The Mustang Heritage Foundation (MHF) recently reached 10,000 wild horse and burro adoptions and sales into private care since the first adoption event in September 2007. This follows a record-breaking year in 2017 when 1,886 animals found homes, a 65% increase over 2016. Over the last 6 months, MHF has witnessed an increase in animal placements and has found homes and training opportunities for over 1,100 animals.
Horses available for adoption
Across the United States, wild horses and burros are placed into the TIP gentling program created and managed by the Mustang Heritage Foundation.
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To keep up with this momentum, the Bureau of Land Management Wild Horse & Burro Program (BLM) recently awarded MHF with additional funding. The majority of the funding will go to the MHF Trainer Incentive Program (TIP), which is responsible for 80% of MHF’s animal placements. Across the United States, wild horses and burros are placed into the TIP gentling program created and managed by the MHF.
Equine trainers involved in this program pick-up a BLM wild horse or burro and gentle it to halter, lead, pick-up all four feet, and load and unload from a trailer. Once the animal has met the gentling requirements the trainer then finds an adopter or purchaser and MHF pays the trainer an incentive of $1,000 per horse and $750 per burro.
“We are very excited about the success we have had with our Trainer Incentive Program. The year over year increases in the adoption numbers are proof of the effectiveness of the program.” said Kali Sublett, Executive Director of the Mustang Heritage Foundation. “With continued funding and even increased funding we are confident that we will be able to get even more animals out of BLM holding, into private care and off the taxpayer’s dime.”
Since 2007 the Mustang Heritage Foundation has been creating innovative events and programs to move gathered mustangs out of BLM holding and into private care. The Extreme Mustang Makeover is a competition event that gives trainers the venue to take a wild horse in 100 days from wild to competition level for prize money. There have been 80 events in cities across the United States over the last 11 years. Youth competitions give 8-17 year olds the opportunity to take a yearling from never been touch to in-hand competition for cash and prizes.
The Trainer Incentive Program has been the most effective and efficient program for gentling and adopting out mustangs and burros. Trainers from across the country can pick up an animal from a BLM Corral and find adoptive homes. Veterans and Mustangs is an 8-week program to help veterans learn horse gentling and training techniques while working to overcome post-military disorders such as PTSD. The America’s Mustang program is a traveling virtual reality experience exhibit working to educate the American public about the horses they own, where they live, what they need to survive and thrive on the Western rangeland for generations to come.
For information on becoming involved in our mission of bringing mustangs home, visit www.mustangheritagefoundation.org. The goal of the MHF is to find a home for every horse in holding.
About the Mustang Heritage Foundation
The primary mission of the Mustang Heritage Foundation is to create and promote programs and activities that provide information and education about wild horses and burros, elevate their image and desirability, provide opportunities to become involved in the wild horse and burro experience and secure adequate numbers of caring homes for excess horses. Working in partnership with the Bureau of Land Management the Mustang Heritage Foundation works to ensure healthy wild herds and rangelands through the placement of excess animals removed from public lands so future generations can enjoy this distinctive part of our American heritage.
As a 501 (C)(3), public, charitable, nonprofit organization, the Mustang Heritage Foundation works to identify and develop sources of private financial funding to further support the mission of the Foundation. For more information visit mustangheritagefoundation.org
About the Bureau of Land Management
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) removes wild horses and burros from public lands to ensure a healthy balance of land and animals. Since 1971, the BLM has placed more than 235,000 wild horses and burros into good homes nationwide. Partnerships, like the Mustang Heritage Foundation, provide the BLM with additional opportunities to place animals into good homes. Interested applicants can attend BLM offsite adoption/sales event, visit a BLM Off-Range Corral, or participate in an Internet adoption/sales event to apply to take a wild horse or burro home! To learn more about the Wild Horse and Burro Program, please call 866-468-7826 or visit BLM.GOV/whb.
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of subsurface mineral estate throughout the nation. The BLM's mission is to manage and conserve America’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations under our mandate of multiple-use and sustained yield.