Like pet owners who adjust the way they care for cats or dogs in the cold season, the Bureau of Land Management has already taken steps to help Nevada’s wild horses population survive the harsh winter months on the open range.

The BLM started roundups in October to control the local horse population. The horses from these roundups then go to corrals, such as the corral in Palomino Valley, to be adopted.

“Basically the facility out there in Palomino Valley can hold 1,800 horses and with this next gather we’re going to be topped out and full out here,” said BLM public affairs specialist Heather Emmons. “It’s a good time to adopt. There’s a lot of babies out there, too.”

The horse and burro adoption program started in 1971 when the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act was signed into federal law. The act mandates that the BLM manage horse herd size in certain areas.

Emmons explained that the BLM in Nevada manages about 85 herd areas. She said people occasionally complain about wild horses in the Virginia Foothills and other congested areas, but the state is responsible for removing those horses because they are outside of the 85 herd areas.

“The reason for the roundups is basically we are mandated at BLM to manage everything in balance with each other,” Emmons said. “Horses are destructive to the foliage and the environment.

“We have to make sure there is enough water for all the species in the desert,” Emmons added. “You have to look at how much a horse eats, and there’s not a lot out there. We live in a desert that has been in a 10- or 11-year drought. We have to evaluate how they will do during the winter, if there’s enough food.”

Emmons said the 85 herd areas in the state are evaluated and kept at manageable sizes by a system called appropriate management levels, or AML. The AML takes into consideration how the horses themselves are fairing on a one to five scale, with five being the best. AML also accounts for food and water sources in a particular region.

“It’s about the health of the animals, and how much foliage is out there,” Emmons said. “That’s the big game is keeping everything in balance with each other.”

Emmons said three roundups were completed in October, including ones in Caliente, Winnemucca and Garfield Flats. At the roundup on Oct. 22 in Winnemucca’s Tobin Range, the BLM aimed to gather more than 430 horses.

“Herds of horses can double in size in four years,” Emmons said. “It’s an ongoing effort for us at the BLM. The Tobin range only needs 2,200 horses and we gathered about 400 horses.”

Emmons explained that the Palomino Valley corral is considered a short-term facility where horses are vaccinated and broken into two groups: horses younger than 5 years and horses older than 5 years.

The older horses are then transported to open pastures in the Midwest, Emmons said, and the younger horses go up for adoption.

“It costs $125 to adopt a horse, which is pretty minimal,” she said. “The expense comes with maintaining a horse.”

Since the true cost of a horse comes in maintaining it, Emmons said the BLM is seeing a decline in horse adoptions.

“We usually adopt in the 5,000 or 6,000,” Emmons said of the numbers “We’re down to the 2,000 or 3,000 range.”

However, Emmons said, adopting a wild horse could be a good investment.

“Some of the things people don’t realize, is that they’re heartier horses because they’ve been out on the range so long they’ve built up an immunity,” Emmons said. “People use them for jumping, riding and ranch work. ... Their hooves are very hearty. Some people don’t even bother shoeing the wild horses.”

Emmons explained that a person who adopts a wild horse from the BLM does not receive the title to the animal for one year. She said this is because the BLM checks in on the owner to make sure the horse is properly cared for.

“We want to make sure these horses go to a good home,” Emmons said. “We don’t give you title for a year because we go out and do an inspection and make sure what the application says is true.”

People interested in adopting a wild horse should have existing horse facilities, corrals, transportation and adequate feed and water supply. For a question and answer page on horse adoptions, and an application, visit the BLM Web site, www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/prog/wh_b/adoptions.html.

In addition to the adoption center in Palomino Valley, the BLM works with the Nevada State Prison in Carson City to have inmates train the horses before being adopted.

“The prison adoption program in Carson City has been, even in this economy, very successful,” Emmons said. “About 80 to 90 percent of the horses are adopted.”

Emmons said a trainer works with the inmates on how to gently train a horse and in turn the inmates work for eight hours a day to train the horse.

“It’s kind of an emotional thing, because these inmates become attached to the horses,” Emmons said.

Emmons said people interested in adopting a wild horse can go to the Palomino Valley corral Monday through Saturday. Also, if people are looking for gentle and trained horses from the Nevada State Prison, adoption programs will be updated on the BLM Web site.

For more information, visit www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/prog/wh_b.html.