Running Captive : 102 Wild Mustangs and Burros Readied for Adoption

They were born free. As late as last month, they were wild creatures, roaming California’s remote ranges. Then, on Thursday in Ventura, they got their first real whiff of civilization’s sights and smells.

Herded from 45-foot-long horse trailers by wranglers, 82 wild mustangs and 20 burros galloped, trotted and bucked their way down ramps into portable corrals at the Ventura County Fairgrounds.

Today, Saturday and Sunday the mustangs and burros will be placed for public adoption under a U.S. Bureau of Land Management program designed to thin the wild herds when they become too large for ranges to support.

Gene Nunn, manager of BLM corrals in the Mojave Desert community of Ridgecrest, estimated that about 50,000 mustangs still roam the West, about 35,000 of them in Nevada. About 3,000 wild burros inhabit California, Nevada and Arizona, he added.

“It’s been very successful,” BLM official Larry Mercer said of the adoption program. “We’ve placed over 100,000 animals” since the agency’s Adopt-A-Horse or Burro Program began in 1973.

“We have wild horses in every state of the union except Hawaii, and we’ll figure out a way to place one there too,” said Mercer, the chief public information officer for the BLM’s Bakersfield district.

This year, Ventura is one of about half a dozen California stops for the adoption program.

The mustangs, including mares and geldings, ranged in age from about 6 months to 5 years. They were rounded up in remote areas of Modoc and Lassen counties in northeastern California.

Mustang is not a breed of horse, but a generic name for a wild horse, Mercer said.

“They are descendants from the ponies American Indians rode,” he said, adding that some have lineage going all the way back to the horses that Spanish explorers introduced into North America.

The burros--jacks and jennies in the same age range--were corralled in the high desert area near China Lake.

John Swanson, 40, a BLM wrangler from the Northern California community of Ukiah, said the mustang herds are initially spotted by a helicopter that reports their location in preparation for the roundups. They are then herded into BLM pens and examined by a veterinarian.

“Mustangs have a clean gene pool,” Swanson said. “You usually don’t see sick ones on the range.”

The burros, he said, are cautious and harder to lure into the pens.

Looking on were Daniel Brown and Callie Thornburgh, who work on contract with the BLM, and who run a horse-training ranch at Inyokern near Ridgecrest.

Leaning on the green piping of the temporary corral, the pair’s trained eyes scanned the mustangs, who displayed fresh BLM brands on their necks. When properly trained, Brown said, there’s not a more loyal horse.

“If you break them right, they’ll give you 100%,” he said.

“First,” said Brown, his face shaded by a black 10-gallon hat, “I touch them on the very end of their nose. It’s like shaking your hand. They want to know if you’re a friend or a predator.”

“Look at that flaxen-colored one,” Thornburgh said. She pointed to a mustang that had a red band around its neck, identifying it as a stud colt, an unaltered male. It tended to stay back in the herd.

“He’s probably spooky and skittish, the way he looks back all the time,” she said.

A chestnut-colored mustang, with a yellow band that identifies it as a mare, edged closer to the fence, looking at her human visitors.

“This one’s more trusting” and could be easier to train, Thornburgh said.

During their first day at the fairgrounds the mustangs and burros exhibit signs of fear and stress, they said. Civilization generates unfamiliar smells and sensations.

“It’s just like if you lived in a small town all your life,” Thornburgh said, “and suddenly you see big city lights. You’d be scared to death.”

FYI

BLM mustangs and burros will be on display at the Ventura County Fairgrounds between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. today, Saturday and Sunday. The adoption fee is $125 per horse and $75 per burro. The BLM will accept cash, money orders or cashier’s checks--but not personal checks or credit cards. Those interested in adopting one of the animals should bring a halter, a 20-foot lead rope and a horse trailer, preferably without a drop gate. Adoptions are limited to no more than four animals per person. Individuals must be 18 years of age to adopt a horse or burro.