Extreme Makeover indeed

Posting this on a Monday so maybe if you guys have some time this weekend, you might want to check this out.

I'm not usually much for man's co-opting wild animals to be trained for our own amusement (circus! cough cough), so it might surprise you to find out that I am super-bummed to be missing this.

BUT I think it's kinda cool.

The MHF [Mustang Heritage Foundation] in cooperation with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) created the Extreme Mustang Makeover event to highlight the recognized value of mustangs through a national training competition. The event will give the public a unique opportunity to see the results of wild horses becoming trained mounts and then participate in a competitive bidding process to adopt one of these treasured animals.
The purpose of the competition is to showcase the beauty, versatility, and trainability of these rugged horses that roam freely on public lands throughout the West, where the Bureau of Land Management protects them under Federal law. The BLM periodically removes excess animals from the range to ensure herd health and protect rangeland resources. Thousands of removed animals are then made available each year to the public for adoption.


So, what they do is, they take wild horses that were gonna be culled from the herd anyway, pair them with a trainer for 100 days and then showcase what the horse has been able to learn in that time. It's a competition for the trainers with big prize money, but it also helps out the MHF. I found out about it because a co-worker of mine has two friends who are competitors (one of them won the Novice category last year). Then the horses go up for sale, but there's an adoption process a lot like what dog rescues do (bidders get background checks, have to demostrate ability to care for a horse and have specific requirements for shelter, etc). Coworker's friend adopted her horse from last year-ha! If I spent 3 months training something, I would SO do that too, thank god I'm terrified of horses... Oh! and speaking of, this year, they're teaming up with the Humane Society of North Texas for a dog competition-- Ten dogs matched with 10 trainers to compete at the competition this weekend as well.

SO bummed to miss it. But I'm going to LR for my sister's 40th birthday party (more on that later). Ah well, maybe next time.