8 BLM Horses We Love in the February Online Adoption

Time’s running out to get your adoption application in to the BLM if you’re going to want one of these beauties!

The online adoption bidding doesn’t start for another couple of weeks, but you’ll need a little time to build a BLM-compliant pen and shelter, arrange for shipping, and doodle 10,000 pictures of your future horse on your Trapper Keeper. (Do kids these days still have Trapper Keepers? It’s probably an app, now.)  Here’s 10 horses we simply can’t live without from this month’s adoption!

• Neck Tag #0930
• Sex: Female
• Age: 2 years
• Height: 14.1
• Herd: Born in Facility

Photo used with permission from BLM.gov

This exquisite filly is going to be a big girl as mustangs go; she could easily mature to 15 hands or more, and she’s got the conformation to go 100 directions. She’s got the big sturdy feet that you’ll often see with the mustangs that have a little draft in them, but a really feminine head that would look just lovely in a nice figure 8 bridle (hint hint). This one is sure to fill out nicely, and the Born-in-Facility horses are sometimes thought to be a little easier to bring along than the gathered horses.

• Neck Tag #5853
• Sex: Female
• Age: 2 years
• Height: 13.2
• Herd: Born in Facility

Photo used with permission from BLM.gov

A similar story to the last filly, but a look all her own. Check out that floaty trot! With some hind end muscling and some extra groceries, this little lady could be the full under-saddle package. Smart eye and delicate bone structure, she’ll probably round out to 14.2 or 14.3. And you can’t beat that flaxen mane and tail with that pretty dark coat!

• Neck Tag #3904
• Sex: Female
• Age: 5 years
• Height: 15.1
• Herd: Red Rock Lakes, CA

Photo used with permission from BLM.gov

Extended trot across the diagonal, anyone? This big bay mare is the total package, and boy is she going to turn heads in whatever your discipline may be! Tons of presence and subtle but beautiful markings on a good body. The Red Rock Lakes HMA is just 25 horses, and they have a lot of Spanish blood with a bit of ranching stock mixed in. They live off practically nothing in the high elevation scrub oak, so she’s almost certainly an easy keeper! Someone adopt her before I do, please.

• Neck Tag #9367
• Sex: Female
• Age: 3 years
• Height: 13.1
• Herd: Wassuck, Nevada

Photo used with permission from BLM.gov

I always feel bad for the horses that get photographed in winter because they’re always at a disadvantage to the sleek summer horse photos, but this mare isn’t one you should skip over if you’re looking for a little less project rather than flash. She’s got good character written all over her sweet face, and she’s currently in a volunteer training program. According to the description, “she is approachable and halters and leads. Has recently begun having her feet picked up.” She looks to me like she has “future solid kids horse” written all over her. And we all know those are 1 in a million!

• Neck Tag #8310
• Sex: Female
• Age: 5 years
• Height: 14.1
• Herd: Divide Basin, WY

Photo used with permission from BLM.gov

First off, I can’t say enough good things about the Divide Basin horses. They all look like rugged, old-school quarter horses but with better feet, and they have fabulous brains. This pretty lady definitely has the bod, with the nice hindquarters, perfect face, and perfectly sloping strong shoulder. Can you imagine how this solid black beauty would stun in the show ring?

• Neck Tag #7972
• Sex: Female
• Age: 5 years
• Height: 14.3
• Herd: Adobe Town, WY

Photo used with permission from BLM.gov

If you follow the Extreme Mustang Makeovers or Elisa Wallace, you know that the Adobe Town herd is one of the trainers’ favorites for a sound minded and athletic horse. This pretty lady comes in at a sturdy 14.3 with a flashy star marking and a mane to her chest, but best of all, a lovely eye. If I felt like getting divorced this year, this is the horse I’d get. (But if someone else gets her, let me come visit, ya’hear?)

• Neck Tag #4082
• Sex: Female
• Age: 4 years
• Height: 15 hands
• Herd: Little Owyhee, NV

Photo used with permission from BLM.gov

This big gallant mare was gathered as a yearling, and has been looking for the perfect home ever since. The only reason she’s still in the holding pens is because she’s got 40,000 other horses to compete against! The Little Owyhee HMA is another one of my favorites because of the really diverse nature of the herd – there are blacks and bays in spades, but also palominos, roans, and buckskins. Once they’re properly trimmed, they’ve got incredible feet from centuries of living in high elevation bedrock.

• Neck Tag #3996
• Sex: Female
• Age: 5 years
• Height: Contact BLM
• Herd: Little Owyhee

Photo used with permission from BLM.gov

Here’s another Little Owyhee mare, but with a different body type and some glorious coloring! This mare looks cow-smart to me, and her build suggests a great little cutting and sorting type ranch horse. And check out that tail! If it looks that good with no maintenance, just imagine what kind of tail she’d have with some TLC!

If you’re interested in adopting one of these horses or another listed in the online adoption, you can view the online gallery here and look up each horse by the neck tags listed above. If you need more information first, you can find everything you need at the BLM’s Wild Horse Adoption Website. You will need to submit an application and have it approved before you can bid in the online auction, so don’t procrastinate! Bidding begins on February 8. If you would like additional support or information about what it’s like to adopt a wild horse, you can also visit the Mustang Heritage Foundation’s website.

Go Mustangs!