The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

PRESCOTT-Kimberly Smith grew up working with horses and cattle in Prescott, Wash. She spent ten years participating in 4-H showing animals, arts and crafts, and photography. Many will remember her days in the Days of Real Sport royalty in 2006, 2007, and 2008.

Recently, Smith has become involved with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) wild horse and burro program. BLM manages and protects wild horses and burros on close to 27 million acres of public lands across western states in the U.S. The goal of the program is to keep the animals healthy through fertility control and adoption and domestication. With no natural predators, the unchecked population of the herds doubles every four years.

BLM states on its website, "Reducing overpopulation and achieving sustainable herds of wild horses and burros benefits the long-term health of the herds, their habitat, and other wildlife that share the land, especially as extreme drought conditions continue to threaten animal and land health across the West."

There is some concern from wild horse advocates who object to herding horses and burros with helicopters, the number of animals taken, conditions at holding corrals, and cattle and sheep given priority over the wild horse population.

Smith's affinity for horses, however, has led her to help the animals who could find new homes. Mustangs have a long history in the country, first brought over by the Spanish in the 1500s.

"They were used by Native Americans, cavalry, pioneers, farmers, ranchers, as war horses, and as transportation," said Smith. "They helped build the country"

Once mustangs and burros are taken from the public lands, BLM keeps them in temporary holding corrals, and then they are moved to long-term holding pastures.

The BLM has partnered with the Mustang Heritage Foundation to facilitate the adoption of the animals taken from public lands through the Trainer Incentive Program known as TIP.

The Trainer Incentive Program (TIP) is a program that engages horse trainers, like Smith, to help prepare the animals for adoption. Once approved, TIP trainers will gentle and halter train the BLM wild horses or burros. Once a home is approved by BLM the TIP trainer is reimbursed for their training and marketing services

At the end of February, Smith selected and picked up two mares from the Burns Preparation Facility in Hines Oregon. They are both young, around two years old, and showed the confirmation and attributes she and the people who had asked her about mustangs was looking for.

"These are great horses once you gain their trust, that is with any animal," said Smith. "Expecting 1,200 or more pounds to behave when they are just like us. We don't always behave."

Smith will train the two mares for leading, loading on a trailer, allowing human contact, and picking up all four feet. As part of the TIP program, she is expected to complete the gentle training and find qualified adopters within a minimum of 10 days to a maximum of 90 days.

She expects to have the horses for 90 days and can get extensions if needed. She admitted that if for some reason, she cannot find suitable homes, she will adopt them. She will not send them back to the holding corrals or pastures.

The roan mare, Whinny, has clearly attached herself to Smith who said the mare just wants to be with her. At times she is a bit of a Loki, a trickster, to get more time. While I was visiting the mustangs, the mare never took her eyes off Smith.

When finished with training, both horses will be ready for the next stage of their lives. They will be ready for their adopted family to work on further training whether it is for the saddle, cart, or as a pasture pet.

In the future, Smith hopes to participate in one of the 100-day competitions where trainers show the success of their 'wild to mild' training. These events help demonstrate the trainability of wild mustangs which promotes adoption.

Since 2007, MHF has placed more than 15,000 wild horses and burros into good homes. To learn more about the Mustang Heritage Foundation, visit www.mustangheritagefoundation.org.

To learn more about the Bureau of Land Management program, visit https://www.blm.gov/whb