BLM NEWS RELEASE
CARSON CITY — The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the Nevada Department of Agriculture and the Nevada Department of Corrections on Saturday, February 11, hosted the first of three annual saddle-trained horse adoption events at the Northern Nevada Correctional Center (NNCC) in Carson City.
Sixteen wild horses, gathered in 2010 from herd management areas within administered public lands in Nevada, Idaho, and California were saddle-trained for four months by inmate-trainers in the NNCC program, and offered during a spirited competitive bid adoption. Successful bidders from the crowd of over 150 people paid a total of $8,300 for the animals.
Fifteen of the sixteen offered horses were adopted after starting bids of $150. The event’s top bid of $1,400 went for a five-year old black gelding named “Sleepy Hollow.” The average bidding price for each horse was $533.
The successful bidders officially adopted their new horse and they must show diligent care of each animal for a year before they can apply to BLM to receive a title of ownership. Since 1973, the BLM has placed more than 220,000 horses and burros into private ownership through the adoption program.
The next saddle-trained horse adoption and competitive auction event will be held at the NNCC in Carson City on Saturday, May 19, 2012.
More information about these special adoption events is available at: http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/carson_city_field/blm_programs/wild_horse_and_burro.html
