A wild horse and burro placement event is scheduled for Friday and Saturday at the Okeechobee County Agri-Civic Center in Florida, the Bureau of Land Management announced recently.

The placement event, which is open to the public will run from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, the announcement states. Educational tours will be offered on Thursday and are available by appointment. The horses and burros were gathered from western range lands to reduce the number of excess animals in those regions, according to the BLM.

The Wild Free Horses and Burros Act of 1971 allows the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to gather wild horses and burros in areas where there is overpopulation and to place those animals in new homes where they will be appropriately cared for and to protect range lands from the impacts of overgrazing.

The BLM introduced its Wild Horse and Burro Adoption Incentive Program (AIP) in March 2019 to encourage the adoption of untrained wild horses and burros by offering a financial incentive to adopters. 

"To encourage more adopters to give a wild horse or burro a good home, the Adoption Incentive Program provides up to $1,000 to adopt an untrained wild horse or burro from the BLM," the March announcement stated. "The goal of the program is to reduce BLM’s recurring costs to care for unadopted and untrained wild horses and burros while helping to enable the BLM to confront a growing over-population of wild horses and burros on fragile public range lands."

In January 2022, the BLM updated the AIP to include additional protections for the adopted animals requiring adopters to certify they won't sell or transfer the horse or burro to be slaughtered or processed into commercial products. 

“We have an unwavering commitment to the humane care and placement of America’s wild horses and burros," BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning said in the AIP update.  

“As we further refine this successful program, I encourage all capable, potential adopters to give a wild horse or burro a good home,” she said.

AIP changes include requiring compliance inspections of adopted animals take place within six months of adoption; title applications must be signed by a veterinarian or BLM-authorized before adopters receive AIP payment; AIP payments will be issued within 60 days of title date instead of the previous schedule of half at time of adoption and half at title date. The minimum adoption fee for AIM animals is going to $125 from $25, the BLM announced.

“The BLM has placed more than 240,000 wild horses and burros into private care since 1971," Robert Swithers, BLM Southeastern States district manager said in the placement event announcement. "Many of those animals have become excellent pleasure, show, or work horses.”