Horse Auction Coming to Pennsylvania HARFORD COUNTY, MD (wypr) - Congress promised wild horses a home on the range forever. But competition from cattle -- heightened by years of development and drought has made that promise impossible to keep. Instead, the federal government is now running a traveling road show of wild horse adoptions. And it's coming this weekend to a town near you. WYPR's Karen Hosler reports.

Horses. They are American icons, but poorly designed for a pet shop window. They spook at anything new, and can escape most any unwanted grasp. Horses born in the wild are especially wary of humans.

Yet, 19-year-old Travis Lyons of Severn, Maryland has a full-grown mustang that nudges and nuzzles and preens for his attention, acting more puppy than Palomino.

Actually I had a little trouble at first because he'd kind of want to nibble on you just playing around. But like I said, he likes people. He gets along very well with them. He likes other horses. He's not very feisty or anything.

Travis had already trained a number of horses before he adopted his mustang nearly two years ago. He recognized at once the qualities of a natural survivor.

He just seems kind of smarter in a way. I guess I can say that because he's my horse. But he's a very fast learner. I spent maybe two or three weeks training him to ride him. I actually rode him bareback for the first time. Only just a few times did he ever jump around or buck at all.

Travis keeps his horse on property owned by the Chesapeake Baptist Church, where his father is pastor. Father and son have pursued a joint passion for horses, and made it part of a ministry Travis plans to continue.

But most anyone with the patience and proper facilities can adopt their own wild horse as soon as tomorrow. The federal Bureau of Land Management is bringing its traveling road show of wild horse adoptions to the Red Man Ranch in New Freedom, Pennsylvania, near York.

Holly Fowler, a BLM spokeswoman, said the 70 horses available on a first-come, first-served basis will be quite young and clustered in pens by age. They have either been freshly gathered off the range or have spent time in federal pastures.

They're not going to be super friendly. They are not mean by any stretch of the imagination. But they're just not used to being handled by humans. Once in awhile, they will let you feed them some hay, but mostly they kind of stay back a little bit.

Uncle Sam is the horse adoption business because Congress promised mustangs a permanent home on the range in 1971, but can't accommodate unlimited numbers. Cattle grazing, mining, development and drought have all intruded on the horses' space.
Half the nation's 60-thousand wild horses now live in federal pastures. Congress recently tried to cut costs by selling them off. But when branded mustangs wound up in slaughterhouses, outrage put new spark in the adoption program.

Outrage is what inspired Renee Howard, a pediatrician in Norrisville, Maryland, near the Pennsylvania line. She has eight other horses but adopted Reno, two years ago as a rescue.

I just felt that the mustangs are a national treasure sort of like the American eagle. I mean you wouldn't go around shooting an American eagle.

Reno, about four and nearly black beauty, has never been trained to ride. But like Travis' mustang, he's affectionate and manageable.

And he lives on a 12-acre farm with dogs, chickens, birds and a virtual herd of his own.

Home on the range may be gone, but Reno and his adopted buddies may have a lovely alternative.

I'm Karen Hosler, reporting from Harford County, for 88.1 WYPR.
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