BLM MUSTANG

Tame a wild horse and have a partner for life!

- BY SAMANTHA JOHNSON

BLM Mustangs all sport an unmistakable freeze brand on the left side of their neck.

Have you ever dreamed of adopting a Mustang? You may have a romanticized image of these wild horses roaming free across the American West, but once they're adopted and trained, Mustangs have tons of talent and love to offer, even for young riders.

The Wild Horse Youth Challenge in Kansas pairs kids with untouched wild horses. After the training period, they bring them to a show at the Kansas State Fair.

So while it's true that Mustangs start out as feral (this is actually a more accurate term than "wild," because the ancestors of Mustangs were domesticated horses), it's also true that many young riders have achieved amazing success with Mustangs, and have proven that those partnerships can be incredible.

MUSTANGS IN THE PAST

Today's Mustangs descend from the original horses brought to North America by the Spanish in the 1500s. Over the centuries, other breeds contributed to the genetic makeup of the Mustang, including draft horses and even Friesians. During the 1800s, the population of Mustangs in the West reached millions, but by the 1950s, it's believed there were less than 20,000 left due to culling and hunting by humans.