Up for adoption

Posted 4/6/10

Both roundups took place last fall.

On Oct. 15-16, 192 wild horses were gathered in the McCullough Peaks. Of those, 94 were transported to a holding facility in Rock Springs and the rest released in the Peaks.

In Fifteenmile, 378 horses were …

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Up for adoption

Posted

{gallery}04_01_10/horsey{/gallery}Mustangs like this one captured on film in the McCullough Peaks last October will be available for adoption April 10 in Powell. Tribune photo by Gib Mathers McCullough mustang sale in Powell April 9-10 About 30 mustangs will be up for adoption Saturday, April 10 at Northwest College's Agriculture Pavillion north of Powell. A wild horse viewing, a clinic and adoption registration will take place on Friday, April 9, at the Agriculture Pavilion, beginning at 1 p.m. Most of the horses are from the McCullough Peaks roundup and a few were gathered from the Fifteenmile Horse Management Area near Worland.

Both roundups took place last fall.

On Oct. 15-16, 192 wild horses were gathered in the McCullough Peaks. Of those, 94 were transported to a holding facility in Rock Springs and the rest released in the Peaks.

In Fifteenmile, 378 horses were captured Oct. 21-23, and 75 of those were returned to the herd to complement the 10 to 20 not gathered, said Sarah Beckwith, bureau public affairs specialist in Worland.

The wild horses the bureau captures are taken to its Rock Springs holding facility where they are available for adoption.

McCullough and Fifteenmile horses not available for adoption will remain in Rock Springs, the Riverton Honor Farm or the Mantle Ranch in the Wheatland area, Beckwith said.

The Mantle Ranch trains wild horses and prepares the mustangs for adoption.

“The Mantle Ranch and Honor Farm are having their own adoption this year as well,” Beckwith said.

The location and size of a facility dictates the number of horses available at that particular location. In Northwest College's case, 30 is the number, Beckwith said.

“Around 30 is what usually can be adopted,” Beckwith said, “30 or less.”

On Saturday, viewing and adoption registration will begin at 7:30 a.m., and competitive bidding for the mustangs begins at 10:30 a.m. The pavilion is north of Powell at 719 Road 9.

All the horses, with the exception of five mares, have received some degree of training, Beckwith said.

The Mantle Ranch halter-trained or halter-started 15 yearlings and five young horses, Beckwith said.

Five untouched mares will be offered from the Rock Springs horse-holding facility. Three mustangs gathered from Fifteenmile and held at the Riverton Honor Farm have received some training, although Smoky Stevens, bureau state lead on adoption and compliance for Nebraska and Wyoming, said he did not know what degree of training the mustangs had received.

The starting bid price is $125 and could go as high as $2,000 or $3,000 for McCullough Peaks' horses, Beckwith said.

Call 307-352-0292 for more information.

To read a bureau news release and examine photos of the horses, go to www.blm.gov/wy/st/en.html and click on “Adopt a McCullough Peaks Wild Horse.”

Beckwith said she believes all the mustangs will be sold.

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