in 1971, and this is one of the ways we carry out our job,” he said.
Mustangs and burros available at last week’s event came from ranges in Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. Before being brought to Golden Hills and displayed in several sturdy temporary corrals, the animals were gathered at a BLM facility in Ewing, Ill.
The adoption process began with a viewing day Friday and concluded with a first-come-first-served pick-up day Saturday. Meyer said nine applications were received resulting in eight mustangs and four burros getting new homes.
“I’d call that a success for our first time in the middle of nowhere,” he said.
The BLM has several requirements for adoption, including specific corral dimensions and immediate proximity of shelter, and a sizable stock trailer must be used for transportation. Adopters are advised that they might receive a check-up visit from a BLM representative in the future.
“We can’t visit everybody, because we have a three-person staff for 20 states,” Meyer said. “But we’ll check in with some people because it helps us learn and gather information. We’re always learning and doing what we can to improve.”
Meyer said the BLM has adopted out about 230,000 mustangs since the inception of the adoption program, and currently has close to 100,000 in its care (including free-ranging and captive animals). He said that during non-winter months, adoption events take place somewhere in the country about every other week and about once a month in his district.
“We have a lot of horses in captivity,” Meyer said. “We need people to adopt horses and give them good homes.”
Kristen Fontaine was one of two BLM representatives assisting Meyer at Golden Hills. She said the adoption process is crucial to the existence of mustangs, because without it they would destroy their own habitat – and that of many other wild animals.
“Left alone, the herd would double in size about every two to four years,” Fontaine said, “so it needs to be managed in order for everything in a given range area to thrive. If mustangs were allowed to eat themselves out of house and home, they would also be killing off the deer, elk, rabbits and other animals.”
“There are no natural predators for mustangs,” Meyer said, “and there are a lot of animals out there that vie for the same foods they do. The only predator to the mustang is man, so man must keep their herds viable to control their population and their range.”
Fontaine said BLM land management goes beyond mustangs.
“These ranges are federal property, so they’re multi-use,” she said. “The land is for trails for people to go hiking, cattle to graze, hunters to hunt and a lot more. It’s managed so all these entities can cooperate and work together on the same land.
“We’re always working to find a balance so everybody can enjoy the property, because it’s the people’s land.”
Meyer and his “traveling circus,” as he called it, were at Golden Hills in conjunction with the second annual Mustang Family Reunion Ride, a week-long horsemanship event put on by Laura and Eric Dawson of LoneStar L Ranch in Lexington, Texas, in which hundreds of people from around the U.S. gather to learn from numerous renowned trainers, or “clinicians.” Laura Dawson formerly worked with the Mustang Heritage Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping promote the BLM’s wild horse and burro program.
Among the clinicians on hand for the week was Mark Lyon (of Whitesboro, Texas), who accepted an invitation from Meyer to saddle up and ride a wild mustang. Lyon gave the horse its first-ever ride on Tuesday, and rode it again Wednesday.
The second time he worked with the horse (a five-year-old gelding), he had it changing speeds, turning and more or less acting like it wasn’t wild.
“This way it will already be familiar with having a rider on its back when someone adopts it,” Lyon said. “Some people might adopt a mustang in part because they’re completely green, but others might be glad to get one that has had a bit of a head start.”
Meyer – formerly a sailor by trade – was impressed by Lyon’s efforts.
“It’s like the old maritime adage, I know ‘the cut of his jib,’” Meyer said.
Fontaine said about 85 percent of adopted mustangs have no such head start, but that suits most adopters’ intentions.
“Most people who adopt them like the idea that they’re starting with a clean slate and everything they put into the animal they get out,” she said. “Everybody has their own way of doing things, and a lot of our adopters are attracted to being able to start a horse completely fresh and build it into the exact animal they want.”
Meyer said plans are in place for a return to Texas County for another adoption event in 2017. He said the BLM’s ongoing dealings with the nation’s wild mustang herd is a combination of protecting history and the ecosystem in which the animals live, and the adoption process is an integral part of a bigger picture.
“We have a few good horses,” Meyer said. “We’re just looking for a few good homes.”
“We have a few good horses. We’re just looking for a few good homes.”
To view a gallery of photos from last week’s Bureau of Land Management mustang adoption event and the 2015 Mustang Family Reunion Ride horsemanship convention – both at Golden Hills Trail Rides and Resort at Raymondville, MO. – click here:
http://houstonherald.smugmug.com/2015-Mustang-Family-Reunion-Ri/