Older geldings (above age 5) are both physically and mentally mature. They have learned to cope with things in their environment. They generally don't waste time (and the human's patience) with juvenile testing of who's boss, "nip and tuck" games and mock battle behavior. They size things up and make logical responses to the stimulation offered by the handler.

Physical maturity brings with it an added degree of surefootedness. Their bodies have quit growing and they've become used to their physical dimensions. Especially with horses who have spend some time in the rugged wild as adults, these horses have become extremely sure footed and can make superlative trail mounts in the most difficult of terrain.

Economically speaking, it makes more sense to adopt an 8 year old horse who can be immediately ridden than a youngster which has to be brought along while it matures, then worked on a limited basis under saddle until all those growth plates in the horse's skeletal system mature and harden.

The US Army has quickly learned the value of the older BLM gelding. They recently have acquired 6 BLM horses for the Commanding General's Mounted Color Guard and in 1SG Mark Atwood's (the unit Director's) own words, "Overall everyone is very happy to have the opportunity to work with such magnificent animals. We are projecting that within the near future, we will be able to adopt more mustangs into our program. These are the best horses that the unit has acquired to date."

Now you have to realize that these horses are being used for a variety of activities from parades and ceremonies to battle reenactments where, while the horses aren't in any danger, there is gunfire and cannon fire going off all around as well as mock charges, so the horses have to be very sensible and be able to dismiss the chaos which surrounds them.

An older, ungentled horse, however is an intimidating prospect for many adopters. He is a full-sized, savvy animal whose natural skills and instincts may be a bit much for a novice adopter. Thus most less-experienced adopters are attracted to the younger horses who, even with their juvenile habits, appear to be more malleable and less threatening.

To mitigate this difficulty, the Wild Horse Mentors proposed a couple of years ago that the BLM develop a program which we affectionately named the "Cottage Contractor" program. This program would allow qualified, family sized operators who used appropriate "natural horsemanship" training techniques to take in some of these less desirable older animals and give them a 30 day start. The idea was to provide older horses who would be more "in reach" for the average adopter to acquire and handle.

We all wanted these horses to be reasonably well adjusted so that they could be adopted and settle into their new environs and lead a happy, productive and fear-free life.

Before these horses are made available for adoption, they will meet the following minimum standards:

1. The horse will be able to be caught in a small pen and be haltered and led with little or no resistance.

2. The horse will be able to have his halter taken off and put back on with little or no resistance.

3. The horse will be able to be led and stand tied with little or no resistance.

4. The horse will be able to be led to a stock trailer and be loaded into that trailer with little or no resistance.

Most of the horses will be able to do more than the "minimum" when offered for adoption. Furthermore, depending on the contractor's workload, it is possible to contract for additional training before you pick up your horse.

Also if you note the trainers' personal comments which accompany the photos, you'll see they really show some affection for these horses.

This pilot program is a unique opportunity for any of you who have basic horse skills to acquire an older at-risk horse and be able to develop him and use him in very short order. The minimum bid for the gentled horses is the same for any BLM horse, $125.00.

Here are some images of
the first group of horses

(Please note that most of
these photos depict the horses
shortly after arrival in winter.)

These horses are presented
as examples and have
been adopted.

#1802 - BLACKY

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# 1912 - BOOMER

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#2185 - BUSTER

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#1876 - CRUISER

For more information on this pilot program, contact Janet Nordin at jnordin@nv.blm.gov.