In partnership with the Bureau of Land Management, the herd size will be maintained each year through selective removals and application of fertility control. Those animals that are removed will be relocated to the BBWHTF in Adel – to be trained by experienced horsemen and women from the community to provide quality mustangs for adoption while reducing or potentially eliminating the number of Beaty Butte wild horses cared for in permanent off-range holding.
For those who would like a well-started mustang, scheduled adoption events will provide opportunity to adopt a horse that all would be proud to claim. As each mustang moves from its high-desert home to a qualified adopter, traditions of land stewardship and pride in the wild horse herd is continued as ranch families resume a historical role.
The key to this new concept is the non-profit, Beaty Butte Wild Horse Training Facility, in Adel. BBWHTF will make professionally-trained horses available for adoption to lovers of these mustangs while preserving the population within its mandated Appropriate Management Level (AML). The goal is to maintain a thriving ecosystem, preserve the historical connection to the horses, and reduce or end the horse round-ups that have become common.
Local buckaroo, Jason Jaeger, rides with Jim Hiatt, on the gray horse, manager of the training facility. Jim has years of experience as a manager of Crump Ranch, one of the Beaty Butte Grazing Association members. Jason was the Association cowboy for several seasons and now has his own cattle on the Buttes. He and Jim know every inch of the Beaty Butte area and both are passionate about being part of a program that keeps these fragile grazing lands thriving for all users of this public resource.