Annually place nearly 50 trained, excess wild horses and burros into safe and humane environments through a competition event and or final auction

This Cooperative Agreement award from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), under the Wild Horse and Burro Resource Management program (CFDA 15.229), will provide $142,865 over a 5-year period from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2029 to the non-profit organization Mustang Yearlings / Washington Youth. The funding will support annual placement of nearly 50 trained, excess wild horses and burros into safe and humane environments through a competition event and/or final auction. The project aims to encourage youth and adults in Washington state and surrounding states to learn and grow in their horsemanship skills by gentling and training wild mustangs and burros. It will also raise public awareness about the trainability and ease of transitioning wild horses and burros to domestic life, as well as educate the public about the Bureau of Land Management's wild horse and burro adoption process.

Encourage youth and adults in washington state and surrounding states including but not limited to or, ID, MT or CA, to learn and grow in their horsemanship through the process of gentling and training a wild mustang or burro. Raise awareness in the public of the trainability of mustangs and burros and the ease at which they can transition from wild to domestic life. Outreach to the public about the BLM adoption process and to help educate the public about general issues surrounding mustangs and burros on our public lands. Provide participants of mywy a clear, straightforward path for adopting their animals, a supportive community of fellow competitors to ask and answer questions as they arise, and realistic end goals to work towards.