Editor’s Note: The press release below was issued by the Bureau of Land Management on March 4. The BLM has since stated this release was sent in error, and the information it contained is now void. Click here to read the BLM’s recent clarification release, which indicates no contracts have been finalized and that proposals are still being reviewed.
(Riverton, WY) – The Bureau of Land Management’s State Office recently issued a decision to continue its wild horse gentling and adoption partnership with the Wyoming Department of Corrections. The 5-year contract will provide funding for the space, feeding, training and care of up to 200 excess wild horses and burros at the Wyoming Honor Farm in Riverton.
The BLM completed public scoping and comment in 2024. Additional documents can be found here.
The Wyoming Honor Farm, located one mile north of Riverton, is classified as a minimum custody facility and is part of the Wyoming Department of Corrections. The BLM and the Honor Farm have worked cooperatively since 1988 to train and adopt wild horses gathered primarily from Wyoming’s public lands. Trainers and wild horses make positive strides together by learning to respect and trust each other and men are transitioned in a positive way back into society.
Two adoptions are held at the Honor Farm each year and are accompanied by gentling clinics, during which inmate trainers demonstrate the techniques they use to train wild horses, including catching a horse, advance and retreat, picking up feet, and beginning to ride. In general, approximately 35 halter and saddle-started horses, as well as some halter-started wild burros, are available at each adoption. More information on the Wyoming Honor Farm can be found here.
For more information, please contact BLM_WY_912@blm.gov.