CONTRIBUTED CONTENT — Animals gathered on Utah’s public lands and gentled by expert trainers will take center stage this weekend as the fourth annual Southern Utah Wild Horse & Burro Festival aims to showcase their abilities and help them find forever homes.
The Southern Utah Wild Horse & Burro Festival offers a fun, family-friendly environment where attendees can witness the adaptability of various wild horses and burros up for adoption. This year’s show will be held Friday and Saturday, Oct. 27-28, at Washington County Legacy Park in Hurricane. The event is free and open to the public.
“All of the animals competing in our show were once wild and roamed the ranges of the Western desert,” said Lisa Reid, public affairs specialist with the Bureau of Land Management’s Utah office. “I think people will be amazed to see them trained and displaying their versatility.”
The show will start at 10 a.m. Friday and 9 a.m. Saturday. Visit the Utah Wild Horse & Burro Festival Facebook page to view all of the animals up for adoption and the complete show schedule.
The Bureau of Land Management offers a trainer incentive to youth and adults who work with wild horses and burros to prepare them for a new home. This year’s event will feature 13 halter-started horses and four halter-started burros up for adoption. These animals, which were gathered on public lands in Utah and Nevada, have spent the past 60 days learning essential skills and behaviors such as walking on a lead, backing up, stepping over logs and loading into and out of a trailer.
Two saddle-started horses, which have been working with a trainer for the past 100 days, will also be available for adoption.
All adoptable animals will participate in an extreme trail challenge and a trainer challenge freestyle competition, which gives potential adopters a chance to observe their abilities and personality traits. Attendees will also be able to ask the trainers questions about each horse or burro and their training process.
The adoption event begins at 11 a.m. Saturday, and fees start at $125 per animal. The Bureau of Land Management collects a fee of $25 from each adoption, but everything else goes to the trainers, Reid said. Anyone interested in adopting will need to fill out an application on-site.
The festival also features a show open to past adopters of any wild horse or burro freeze-marked by the Bureau of Land Management. About 100 owners usually participate, Reid said, traveling from across Utah as well as surrounding states like Nevada, Idaho, Colorado and Wyoming.
“Our shows offer the general public who are curious about wild horses an opportunity to see just how beautiful they really are,” she added. “They can make amazing animals. They’re so versatile; they can do pretty much anything you ask them to.”
Currently, the Bureau of Land Management manages and protects wild horses and burros on 26.9 million acres of public lands across 10 Western states. Unchecked herds grow rapidly due to a lack of natural predators; to prevent overpopulation and overgrazing, the Wild Horse and Burro Program gathers excess animals and offers them for adoption or sale to good homes.
The Bureau of Land Management hosted the Utah Wild Horse & Burro Festival in northern Utah for over 25 years before expanding adoption opportunities to the southern part of the state in 2020. Click here to learn more about the program and the Southern Utah Wild Horse & Burro Festival.
Written by ALEXA MORGAN for St. George News.
Event details
- What: Southern Utah Wild Horse & Burro Festival.
- When: Friday, Oct. 27, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Saturday, Oct. 28, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
- Where: Washington County Legacy Park, 55oo W. 700 South, Hurricane.
- Tickets: Free.
- Resources: Event flyer | Facebook.
• S P O N S O R E D C O N T E N T •
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