This horse auction wild at heart

MERCEDES — Nothing can drag some horse lovers away.

Wild horses, taken from public lands in a handful of western states, are expected to be up for adoption in an auction-style event at the Rio Grande Valley Livestock Show arena in Mercedes this Friday and Saturday.

Advocates say the event is a boon for equine enthusiasts, so long as prospective owners understand into what they’re getting themselves.

Mustangs and wild burros live in herds on regulated land free of human habitation.

Overpopulation of the animals can overgraze and degrade the land, said Shayne Banks,a spokeswoman for the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management.

“The reason we have the adoption program is there’s an overpopulation problem out west. … There’s not much food or water out there,” Banks said. Maintaining the open land and the health of the iconic animals is “a balancing act.”

The bureau has put wild horses and burros up for adoption since 1973, trying to ensure the survival of the land and the animals, she said. Those few that aren’t adopted are federally protected and placed in horse retirement pastures.

Wild horses can be thinner and smaller than animals bred for racing, riding or farm work.

But, Ray Field, the founder of the Wild Horse Foundation in Franklin, said that for farm and ranch work and recreational trail riding, wild horses have significant advantages over most other animals on the market.

Many Texan adoptive owners sing the praises of wild horses, Field said.

“You have a horse that’s never been trained before,” he said of the mustangs. “It doesn’t have any bad habits from bad people teaching them bad things.”

Plus, “These horses are super-intelligent.”

An adoption event in Mercedes in 2005 placed more than 60 horses with Valley horse owners.

“Texas is a horse-loving state. People love their horses,” Field said.

However, wild horses aren’t suitable for commercial purposes.

Kit Carson, an Edinburg horse dealer, says he considers them a bad deal for those purposes:

They don’t have clear bloodlines; they’re not used to human attention and the low price — a $125 adoption fee for most of the animals — is offset by more time spent training and breaking in.

“I wouldn’t buy one,” Carson said. “I wouldn’t take one if they gave me the horse.”

Wild horses aren’t like dogs or cats, advocates emphasize: They require space, care and feeding, and, since they’re herd-based, social animals, it’s best to adopt them in twos or threes. Training them does indeed take time, effort and patience.

Adoptive owners are required to have a certain amount of space and shelter available for the animal, as well as a clean record on animal abuse.

The horses and burros will technically still belong to the federal government for the first full year after adoption, Banks said.

Owners can return animals to the Bureau of Land Management anytime during that year, and the agency will check on care and feeding at least once to ensure the animals’ safety.

Around 100 horses are expected to be available for viewing beginning Thursday afternoon at the Livestock Show arena.
____
Sara Perkins covers Starr County, PSJA and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach her at (956) 683-4472. For this and more local stories, visit www.themonitor.com.
____

IF YOU GO
Mercedes Livestock Show arena
*Previewing Thursday 4 – 6 p.m.
*Auction Friday 10 a.m.
*Adoptions Friday 8 a.m. – 6 p.m., Saturday 8 a.m. – noon
*For more information, visit wildhorseandburro.blm.gov or call 866-4MUSTANGS.
*The Wild Horse Foundation provides free horse training tips and advice at www.wildhorsefoundation.org.