In the American psyche, few things embody the freedom and vastness of the West's wide-open spaces like the wild mustang.
From their homes on the golden grasslands of New Mexico to the rolling sagebrush steppe of southeast Oregon, wild horses are symbols of the pioneering spirit that brought immigrants west.
Colored in various hues of brown, black, red, gray and white, they're said to be the descendents of domesticated horses brought to the desert Southwest by Spanish explorers beginning in the 16th century and, later, horses turned loose by settlers. Native Americans also played a key role in bringing horses to the Great Plains and much of the West. Herds of these unbroken and unbridled horses still gallop across public lands in every Western state save Washington, and even there significant numbers continue to roam the sovereign land of the Yakama Indian Reservation in the central portion of the state.
Seldom seen, they can be like wisps of smoke. One moment you see them, and the next they've disappeared into a hidden arroyo or desert wash without a trace.
And, yet, short of searching for wild horses out in their element, there is one easy way to view them. Because the rangelands they graze on can only support so many of their kind, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management—the federal agency charged with managing the majority of public lands occupied by wild horses—regularly conducts round-ups as part of its National Wild Horse and Burro Program.
Because federal law forbids the slaughter of wild horses and burros, the BLM offers the animals for adoption to qualified people through the its adoption program.
At the Hailey Rodeo Grounds last week, the BLM gave local horse lovers the opportunity to bid on a wild horse from two of Idaho's six herd management areas. During a preview period on Friday, between 25 and 30 people strolled through a series of corrals holding wild horses of various ages and colors.
To purchase a wild horse during one of the silent auctions, the BLM requires a minimum bid of only $125. A second "buddy-horse" may be purchased for an additional $25.
On Monday, Tom Miles, the program lead for the Idaho BLM Wild Horse and Burro Program, reported that of the 30 horses brought to the two-day auction, 19 were adopted.
"That wasn't bad," Miles said.
Most popular were the months-old weanlings the BLM brought to the auction. Eager bidders quickly snatched up all six of the young horses, he said.
"Everyone wants a baby," Miles said. "They are always pretty popular."
He said that the horses that didn't sell during Saturday's silent auction event were generally the older ones. High hay prices may be another reason some of the horses may not have been bought, he said.
"It's not the best market conditions for owning a horse," Miles said.
Horses not bid on during the Hailey auction were transported back to a temporary holding facility in Boise. From there, the horses will soon be transported to Salt Lake City for another wild horse auction, Miles said.
Once it becomes clear that a horse in not adoptable, the BLM sends them to long-term holding facilities located in the Midwestern states of Oklahoma and Kansas, among other places. There, they're put out to pasture in large fenced-in areas the federal government leases from private landowners, Miles said. Some 29,500 wild horses now live on these large, private spreads, he said.
"They stay there the rest of their lives," Miles said.
Middleton resident and longtime wild horse enthusiast Bill Nichols was among those attending the Hailey horse auction last weekend. Speaking before the auction, Nichols said that, unlike their reputation for being hard to handle, wild horses can actually be excellent riding horses.
To prove just how good-natured wild horses can be, Nichols brought several formerly wild horses he's bought and tamed to the auction.
"They just make super good pleasure horses," he said.
Among the horses he brought was a massive, jet-black colored horse named Slider. Nichols said the horse, which stands a full 17 hands tall and weighs 1,600 pounds, is something of a gentle giant.
In horse terms, a hand is equal to four inches. Horses are measured from the ground up to their withers, the bony ridge where the shoulder blades meet.
What this means is that Slider is 68 inches tall at the shoulder, a size Nichols said he never would have believed when he bought the young foal 10 years ago.
"I'd never buy a horse that big," he said with a laugh.
Nichols and other fans of wild horses from the Middleton area regularly ride their once-untamed mounts in local parades. Rather than being unruly and dangerous, he said they're actually highly intelligent, healthy animals.
"I just want people to see how they turn out," Nichols said. "You can always go in with a halter and catch them."
He said once they come to trust you, you have a friend for life.
"These mustangs really give back to you. They really make good companions," Nichols said.
Of course, not everyone is immediately capable of properly training a wild horse. Sometimes it's an endeavor best left to a professional.
That is where wild horse trainers like Mario Johnson of Georgetown, Idaho, come in. BLM officials invited Johnson to the Hailey horse auction to demonstrate the methods he uses to train wild horses.
Standing in a circular metal corral, Johnson spoke in low tones to a yearling bay fresh off the range as a crowd of onlookers observed the unfolding events. Uncoiling a length of rope, the wiry horse trainer calmly stepped in the direction of the watchful young filly.
His actions repeatedly sent the horse trotting away in the opposite direction.
"I'll give it opportunities to stay or go," he said.
When the horse took off to the left, Johnson would stop, and then come in from the right.
"I may come in on this side," he said.
At several points, Johnson also held up a long stick with what looked like half of a plastic burlap sack attached to its end. Walking slowly, he extended the makeshift wand toward the horse.
Over the next half-hour, Johnson repeatedly employed a series of similar measures.
His tactics seemed to work, and within 40 minutes Johnson had a simple rope halter around the young horse's head and was stroking its neck. And this was a horse that had never been handled except when it was caught in the deserts of Owyhee County south of Boise and transported to BLM holding facilities.
Johnson was quick to point out that not all wild horses are as easy to desensitize as the yearling bay he had in the corral with him. Not every horse will take to training as easily.
"Sometimes you'll rope a horse you'll wish you hadn't," he said.
He said that in the beginning, a horse owner wishing to train a wild horse needs to be cautious. Sudden noises and other outside disturbances may startle a horse that has lived its entire life away from most human activities.
"It might jump over top of you getting away from one of these things," Johnson said.
Horse enthusiasts who have bid on wild horses often tout the stamina of these outback born and raised animals, said MJ Byrne, public affairs officer for the Boise District of the BLM.
"A lot of endurance riders love these animals because of their endurance and natural savvy," Byrne said. "It's amazing what they will give."
Across Idaho, the state's public lands are home to nearly 700 wild horses occupying six separate herd management areas, Miles said. Five of these areas are located in the Lower Snake River District and one—the Challis Herd Management Area—is located in a large area managed by the BLM's local Challis field office.
He said that nationwide, there are a total of about 29,000 wild horses, with the majority located in Western states.
Every year, the BLM studies each herd management area to determine how many wild horses the area can support while providing for other land uses and resource values.
According to information provided on the Web site of the Idaho BLM, the state's wild horses are descendants of domestic horses that escaped to or were turned out on public lands prior to passage of the U.S. Horse and Burro Act in 1971. During the Great Depression in the 1930s, many farmers and ranchers released their animals onto public lands because they couldn't afford to feed them, the Web site states.
The U.S. Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 gave the BLM and the U.S. Forest Service the authority to manage, protect and control wild horses and burros on the nation's public rangelands to ensure healthy herds and healthy rangelands.
Wild horses rounded up in southwest Idaho by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management stand patiently in metal corrals at the Hailey Rodeo Grounds. The BLM brought the horses to the Wood River Valley last week to be bid on as part of the federal Wild Horse and Burro Program. Nineteen wild horses were bought during the event last Friday and Saturday. Photo by Willy Cook
