07/11/2008
MUSTANG FOUNDATION STAGES EXTREME EVENTS TO PROTECT AMERICA’S WILD MUSTANGS
Amidst the Bureau of Land Management’s recent release of a proposal to euthanize thousands of America’s wild mustangs, the Mustang Heritage Foundation is building on the success of its pilot program to increase the number of mustangs being placed into private care.
Currently, the MHF is preparing for its second annual Extreme Mustang Makeover in September, expected to match 400 young and mature horses with trainers and families – more than doubling the efforts of the pilot program that began last year. In September 2007, MHF’s Extreme Mustang Makeover event in Fort Worth, Texas, matched 100 wild horses with 100 trainers and within 100 days these trainers prepared the wild horses for a horse course and free-style riding competition. Through this event, every competing horse was adopted at an average price of $2,300 – a far cry from the government’s minimum fee of $125.
“This was an event the likes of which BLM had never seen,” said Patti Colbert, executive director of the MHF. “It was standing room only that created a complete sense of exhilaration and admiration for the horse and trainers. We are now preparing for the 2008 competition that will be held this September – and have more than doubled the size with 200 horses and 200 trainers plus another 200 yearlings matched with young trainers and their families. The overall prize money has also increased to $70,000.”
Since the pilot programs began in September 2007, MHF has held two other Mustang Challenge events – one in Madison, Wis., and the other in Sacramento, Calif. –, which resulted in 85 adoptions. MHF will hold at least six Challenge events this year and continues to identify additional opportunities, where this successful program is set to generate more adoptions.
MHF’s pilot program has received accolades from conservationists, horsemen and ranchers. The foundation is responsible for placing nearly 1,000 horses in its first 12 months of active programs – a staggering number when compared to the less than 2,400 animals the BLM has adopted during the current fiscal year.
Nearly 26,000 Mustangs roam federal lands across the country. In order to manage the herds and maintain both land and herd health, the BLM oversees the adoption of wild horses and burros through public adoptions held throughout the United States. Since 1973, more than 219,000 wild horses and burros have been adopted.
(512) 355-3225; mustangheritagefoundation.org
