In 2013, BLM california and the sacramento sheriffs office (SSO) signed an assistance agreement toestablish a wild horse program (WHP) that offers saddle training and adoption of wild horses at the…

This Cooperative Agreement, awarded by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) under the Wild Horse and Burro Resource Management program (CFDA 15.229), provides $128,000.00 in funding to the County of Sacramento, California to establish a Wild Horse Program (WHP) at the Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center (RCCC). The program trains incarcerated participants to gentle and saddle-train wild horses removed from public lands. The trained horses are then adopted into private care or placed with law enforcement agencies for use in mounted patrol units. This partnership between BLM and the Sacramento Sheriff's Office aims to achieve BLM's goal of adopting out wild horses while also providing vocational training and reducing recidivism rates for the incarcerated participants. The award commenced on October 1, 2024 and is set to run through September 30, 2029.

In 2013, BLM california and the sacramento sheriffs office (SSO) signed an assistance agreement toestablish a wild horse program (WHP) that offers saddle training and adoption of wild horses at the riocosumnes correctional center (rccc) in ELK grove, california. Rccc is the first BLM partnershipwith a county jail. The WHP at rccc is a part of the SSO reentry services unit. Reentry services provides in-custody andpost-release rehabilitation for incarcerated adults. Reentry services implements an innovative approachto rehabilitation by providing evidence-based treatment, educational and vocational programs to theincarcerated population. The program aims to ensure a successful transition from incarceration to thecommunity by providing effective programming to participants applicable to a carefully constructedreentry plan based on assessed criminogenic needs. The horses placed into the rccc WHP from BLM corrals receive valuable training from the incarceratedparticipants who are learning how to gentle and train wild horses under the supervision of an experiencedhorse trainer. This training helps to achieve the blms goal of adopting horses that are removed from therange and their placement into private care.through experience with adoptions, IT has been learned that the public generally prefers to adopt animalsthat have received some level of training, including, at a minimum, halter training. The saddle-trained horses from rccc have been adopted into private care, as well as placed into servicein mounted patrol units with law enforcement agencies, including the sacramento police department, sanjoaquin sheriffs office, boulder city police department, anaheim police department, border patrol, and national parks department.incarcerated program participants learn life skills such as patience, responsibility, humility, and pride intheir work while gentling the wild horses for adoption. Programs such as this reduce the rate ofrecidivism while providing vocational skills for the program graduates.