Government paying people to take horses

Fort Worth, Texas

-- The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has an ongoing program offering $500 to those who adopt mature horses 4 to 10 years old from public lands as part of National Wild Horse Adoption Day Sept. 26.

Adoption plans at BLM in New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas reduce pressure on the agency to sell or euthanize excess horses in long-term public housing. Adopters will receive $500 and a title to their horse if they return paperwork to the BLM one year later with a veterinarian's statement that the horse is well taken care of.

The BLM's pay-to-adopt plan is just one option for those looking to take home horses and burros from public land and facilities. Since 1973, more than 220,000 wild horses and burros have been adopted from public lands.

Horses can be adopted from BLM holding facilities, satellite adoptions across the country, special events, and special programs at prisons where gentled horses are avalable.

The goal is 1,000 adoptions by Sept. 26. Information on potential adoptees is at wildhorseandburro.blm.gov. More information about the events are available here.