Adopt a Mustang
There are a number of options available for adopting a mustang. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) offers horses for adoption as various locations in many states. These are wild horses with no training and only equestrians with experience should consider adopting from the BLM directly unless you are just looking for a "pasture ornament."
Various organizations, including the American Mustang Foundation, gentle and train wild horses to improve their chances of being adopted and finding a permanent home with a satisfied owner.
Legacy Ranch
We are currently training mustangs that will be available for adoption. Please contact us for more information on available horses at info@mustangfoundation.org.
Prison Training and Adoption Programs
There are several wild horse training programs at prisons throughout the West.
WARM SPRINGS CORRECTIONAL FACILITY'S WILD HORSE PROGRAM
Carson City, NV
Nancy Kerson provides a fabulous overview of the the Warm Springs Correctional Facility's Wild Horse Program, including providing photos and information about mustangs available for adoption. Click here for more information.
EAST CANON CORRECTIONAL COMPLEX
Canon City, CO
Colorado Correctional Industries offer halter- and saddle-trained mustangs under their prison-training program.
BLM Adoptions
The Bureau of Land Management manages wild horses and burros on Western public rangelands in a manner consistent with its overall multiple-use mission, which takes into account all natural resources and authorized uses of the public lands.
BLM Adoption Program
As mandated by the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971, as amended, the BLM protects, manages, and controls wild horses and burros to ensure that healthy herds thrive on healthy rangelands. Where an overpopulation of wild horses and burros exists on public lands, the BLM gathers excess animals and offers them to the general public for adoption. The BLM presents these animals for adoption to qualified people through the BLM’s Adopt-a-Horse-or-Burro program throughout the United States. After caring for an animal for one year, the adopter is eligible to receive title, or ownership, from the Federal Government. While the challenges to adopting enough animals are greater than ever, the program is a popular one.
For a current listing of the BLM’s adoption events, please visit their adoption schedule. To apply to adopt a wild horse or burro on-line, please go to BLM's Adoption Application. If you are interested in adopting directly from one of the BLM's facilities, please visit the BLM's Facilities page.
Mentoring
Sometimes new wild horse and burro adopters need reassurance with the responsibilities and issues involved in adopting and caring for a wild horse or burro. New adopters are often uncertain as to how to begin a training regime, what to feed, and where to go for veterinarian care. Several nonprofit and private organizations offer assistance and guidance to new wild horse and burro adopters. The BLM and these organizations share a common goal of ensuring that excess wild horses and burros removed from public lands are placed into good adoptive homes. The BLM website provides a number of links to organizations that can assist people adopting mustangs.