Wild horses, burros in town June 28
A baby burro flicks its enormous ears Tuesday morning as Ed Rothfuss pets the burro’s mother, Flopsy, on his farm near Cayuse Prairie. Flopsy, adopted from the Bureau of Land Management, also is the mother of Summer, a 3-year-old jenny that has been grand champion at the Northwest Montana Fair for the past two years. The BLM is auctioning burros and wild horses June 28 at the Flathead County Fairgrounds. Jennifer DeMonte/Daily Inter Lake
The Daily Inter Lake
People interested in adopting a wild horse or burro will have an opportunity June 28 at the Flathead County Fairgrounds in Kalispell.
The Bureau of Land Management is offering the adoption of animals to qualified people through the Wild Horse and Burro Adoption program.
About 40 wild horses and 10 burros will be trucked from a regional holding facility to Kalispell for the auction. "This is the first time we've been in the Flathead in a number of years," BLM spokeswoman Marilyn Krause said.
In conjunction with the adoption, BLM is sponsoring free horse-training demonstrations at 1 and 5 p.m. June 27 at the fairgrounds. Instructor for the demonstrations is Lesley Neuman, a well-known horse trainer.
People must meet facility requirements - including proper fencing and shelter for the animals - and have approved applications to bid on any animal.
Advance applications for bidders are highly recommended. The minimum bid is $125 per animal.
After adequately caring for the animal for one year, the adopter is eligible to receive full title from the federal government.
Those interested in adopting these horses and burros will be able to view them from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. June 27 at the fairgrounds.
Gates open at 7 a.m. June 28 for viewing and registration.
The auction is part of the BLM's mandate to manage and preserve the wild horse as "living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West."
"The horses are gathered pretty much throughout the West, in states with a lot of public land," Krause said previously.
Most come from Utah and Nevada, but there are small wild horse herds in Wyoming and in Montana's Pryor Mountain Range south of Billings.
Wild horse herds grow by about 20 percent annually and are regularly thinned out because of their impacts on rangelands.
Krause said the turnout of people varies from one auction location to the next.
"We might get a fairly large turnout, but maybe not a whole lot of adopters," she said. "People are curious, and we encourage that."
People often expect to see wild horses acting like wild horses, but "they are usually pleasantly surprised to see that they look like any other horses," Krause said.