The Thursday Morning Mustang: From Wild to Mild

Do you have what it takes to gentle mustangs?

Once gentled, mustangs can make great family horses. Photo courtesy of the Bureau of Land Management.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) recently announced a new opportunity for experienced horse trainers to participate in a new pilot program called the Trainer Ambassador Pilot Program (TAPP). The goal of TAPP is for the BLM to contract with experienced trainers, using minimal resistance or natural horsemanship techniques, to train wild horses and help the BLM place them into good homes.

The mustang is a true jack of all trades. Photo courtesy of the Bureau of Land Management.

Proposals for the pilot program will only be accepted from trainers residing in the following states: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. The deadline to submit a proposal is April 22, 2016.

The proposal should include a description of the applicant’s facility, expected feed and care costs, and horse training experience. BLM will reimburse the trainer a flat negotiated training fee and adoption/sales fee once the trained wild horse meets BLM’s specific training criteria and is placed into private care.

Photo courtesy of the Bureau of Land Management.

To review the solicitation: (1) go to www.fedconnect.net ; (2) click on “Search Public Opportunities”; (3) under Search Criteria, select “Reference Number”; (4) put in the solicitation number “L16PS00289”; and (5) click Search” and the solicitation information will appear. The solicitation form describes what to submit and where to send it.

Applicants who have never conducted business with the government must first obtain a Duns and Bradstreet number at www.dnb.com before registering at www.sam.gov to do business with the Federal Government. There is no fee involved in registering with sam.gov.

For assistance, visit www.blm.gov/whb to review the resource page or contact Kemi Ismael, 202-912-7098, [email protected] or Michael Byrd, 202-912-7037, [email protected]. They can assist with general questions and coordinate a meeting for you with a BLM small business specialist. You can also visit the Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) website. PTAC is funded by the Federal Government to provide assistance with applying to government contracts. Most assistance is free to little charge.

Under the authority of the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, as amended, the BLM manages and protects wild horses and burros while working to ensure that population levels are in balance with other public rangeland resources and uses. The current free-roaming population of BLM-managed wild horses and burros is estimated to be 58,150, as of March 1, 2015, which exceeds by more than 31,435 the number determined by the BLM to be the appropriate management level. The BLM is also using population growth-suppression (PGS) measures, and is supporting research to improve existing and develop new PGS tools.

For general questions about the BLM’s Wild Horse and Burro Program, please contact 866-468-7826 or [email protected].

The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. The BLM’s mission is to manage and conserve the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations under our mandate of multiple-use and sustained yield. In Fiscal Year 2014, the BLM generated $5.2 billion in receipts from public lands.