Mustang Adoption Process, pt. 2
As someone who has adopted and trained Mustangs for myself and others, I have learned that there exists a myriad of nuances and level of timing that accompanies the process of bringing a Mustang from unhandled to handled. I’d like to share my experiences with others who are interested in the process of adopting Mustangs, as well as what the initial week and month look like after bringing a Mustang home in this three part series.
Internet Auction (IA)
When does it occur? How often?
Types of Horses
How to sort through horses
This is not my preferred method to adopt mustangs, but it can be tough when you’re a long way from your preferred facility or your facility does not have adoption appointments that work for your schedule.
I chose to go the IA route in Spring 2025 because the Oregon Wild Horse Corral was not offering in-person adoptions due to being short staffed. Despite being a little ho-hum about it in the beginning, overall it was a very good experience and if I needed to adopt in this manner again, I would!
Here is the link that lists when in person Adoption and Sale Events and Internet Auctions are scheduled for the year.
https://www.blm.gov/programs/wild-horse-and-burro/adoption-and-sales/events
Now is where the online fun begins! Facilities will start adding horses to the IA a couple weeks before the auction is slated to run. There is always one picture and video of each horse, at the minimum; multiple if you’re lucky! Be mindful of how long they have been in holding. Mares may be offered after a longer stint of holding because they may have arrived bred, then foaled out and weaned their colt at the facility prior to being available for adoption. Others that have a longer holding time could have been sick and missed IAs. Their size or conformation or plain color may also be a reason they are not as desired as larger, flashier colored horses.
Other reasons could be that they were returned from previous adopters–something you should always inquire about. Oftentimes, the case is that an adopter’s situation changed so they returned the horses. Other times, adopters realize that they’re in over their heads and return the horses. Another common reason would be related to behavior or lameness. This is why it is crucial that you inquire about these horses via their posted contact information before committing to them.
Take time to analyze the posted pictures and videos. There’s a lot you can reap from how a horse moves about the holding pen with a trained eye. The videos do have a “playback” option where you can slow down to 0.75 or 0.5 time in order to see movement and joint articulation more easily. You can also pause videos to check body, hoof and leg angles–it also doesn’t hurt to watch the videos on a computer or screencast your phone to a 65” TV like I did. Consult your trainer or someone else you trust that has an eye for conformation and behavior.
When you’re logged in to your BLM account, you can also “Favorite” horses as you scroll through what is available in the auction. This makes it easier and cleaner than keeping a lot of tabs open on your phone or computer.
Prepping to visit a facility
Plan where you’re adopting from
Plan your trip
Personally, I prefer to visit and adopt from the Oregon Wild Horse Corrals in Hines, OR. There is an active Facebook page, Adopt Oregon Mustangs, where pictures and updates are posted often. Keep tabs on the page and they will post when they are accepting adoption appointments or when they will have horses listed on an Internet Adoption. If you’d like to adopt in person, get in contact with the facility when the contact email is posted. You will want to send them your availability within the window they shared for appointments. It’s a pretty quick and easy process with minimal emailing back and forth–the hardest part is waiting for their adoption window to open. Recently (Spring 2025), they are very short staffed and have been affected by the federal hiring freeze, as well as some other unfortunate issues with flooding in their human facilities.
Once you’ve confirmed an appointment, you can start planning. Get a hotel booked. Have a couple travel routes in mind–the canyon you encounter coming from Boise as you head West is one of my top 5 LEAST favorite drives ever, so I avoid it like the plague. Always arrive one day early to account for travel delays (we always seem to hit several snow storms) and scope the horses out ahead of time. The office will give you a map of which horses are in what pens because they are usually grouped by age, gender and availability. It’s a big experience, so giving yourself more time to observe the horses, get a good night’s rest and eat breakfast before sorting through horses will always be in your favor.
In Person Adoption
Facilities vs. Events
Sorting horses at a facility
Now, I have adopted from the Oregon Wild Horse Corral in Hines, OR and checked out an adoption event at Prairie Rose Arena in Elkhart, IA. I am not familiar with the process at any other facility, but I’d venture to guess they’re somewhat similar.
Adoption Event
Let’s start with the simpler of the two–an adoption event. In Iowa, temporary corrals are constructed inside of the arena. Horses are offloaded on, for example, a Thursday and given fresh hay and water. Then Friday afternoon/evening the horses are available to view for a couple hours. Saturday and Sunday, horses, and sometimes burros, are available to adopt for a select number of hours each day. On each pen, there is a paper list of the horses in said pen and their origin state. Additionally, there will be pens of horses purchased from Internet Auctions that are either waiting to be picked up or heading to another adoption event to be picked up.
The Oregon Facility
I’ve touched on scoping horses out the day before, but let’s get down to the actual process on adoption day.
Once you’ve decided on which pens of horses you would like to see, the wranglers will start bringing them up. The first pen they’ll come to next to the barn has an elevated platform that makes it quite nice to observe the group. This is where you’re going to get a feel for how the horses are as individuals within a group.
Next, the horses will be moved to the chutes where they will be separated for closer inspection. Here and in the next step are where you can double check any suspicions of crooked or lumpy legs, as well as inspect any scars. You can also see how tall they are by the marks in the chute if you have a specific height you’re looking for. Another thing you can and should do is ask the staff about the horses. They see them day in and day out, so they’re going to have an opinion on each of the horses.
I do not believe the chutes and the small pen in the barn are a good indicator of personality or how the horse may be in the future. It’s where they’re branded, have blood drawn, feet trimmed and are vaccinated–so, it’s not going to prompt warm fuzzies when they are run back through the chutes for humans to ogle and leer over them.
After you’ve sorted off the horses that you’re most interested in, there is a small pen in the barn where they will be held. This is where the final decisions are made. This is the best place to assess overall conformation, in my opinion. Chances are the horses will move a little, but mostly stand and observe what’s going on. You can assess body type and legs easily because you’re close and able to ask staff to shoo them around if they’re being blocked by the other horses. Here is where you can make sure legs are within your expectations. The last time I was there to adopt, I had a chromey, sorrel mare I really liked and was in the final pool of horses. In the small pen, it was plain as day that her right front was toed out pretty significantly from the knee down. For me, that was a hard no and it solidified my top choice.
Once you’ve decided on your equines, completed your paperwork, grabbed your folder with health papers and coggins–you can elect to have a halter, halter and lead, or no halter/lead put on before they are loaded onto your trailer. The staff will then ready the chute to load horses onto your trailer. Before horses are loaded, make sure to place a pile of hay in one of the corners of the trailer. They’ll be loaded loose, thus the reason for a particular trailer setup.
Now you’re ready to drive home!
Notes on Selecting a Horse
Do they have the body type and size for the job you want them to do and for the size of rider?
Expectation of growth based on herd mates
Heavy vs. light build
Leg and hoof conformation
How do they move?
Animated or Flat
Even or Uneven
How do they interact with their environment?
Corral panels
BLM employees
Other equines