Spring Mountain Alliance
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Home
  • A Dilemma
  • Viewing Wild Horses
    • PALE ALE – THEN AND NOW
    • Wild Horse Behavior Video
    • Viewing Wild Horse Behaviors Slide Show
    • Art
      • Writing and Poetry
        • Mustang Hoofbeats
        • SECRETS OF THE DESERT
        • HORSES AND FRIENDS
    • Las Vegas Day Trips
    • Local History
  • Testimonials
    • Testimonials for the Wild Ones
    • Like a Wild Horse – Music Video
  • Updates
    • Project Status
    • Articles
  • Projects
  • Adopt a Wild One
    • Adoption Success Stories
    • Mustang And Burro Training
    • When Is Adoption Appropriate
    • Adoption Events
  • Contact
    • Volunteer For Projects
    • Send Us a Message

When Is Adoption Appropriate

To maintain healthy forage or water supplies in the Spring Mountains, some wild horses and/or burros may need to be removed from time to time. The Spring Mountain Alliance wishes to keep removals to a minimum by volunteer application of PZP contraceptives in breeding-age mares. However, if removals are still necessary, then the Alliance would minimize the trauma to wild family herds and minimize the costs to American taxpayers by:

  1. Having volunteers carefully bait-capture individual bands in temporary pens.
  2. Remove some young horses ideally between the ages of 2 to 4. These horses are most adoptable because they are easier to train and to develop bonds with their human adopters.
  3. The remaining bands would be released back into the wild after mares are treated with PZP.
  4. The Alliance will promote local adoption in the Las Vegas area so the young horses and American taxpayers are spared long transport distances.

Locally adopted horses may still be ridden in their home range in the Spring Mountains. Mustangs are sure-footed and wise on back-country trail rides but they can also successfully compete in equestrian events across the Vegas Valley thereby interesting other riders in future adoptions.

Adopters interviewed by the Alliance consistently state that mustangs are smarter and more aware of their environment than domestic horses they have known – their survival depended on that. Mustangs become very attached to their adopters perhaps because in the wild, they learned the value of group protection. Again and again, adopters rave about their sense of humor and mischief.

The Spring Mountain Alliance promotes:
  • Longterm range analysis of the carrying capacity of the land
  • Road & trail monitoring
  • Public education at community events and schools
  • Certification training in PZP contraceptive darting
  • PZP dart guns & contraceptive materials
  • Temporary pens and equipment for bait trapping
  • Building materials for viewing blinds
  • Training programs for guides
  • Brochures & materials for public education

Viva Las Vegas,
Serengeti in Nevada

from true COWBOY Magazine
by Arlene Gawne

The Wild Horse Dilemma

In 2015-2016, BLM’s planned roundup will leave only 63 to 93 wild horses on 646,000 acres. How can a tour guide find 1 horse per 10,000 acres?

Read More

Why Safari-style TOURISM is OUR future

Private enterprise can create
“an experience of a lifetime”   tours at all price points. Near the Las Vegas Strip, there’s a virtually undiscovered outdoor attraction that could....

Read More

© 2012-2015 Spring Mountain Alliance