THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, March 16, 1996 TAG: 9603160350
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: LEXINGTON LENGTH: Short : 33 lines
The federal government will put about 120 wild horses up for adoption this weekend.
The U.S. Department of Interior's Bureau of Land Management rounds up and gives away about 6,000 horses and burros each year to ease grazing pressure on public lands in Western states.
The Bureau of Land Management holds about 200 adoptions each year, and tries to visit Virginia at least once each year. The mass adoption will take place at the Virginia Horse Center.
The horses are free to a qualified home, but there is a $125 fee for transportation and veterinary care.
The horses are federally protected and have few natural predators, so their numbers have jumped since ``mustanging'' - rounding them up and selling them for slaughter - ended in the 1950s.
Since the Wild Horse and Burro Adoption Program began in 1973, more than 160,000 animals have traded in the wide-open range for the domestic life.
Most people use them for trail riding because of their stamina and sure-footed skills, said Victoria P. Craft, a bureau program specialist.
KEYWORDS: HORSES ADOPTION by CNB