BLM RELEASE
CARSON CITY — The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the Nevada Department of Agriculture and the Nevada Department of Corrections on Saturday, February 23, hosted the first of three annual saddle-trained horse adoption events at the Northern Nevada Correctional Center (NNCC) in Carson City.
Fifteen wild horses, gathered from herd management areas within administered public lands in Nevada, Idaho, California and Oregon, 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 more than 150 people paid a total of $11,500 for the animals.
Thirteen of the 15 offered horses were adopted after starting bids of $150. The event’s top bid of $3,200 went for a five-year-old sorrel gelding named “Red Bull.” The average bidding price for each horse was $885.
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 the BLM to receive a title of ownership. Since 1973, the BLM has placed more than 230,000 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 18, 2013.
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
