Wild Horses Blm Sells Animals From Drought-Stricken Region
It was a cold day as occasional snowflakes spiraled down, lighting gently on the warm, shaggy backs of wild horses.
Howard Schmitt, snug in an orange sweat shirt, brown work pants and heavy boots, raised his binoculars to see the numbers around the necks of horses in the far pens.
“It’s a gamble,” he said.
“You could pick a bad one.” Schmitt was one of more than 100 Idaho residents Saturday anxious to become foster parents of at least one of the wild horses rounded up from drought-stricken southern Utah and Nevada.
The Bureau of Land Management organized the adoption proceedings at the Filer fairgrounds.
Adopters pay $125 and gain title to the horse after a year of training it and caring for it.
Schmitt picked out seven horses he wanted, mostly 6-month-olds.
He wanted well-built horses that looked nice.
“You wouldn’t want a big ugly head,” he said.
Parents wanted horses for their children.
Hunters wanted them for trips. Some wanted them for breeding.
About 100 wild horses were up for adoption, and 760 adoption applications had flooded the BLM office, said Richard Wright, a rangeland management specialist.
The adoption was all about chance: first come, first served. Schmitt was low on the list, so he knew his chances were not good.
Real horsemen went for the best-quality horses first. Three of Schmitt’s choices were snapped up by other applicants in the first few minutes of the proceedings. The rest disappeared one by one, until the last one, a 6-month-old colt, was taken after about an hour.
“There it is,” he said, smiling ruefully.
“Now I need to decide whether to pick out another one.”
Schmitt was just one of the disappointed ones, a testament to the popularity of the wild horses, prized not only for their surefootedness and stamina but for their pure natures.
Adopters must be at least 18, a U.S. resident, with no convictions for inhumane treatment of animals. They must have adequate facilities for a horse and be able to financially support it.