Prison trained wild horse auction a success in Carson City

More than $43,000 was paid for trained wild horses during an auction held Saturday at the Northern Nevada Correctional Center.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Nevada Department of Corrections–Silver State Industries hosted the first of this year’s three saddle-trained horse adoption events.

Seventeen wild horses from ranges on BLM-administered public lands in Nevada and Utah were saddle-trained for approximately four months by inmate trainers in the NNCC program, and offered during a competitive-bid adoption. Successful bidders paid a $43,350 for the animals.

The event’s top bid of $6,000 went for a seven-year-old sorrel gelding named “Sancho.” The average bidding price for each horse was $2,550.

The successful bidders officially adopted their new horses. After properly caring for their horses for one year, the adopters are eligible ownership.

The BLM uses its adoption program as the primary tool to place wild horses into private care. The horses or burros available for adoption come from overpopulated herd management areas where vegetation and water could become scarce if too many animals, including wildlife and livestock, use the area.

The BLM has placed more than 230,000 wild horses and burros into private care since 1971.

The next saddle-trained horse adoption and competitive-bid auction events are scheduled for Saturday, June 11 at the Northern Nevada Correctional Center south of Carson City and Sunday, June 19 at the Reno-Sparks Livestock Event Center in association with the Reno Rodeo Extreme Mustang Makeover.

For more information about these special adoption events and how to adopt your own wild horse or burro visit BLM Nevada’s Wild Horse and Burro Program webpage at http://on.doi.gov/1wC4EUT.