BLM Mustang Adoption Event in New Hampshire!

today I'm at the Cheshire Fairgrounds in Swansea New Hampshire for the Wild Horse and Borough adoption event hosted by the Bureau of Land Management all right I just got here walking over now this was a two-day event that served as a pickup location for adopters who won Mustangs in the January online Chorale but I'd say most of the Mustangs at this event were available for adoption according to the Bureau of Land Management there are approximately 80 000 wild horses and boroughs on public lands on the blm's website it says that the Bureau of Land Management manages and protects wild horses and boroughs on 26.9 million Acres of public lands across 10 Western States as part of its mission to administer public lands for a variety of uses the Wild Horse and burls program's goal is to manage healthy wild horses and boroughs on healthy public rangelands according to the BLM since they have virtually no natural Predators herd sizes can double approximately every four years which poses a problem for the blm's overarching goal of achieving and maintaining a thriving natural ecological balance as a result every year thousands of wild horses and Burrows are removed from public lands in the fiscal year 2022 over 20 000 were removed everything that I've just shared is from the perspective of the BLM but it's not that simple it's all extremely controversial from the need for the roundups to how the roundups are conducted to what happens with the Mustangs after the roundups now I have no affiliation with the Bureau of Land Management or any other group I'm sharing this information to let you know this controversy exists you should not be formulating an opinion based off of what I've just shared because it's not enough information there is so much more to the story and so much more to research so please do that regardless of your stance on the roundups the reality is there are thousands of wild horses and boroughs that have already been rounded up and are still in holding now these animals are made available for adoption to the public however in the fiscal year 2022 only about 8 000 were placed into private care compared to the twenty thousand that were removed and compared to approximately 80 000 wild horses and boroughs on public lands about 60 000 are in long and short-term holding again I'm sure that raises more questions and believe me more controversy but it's far more than I can include in this video here I'm just one person who's trying to make a difference in the handful of Mustangs that I've adopted as well as educating and informing people about mustangs without a doubt these Mustangs have had their world flipped upside down and are in need of safe loving homes so join me for a behind the scenes look at the New Hampshire adoption event in April 2023 and by the way if you adopted a Mustang from this event and would like to share your story please do reach out I would love to follow up with you so upon my arrival I was honestly pretty overwhelmed with seeing all the different horses and just not knowing where to start however right away I started recognizing many familiar faces of courses that I had seen in the online Chorale also known as the internet auction wow you're beautiful these two palominos for example I recognize from the online Corral and I believe they were from the Centennial HMA or herd management area then I spotted a horse that some of you might recognize oh my gosh I'm so excited to see him here 5002 was a five-year-old gelding from the pancake HMA I had actually been bidding on this horse in the online Corral but ultimately lost some of you might remember the video I made on that auction and I described him as the horse with a leaf-shaped marking on his side although I lost it was still cool to be able to see him in person now most of the larger or colored horses such as this beautiful Palomino were horses that were won on the internet auction now the two horses you see in the round pen area on the far right were about to be added back into the pens I didn't arrive in time to see what was going on but they were probably pulled out to be viewed by their adopter as they were both one in the online Corral adopters have the opportunity to back out should the horse not meet their expectations or there be a physical problem I believe these Mustangs were scheduled to load later in the day so they would return to their original pen the letters olc behind the state the horses originated from stands for online Corral now again the online Corral is an auction and horses start at 125 dollars but they can go into the hundreds and I have seen them go well into the thousands a lot of adopters choose the online Corral if they're looking for something specific whether in color or size trouble they occur every other month and they vary in their pickup locations I have several videos covering the online Corral which I'll include in the description box below like I mentioned earlier this event had a selection of horses that were still available for adoption for 125 many of them were yearlings foreign a few of the yearlings were about to be loaded into the trailer but needed to be sorted first they returned to the horses back into the pen that were not needed at the end of the center Alleyway was a round pen that was used to help in the Sorting process all right one zero two seven [Music] the staff member slowly separates the horses and they repeat this process until they have the desired one foreign [Music] once they have the correct ones they're able to load them into the trailer all right in pen one we have a bunch of burrows some of them are for the tip challenges coming up so trainers get about 100 days to train and there's a competition at the end all in hand the Mustang Heritage Foundation is probably most known for its extreme Mustang makeovers but it also has tip challenges this event was the pickup location for the Massachusetts tip challenge coming up in September it's all in hand with no writing and they have a youth adult and Borough competition youth are assigned to yearling adults 18 and up get an adult Mustang and the Burrows are open to both Youth and adults as I was filming the Burrows I caught glimpse of a horse kneeling on its knees to reach under the panels and steal some hay I didn't quite get my camera there in time but I repeatedly saw this horse reaching for hay he was stationed at this one spot the majority of time that I was there sweetheart 4619 really nice this guy seemed pretty bold along with this fellow right here huh they're cute 4980 it's a black gelding both 4619 before snatching hay and 4980 the one I just touched were available for adoption this guy was looking pretty tired and I caught him a couple times looking like he was about to lie down this guy is really pretty and down with the sleepy horse no doubt he was probably pretty tired from his trip here this was tag 4877 also available for adoption really like this guy here this was 4979 now I love my short and stocky horses so he quickly became a favorite I like this guy's build yeah although he is very beautiful one thing that I pointed out to a couple walking by was that he was in a better body condition and his winter coat was shed those factors can really make a horse stand out so it's important to not Overlook those with lesser body conditions or looking a little scraggly with a little bit of love those horses will have an amazing glow up I heard a little commotion so I moved down to penfor where a palomino mayor was driving around a couple of the other horses the poor thing was showing a lot of different signs of stress and in a larger pen this probably wouldn't be happening the bay mirrors are more than willing to get out of her way but there really wasn't anywhere to go now this is not their holding facility neither the pins set up for the adoption event actually these horses were shipped to New Hampshire earlier in the week I believe from Illinois but all the horses would have had to be shipped to Illinois at some point as well with all the travel small spaces and people walking by there's a lot of reasons for a horse to be stressed the frustrations with the other horses the tension in the eyes lips nostrils the yawning and the biting the water tank here these are all indicators that this horse is dressed three four nine nine three four was adopted in the online Chorale and will hopefully be able to decompress after going to her new home it's important to remember that these horses have had their lives turned upside down and have been under a lot of stress recognizing the signs of stress is really helpful not only for training but also so you don't get caught up in misassessing their personality because of that stress this is not a bad or cranky horse she is just under a lot of stress here which by the way can put a horse at risk for developing ulcers and of course I'm not suggesting that's the case with her but I'm just throwing it out there imagine what it would be like to try to Gentle a Wild Mustang that's in pain a wild horse in pain is going to feel more vulnerable and may be more protective and defensive if you're considering adopting a Wild Mustang someday it's really important to be considering all of these factors anyway that was a bit of a rabbit Trail but it seemed like a good segue and something important to talk about going back to this sweet horse I really hope she's able to fully relax in her new home and reveals her wonderful personality how do I know she has a wonderful personality well she's a horse so here's a quick look of the setup for the day which was the same setup that I saw in Anvil Pennsylvania when I picked up my very first Mustangs they had an Alleyway down the center ending with a round pen and horses on both sides BLM Mustangs have a freeze brand on the left side of their neck this freeze brand is part of the alpha angle system which can be easily read the last four digits of the Mustang's freeze brand is the four digit number you see on their neck tag sometimes you'll have to shave the brand to be able to read it but other times it's clear like the horse on the right here from his brand I can see that he was born in 2016 and has a registration number of 894-828 now the horse on the left has an additional u-shaped brand on his neck this means that he's a sale Authority Mustang and that ownership will pass immediately from the federal government to the buyer typically wild horses and Burrows are adopted out as Untitled meaning there's still government property for the first year however horses and boroughs more than 10 years old or younger animals that have been offered for adoption at least three times become eligible for sale so tag8438 was a sale Authority Mustang because of his age then I saw a couple of other Mustangs that I recognized these ones were actually famous they were from the salstein's HMA in Oregon an area well documented by photographers so these horses have been followed throughout their lives and even have names [Music] this is shafeo and this is Marquis the sad thing is by walking by these pens you would have absolutely no idea who these horses were on the clipboard in front of their pen it says they're from Oregon but it doesn't say they're HMA it's only because I follow the internet options that I know that I remembered seeing both of these horses and I knew that they were from South steens so after this event I went home and searched a salstein's Facebook group I found their names and stunning pictures of them in the wild I hesitate to share those photos just because of the copyright but wow it was truly incredible to see that and I would just love digging into their stories a little bit more it's sad that they already have a bit of a forgotten past I wish more people knew I love now the majority of wild mustangs don't have their lives documented by photographers but there are some hmas that are more closely followed and recent internet adoptions we've seen the Anarchy South steens and sandwash Basin horses we've now moved on to the yearling pen and if you want to see what an ungroomed horse looks like well here you go the yearlings were still in the process of shedding their winter bullies and those mud balls on the belly this is quite common to see when you're adopting a Wild Mustang this time of year and I imagine this is what they look like in the wild as they should out you don't know what dirty is until you adopt a wild horse when you start touching them and grooming them it's just a whole different layer domestic horses really don't compare now to adopt a Wild Mustang the BLM requires a six foot high fence of approved material for an adult Mustang for a yearling they require a five foot high fence and a five foot high fence is also a requirement for a gentled adult Wild Mustang Burroughs however only require a four and a half foot fence shelter requirements vary by state but it's good to check the BLM website now after one year Mustangs become eligible for titling which means ownership is passed from the government to the adopter once a horse is titled they no longer have these same requirements although obviously they're good to keep in mind if the horse isn't fully gentled if you're considering someday adopting a Wild Mustang I have a whole playlist of helpful videos on the topic I'll link that in the description below [Music] I looked across the aisle and saw 4877 still sleeping about 15 minutes later and one of the other horses had joined him both were unbothered by the staff member walking by although his tag was hard to read this was the horse snatching hay from the Burrows earlier 4619 now adult horses sleep about two and a half to five hours a day most of which is in the standing position however to achieve rapid eye movement or REM sleep the horse must be lying down they need at least 30 minutes of REM sleep in a day to avoid sleep deprivation and it might occur in several sessions throughout the day if they aren't comfortable enough to lie down REM sleep deprivation will negatively affect their health as well as their training now my Mustangs are pretty predictable in their sleep schedule they usually go down around the same time every day and nap together now these two Mustangs seem to pretty chill in the pen but I bet they were also tired from their trip here 4877 began looking for his next napping spot during my five and a half hours here at this event there were multiple lulls throughout the day there were moments that it was pretty busy but also a lot of quiet time I looked over and saw 4979 greeting a visitor he was a short and stocky gelding I liked are you getting him I really want to know who he goes home with that is a cute horse yeah 4979 [Music] it's a real big al thing if you get him let me know I would love to follow you boy did you get one uh well I already bought one of those [Music] poor guys they're probably so tired can I see this guy mm-hmm okay he yeah a potential adopter was now going to look at 4979 let's go let's go is this an internet did you adopt both of money internet or is this a new one I adopted that one already this one I just I'll put in the trailer it's a nice horse yeah put together really well foreign it was decided 4979 would be going home with his new adopter along with 6509 he was returned to his pen while his adopter completed the paperwork I then continued my walk around the pens and then get a touch from 4877 the napper yeah who are you oh what number is that can you tell oh you are adorable hi hi love like many other horses his Mane was matted and in need of a good detangling wanna say hi hi oh yeah they're very cute all right so I've been looking at pen two this guy has been stealing the Burrows hay they're almost up in this pen 4619 was back at his station after a nap I'm really glad that I went here for five and a half hours instead of a shorter period had I only been there for an hour or two I may not have seen some of these personalities unfold this was tag number 4653 and he reminded me a lot of my Mustang Raven I was able to touch quite a few while here alright pen three we've got a bunch from the online Corral from California and Nevada I definitely remembered the sorrel mayor from the internet auction she was one of my favorites she has a sportier athletic type build and is pretty tall for a Mustang she was definitely a looker and I wish I got more from this pen I didn't get a whole lot it was a pretty overwhelming day and it was hard to remember what I recorded and what I didn't the dark mirror in the back there was super adorable and I can't believe I missed her pen four we've got some mares those two are taken for but the two Bay mares are available currently it was now time for the newly adopted Mustangs to load up on the trailer for the ride home 4979 was sorted and sent to the round pen then they went in for 6509 when they enter the pen they first have to identify the horse that's being adopted well some of the neck tags are pretty clear others were quite challenging to read covered in dirt and grime sometimes the tags do come off but remember the tag number is the last four digits of the Mustangs freeze brand so they can always read that to identify the horse too and then there's also the option to scan the microchip once the correct horse was identified and it left the pen they closed the gate now in order to bring a wild horse home you have to meet the trailer requirements they should be stock type with enough room for the horses to turn around no one horse trailers are approved and two horse trailers are approved on a case-by-case basis trailers must be a step up with rear spring doors and no drop rounds once that trailer was off another one pulled in for pickup this time it was chevello being picked up chevello had been moved from his pen to the center aisle during the Sorting process the other former stallion from celestines came forward Marquee and in case you're wondering all the stallions are gelded before being adopted foreign slowly worked towards separating the horses until only Chavez remained as she worked towards separating the Bay from chevello I was really impressed with his reaction here I see her here trying to quietly separate the two horses based on her reading of chevello all she needs is a simple step in between them and he steps back a very level-headed response and also a good judgment call on the staff member's part she gave him the opportunity to demonstrate how level-headed he was and move off of pressure and do so quietly I then walked down to the Loading area so I wouldn't miss it [Music] and just like that he was loaded and off to his new home all right is this pen pen we've got a bunch of yearlings here most of the Alex all from Utah for the tip challenge most of them now with the yearlings there's probably a mix of some that were born in the wild and some that were born in holding facilities because their mothers were rounded up while pregnant my very first Mustang was born and holding and lived the first two years of her life in the holding facility and it's not uncommon for Mustang to spend a couple of years in holding before being adopted one zero zero 1001 was super cute as well as 10 26 and 1076 here well let's be honest they were all cute but I really wanted to bring one home they were just so adorable I already have four Mustangs though but if I had a truck and trailer I probably would not have been able to resist I don't know how the second day of adoptions went but when I was there there was quite a few that still needed homes 1075 appeared to be super sweet giving an unrecificated grooming session and it was also super curious and inquisitive such soft eyes on that baby one of the yearlings was adopted and about to load onto the trailer it was 1076 the gruya [Music] let's go back the Philly was a little bit nervous moving over the base of the gate once separated she would be loading with two of the Burrows foreign [Music] Mustangs are adopted out as Untitled after one year they become eligible for titling I haven't yet had a Mustang titled through the BLM but I have had it done through the U.S forest Service a smaller agency as part of the titling process I had to have a vet over for a compliance check to ensure that my horses were healthy and well cared for the vet also verified the identity of the Mustangs by scanning their microchip as the U.S forest Service horses don't have brands after that the vet filled out a form that was sent to the U.S forest Service and shortly after I received my titles unlike the BLM the U.S forest Service does not have an adoption incentive program now the BLM in order to encourage more adopters to give a wild horse or burrow at home provides up to one thousand dollars to adopt an untrained wild course or Borough adopters receive the incentive up to 60 days after the animal is titled so after a full year of caring for the animal the goal of the program is to reduce the Bureau of Land Management's costs for care of unadopted and untrained animals while also placing into homes the access animals that have been removed from range again like pretty much everything else that I've said in this video there is so much controversy around these topics and there's a lot of concern over people who are misusing the adoption incentive program and placing Mustangs at risk the concern is that there are individuals who are adopting Mustangs to receive that incentive check and then dumping the Mustangs into the slaughter pipeline as an adopter myself the thought of the incentive doesn't even come to my mind as a decision factor in fact I often forget the program exists I've made several information videos on the adoption Mustangs and I think this is actually the first time I have remembered to talk about it it's just so far in the back of my mind the reality is that one thousand dollars doesn't even begin to cover the cost that I invest in the horse for its transportation for its feed for its health care and then my time but I don't doubt that there are bad people out there and people who will do anything for money unfortunately however at this event I was able to meet and chat with many people and overwhelmingly the people here were very kind and compassionate and empathetic of the horses I spoke with people adopting Mustangs trainers a sanctuary and interested citizens it was really nice to connect with others with a common love for Mustangs the majority of the day here and stayed until the very end there would be another adoption event the following day the afternoon was pretty quiet here and by the end of the day there were still many horses that were still available for adoption the unadopted Mustangs would unfortunately be loading back onto the trailer for a long trip back to the BLM holding facilities some of the Mustangs will continue to wait to be adopted and others may end through long-term holding at an off-range pasture as I mentioned earlier there are about 60 000 wild horses and boroughs in holding about 20 000 are in off-range Corrals and about 40 000 are in off-range pastures living out their lives by the way if you're an American citizen this of course means that your taxpayer dollars are going towards funding this actually about 60 percent of the program costs went into offering holding in the fiscal year 2022 83 million went to offering holding out of the total 138 million so whether you were aware or not this program is actually affecting you however keep in mind that this is government budgets and I have a feeling that there are other things that cost way more than this again I'm just sharing information with you that I've uncovered you can find all of this on the BLM website however keep in mind that in the 2022 fiscal year 20 000 horses were removed and only 8 000 were placed into private care simple math reveals that this is a problem should this pattern continue and that's why many are advocating for other management practices such as fertility control now just saying that sounds easy but you have to consider the limitations in the Practical aspect of administering these treatments if there's anything that I can encourage you to take away from this video it would be don't jump into conclusions and do your own research I encourage you to check out the program data for the Wild Horse and burrow program as well as check out some other sites such as the American Wild Horse campaign or Wild Horse education the issues and debates around the management of wild horses and Burrows are truly complex all too often assumptions and generalizations are made and the wrong people are villainized I think it's important to have knowledgeable and respectful conversations around these topics especially if you're trying to change someone's opinion I wish that was common sense but unfortunately I don't think that's the case anymore if you're interested in making a difference in one of the lives of these Mustangs through adoption I have numerous videos that will help you navigate the process it's a big Challenge and a big responsibility and it's important to be ready for that but it is also incredibly rewarding and I promise you it will change your life

Channel: The Project Equestrian

Views: 109,821

Keywords: adopt a wild mustang, wild mustang pick up, wild mustang pickup, how to adopt a wild mustang, wild mustang adoption

Id: 2nKjgl3nYW0

Length: 31min 48sec (1908 seconds)

Published: Thu May 04 2023