Instructions
Meet Essential Requirements
Provide a suitable environment by ensuring you can sustain the long-term costs of horse ownership, including regular veterinary and farrier care.
Make certain you meet the BLM's essential adoption requirements, which include you keep no more than four horses unless you have written permission, you have formal titles for all previously adopted horses, and you have no violations or convictions related to the inhumane treatment of animals.
Ensure your facilities consist of an outside corral with at least 400 square feet but not more than 1,000 for each horse and you have a three-sided shelter or barn stall at least 12 by 12 square feet.
Construct pasture fencing with 2-by-6-inch wooden planks, woven wire, small mesh, heavy gauge, poles or rounded pipes and position them no more than 1 foot apart. Don't use electric wire, T-posts or barbed wire.
Arrange for safe and appropriate transportation, such as a four-horse trailer or covered stock trailer. Drop-ramp tail gate trailers are not permitted.
Hire an experienced equine professional to gentle, train and prepare the horse for saddle.
In-Person Adoption
Locate the BLM's current adoption schedule, which includes site-specific information.
Navigate to the BLM's Wild Horse &Burro website.
Click on "National Adoption Schedule" located near the bottom of the page and under the heading "Upcoming In-Person Adoptions."
Call 866-468-7826 to ensure adoption dates and locations are accurate.
Attend a nationwide BLM adoption to choose your mustang.
Bid on the mustang of your choice and pay auction personnel by check, cash or money order. The adoption fee will be the amount of your winning bid.
Internet Adoption
Launch the BLM's Wild Horse &Burro Internet Adoption Program's website.
Select the "How to Adopt" tab from the top of the page.
Read the current Internet adoption opening and closing dates.
Click on the "Online Gallery" tab near the top of the page.
Browse through the horses available for adoption and select the mustang you would like to bid on.
Navigate back to the "How to Adopt" page and locate the "Log In or Create Your Account" link under the heading "Application."
Enter your personal information and click "Create Account."
Create your online application and submit it to [email protected] or fax it to 703-440-1656. Your application must include drawings of your facility's corral, barn and/or shelter. Failure to submit the entire application package will result in a denial.
Submit the $125 deposit upon approval of your application by credit card or a personal check made to the Department of Interior.
Bid on your mustang using the Bidder ID number provided with your application approval by clicking on the horse's picture from the "Online Gallery" page.
Wait for the agency's confirmation that you are the highest bidder following the adoption closing date.
Travel to the holding facility to pick up your mustang or arrange for it to be shipped to a specific location.
Provide photo identification, inspect the horse, sign the Private Maintenance and Care Agreement, sign your application for adoption and pay the remaining balance due from your final bid, excluding the $125 deposit.
How to Adopt Mustang Horses
The Bureau of Land Management holds mustang adoptions year-round through their Wild Horse &Burro Adoption Program. Generally, between 5,000 and 10,000 horses are available through the program. Those horses not adopted typically go to slaughter. Adopting a wild mustang will allow you to take an active part in protecting a symbol of the American legacy, as well as save a horse from slaughter.