I adopted my BLM mustang as a 9
year old. She wasn't held in holding pens, but rather was rounded up near
Rock Springs, Wyoming and was shipped to Valley, Nebraska. I adopted her
from that distribution center a couple of days after she arrived. She is
going to be 37 years old this spring. She has all her teeth with
only a couple of them showing cupping (her dental work cost less than both of my
younger horses). My 6 year old granddaughter rides her on trails with my friends
and I. She goes for hours at a time, although we do go at a slower
pace, and try to avoid a lot of really steep terrain, which is hard to do
here in Southern Oregon. Take your 100 year old mother/grandmother on a
hike and see if you don't need to slow down a bit to let her catch her
breath. She still trots and canters, has never needed shoes, and her coat
shines.
Adopting her after she spent 9
years running wild made her wise in ways that no domestically raised horse could
be.
This is just my one
person, one horse experience with longevity and usefulness of a BLM
adoptee.
Beth Bliss
"The life span of a feral horse is NOT as long as one who is in domestic
care...so while these individuals probably have as many as 10 years left to be
maintained in a "catch pen," they are NOT likely to be useful for another 20
years like a well cared for domestic horse. Get them at 1-5 years of age,
they probably DO live for quite a while, but I expect that the time surviving
and occasionally subsisting on less than perfect conditions may prevent them
from seeing the same lifespan...I could be wrong, but that it is perception I
would carry into an adoption, and I would probably not adopt one over
10...."
