A Day at the Ocala Adoption Event

Thursday May 15th marked the start of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Wild Horse Adoption event in Ocala, FL. Ocala is known as the horse capital of Florida. Through its World Equestrian Center and related equestrian community, it generates over $3 billion into the state's economy.

When I heard about the adoption event, I was very keen to attend to see the horses as well as meet some of the folks planning to adopt. While I have been around wild horses before, I had never attended an adoption event or seen a holding facility. 

The morning started off cool, but by the time I reached Ocala, it was a sweltering 96 degrees, and there were no fans in the pavilion to provide airflow. When I did pull in, it was clear that people were interested in the horses with cars filling almost every spot near the pavilion and a line of trailers waiting to load their newly adopted or bought wild horse or burro. 

As I approached the pavilion and stepped into the shade, there was a line of people waiting to file paperwork to adopt a horse or burro. Overall the event had 144 horses and burros, a mix of Sale Authority and general adoption. They had every color horse, and age of horse. According to the BLM Event Coordinator, four truckloads of horses came from Wyoming holding facilities, and one from California. The burros were mainly from Arizona.

There was a lot of excitement in the air, as I watched and listened to people talk about which horses they got and their plans for training and potentially showing. For many people it was a bucket list item, others it was a job and gentling these magnificent animals was something they were passionate about. Others were simply just curious and wanted to take a glimpse at a wild horse or burro. There were also lots of young girls, giddy with excitement and taking pictures of the horses, and when they found one, they would stand on the panel gate telling everyone who listened that horse was theirs. 

I walked around and took some pictures of the horses, watched as staff separated horses and ran them into the trailers. Some people chose to halter them and others did not. I noticed that mainly horses were being adopted, with a lot of the burros standing around, munching on the hay in their pens. The staff also put the hay towards the edge, making many of them timid to actually eat with the amount of people walking around and trying to get the animals attention. 

The event coordinator also said that the truckload of horses from California, as well as some of the burros were not up for adoption because they did not have the proper Coggins for the state of Florida. Coggins is a blood test used to detect Equine Infectious Anemia (EIA), a viral disease that can be fatal to horses and is required in all 50 states for horses that leave private property. Florida is 1 of 2 states that does not accept group coggins, which is performed on a group of horses at the same time, rather than individually. California failed to meet the requirement of individual coggins, which resulted in those horses being marked unavailable.

After the event, they were taken to DownTown Mustangs, located in Bell, Florida to receive proper coggins testing and be offered for adoption. Downtown Mustangs is partnered with Forever Branded, who is a partner of the BLM, which received over $16 million grants. I spoke with the owner of Downtown Mustangs, who planned to have their coggins done and offer them for adoption in the next few days. 

One of my more interesting conversations was with a man who was just looking at the horses, but mentioned that his friend takes them over the border, making me skeptical of his intentions. Overall, everyone was ecstatic to get their very own piece of the wild west. I watched several horses and burros be sorted and loaded into a variety of horse trailers and stock trailers. Also, most of the Sale Authority horses were put in the back of the event, but most people took interest in them. 

While I was not able to attend the final day, Erin DeSalvo (AWHC Volunteer Ambassador) was able to attend the final day, finding most of the horses and burros were adopted, except for 30 or so horses that were primarily yearlings. According to the BLM Event Coordinator, every year Floridians adopt approximately 1000 wild horses & burros.