The Bureau of Land Management and the Nevada Department of Corrections hosted this year’s first of four annual saddle-trained horse adoption events on Saturday at Northern Nevada Correction Center, where 14 wild horses and one wild burro were auctioned.
The animals were gathered from herd management areas within BLM administered public lands in Nevada, Utah, Wyoming and California. They were saddle-trained for four months by inmate trainers in the Northern Nevada Correctional Center program. Bidders paid a total of $15,050; the starting bids for all animals was $150. The event’s top bid of $3,000 went for a 5-year-old gelding named Skipper. The average bidding price for each horse was $1,003.
Successful bidders must show diligent care of each animal for a year before they can apply to receive a title of ownership. Since 1973, the BLM has placed more than 230,000 horses and burros into private ownership through the adoption program.
The next saddle-trained horse adoption and competitive auction event will be held May 30 at Northern Nevada Correctional Center.
For more information, go to http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/carson_city_field/blm_programs/wild_horse_and_burro.html.