DOUGLAS -- Have you got what it takes to transform a wild horse into a well-trained equine partner?

The Bureau of Land Management hopes to find 25 trainers willing to give it a go for $10,000 in prize money at the new Wyoming Mustang Challenge Aug. 15 at the Wyoming State Fair.

The trainers will be selected from applications received by April 1. Each trainer will pick up a wild horse in May at the Mantle Ranch wild horse facility in Wheatland. They�ll have 100 days to work with the animals before vying for cash prizes in three categories -- conditioning, ground work and riding a course with a series of obstacles.

Alan Shepherd, state leader for the BLM�s wild horse program, said he hopes trainers from all experience levels apply.

�I would like to see the whole variety,� he said. �I�d like to see the guys that make this a profession, but I would also like that guy who is the weekend horse guy to step up.�

Following huge success last fall at the Extreme Mustang Makeover in Forth Worth, Texas, several Wyoming State Fair board members urged the BLM to consider hosting a similar event.

The idea proved a natural fit, fair Director James Goodrich said. The Wyoming Mustang Challenge should work well in the new equine stall and indoor arena facility now under construction and may draw more folks through the gates.

�These mustang events have a following,� Goodrich said. �That�s an additional appeal to another interest group in coming to the fair.�

Shepherd said the event could boost wild horse adoptions. In recent years, wild horse demonstrations and an adoption booth have proved successful in increasing the public�s appreciation for the possibilities these animals offer, Shepherd said.

�I think it�s going to benefit us all,� he said. �It is going to put some more people in the fairgrounds, it is going to expose outside visitors who may not know about the program or who have a bias about our horses. We�re going to show they are not lower-class horses.�

BLM wild horses have found homes across the country and are used for a variety or purposes. Many have proved worthwhile ranch horses, some are simply pets, and others are used by outfitters and guides. Some compete in dressage, while others become hunter-jumpers in the East, Shepherd said. A few have even found a niche in police crowd control, with the U.S. Border Patrol, and with U.S. Forest Service and National Park Service ranger patrols.

Wyoming�s wild horses are concentrated largely in the southwest part of the state, where numbers are closer to population management levels than they�ve been in a long time, Shepherd said. In large part, that�s due to increased adoption rates and some sterilization in five locations for fertility control.

�The adoption program is essentially our only mechanism to place the excess horses,� Shepherd said. �We strive to place them in the best homes possible, to make them a valuable, useful citizen.�

Horses that are not placed in adoptive homes can be stalled at long-term BLM holding facilities.

* Trainers age 18 and older interested in the Wyoming Mustang Challenge have until April 1 to apply.

* Selected applicants can pick up their mustangs, allocated randomly, May 2-3 at the Mantle Ranch wild horse facility in Wheatland. They�ll have 100 days to train the horses for competition in conditioning, ground work and riding a Horse Course pattern.

* Following the competition Aug. 15 at the Wyoming State Fair in Douglas, trainers are expected to showcase their horses during a live-bid adoption Aug. 16. They can receive a 20 percent commission on horses adopted for $200 or more.

* The winning trainer will earn $5,000 in prize money, with $2,500 going to second place, $1,000 for third, $750 for fourth and $500 for fifth. In addition, the mustang challenge is offering some reimbursement for travel costs and veterinary expenses.

* Applicants must fill out a form and provide references. Entry information and rules are available online at www.mustanghertiagefoundation.org/adoptions.php, or by calling 515-355-3225.]]>