BOISE, Idaho — For the past two and a half months, young boys and girls from local 4H clubs around the region have been training wild horses.
On Sunday, seven of those yearlings will be auctioned off to new homes; it's part of a significant partnership between the Bureau of Land Management and 4H clubs in Idaho.
Camrin Gepford is training a yearling named Flicka, this horse is the third mustang that Gepford has trained.
"It is good for me because this is what I want to do when I grow up is train these horses," Said Camrin Gepford of the Vallivue 4H club. "It's going to be sad because we have grown pretty close, but I think it will be good for her to get into a real nice home."
So far, this program has helped 330 wild horses find new homes in the last decade.
The partnership helps the BLM manage their wild horse corrals and wild horse herds.
We were in the Owyhee Wilderness two summers ago to witness wild horses returning to the Sands Basin.
But this partnership also provides an ample opportunity for kids to work with horses and train them while also raising 53,000 for local 4H clubs.
Participating clubs include Vallivue, Boots and Bullseyes, Desperados, Moscow Mustangs, Oasis and Snake River Livestock, spanning five different Idaho counties.
The event starts on Sunday with a trail challenge to give potential buyers an idea about each horse and what they can do, but it will be different from years past because of the pandemic.
The trail challenge begins at 9:00 a.m. and will be broadcast live on Facebook on the University of Idaho's Facebook page.
The auction starts at 1:00 p.m. here is more information on the horses, here is a link to the paperwork needed for the adoption process and that paperwork needs to be sent to rtrevino@blm.gov or rkyle@blm.gov.
Bids will be accepted via phone or text to 208-830-4522 or 208-473-9868 from 1-2 p.m. Once adopted, these horses will be available for pickup by appointment later that afternoon at the Boise Wild Horse Corrals; call 208-830-4522.
