This website is owned and created by Nancy Kerson, a private citizen. Information about BLM adoptions is offered as a service, to help mustangs find homes.
Please direct adoption questions to the BLM, not to me. And we sure as heck are not a Mustang car dealership! | This website:
Copyright 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
All Rights Reserved.
I am happy to share, but please give me a credit when you "borrow" things off my website! Thanks! Just say, "author, Nancy Kerson www.mustangs4us.com " |
VIDEOS OF INTEREST TO MUSTANG & BURRO ADOPTERS:
Kitty Lauman:
From Wild to Willing: Using the Bamboo Pole to Gentle Mustangs
More from Lauman Training available now!DVD or VHS
(2-DVD or 2-VHS set) almost 3 hours of instruction! $49.95 plus $5 shipping/handling = $54.95 total 
Lesley Neuman:
The First Touch
Gentling Your Mustang
$45.00
Lesley works with 3 wild horses at a BLM adoption, and very clearly explains what is happening, what she is doing, & what she sees in each horse as it progresses. Study this video and you can learn "pressure and release" gentling techniques to gentle your own new mustang! 
Help for Burro adopters!
Crystal Ward
Donkey Training
All the basics of gentling, handling, and training. A MUST for new burro adopters! Good for domestic donkeys, too! Can't do Paypal?
No Problem!
Just Call TOLL FREE
1-877-345-6748
(1-877-FILMS4U)
____________________
Can't do Paypal?
No Problem!
Just Call TOLL FREE
1-877-345-6748
(1-877-FILMS4U)
 
If you don't want to buy online, Call TOLL FREE
1-877-345-6748
(1-877-FILMS4U)
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Adopt A Mustang Wild Horse
Burros!
Mustang Mules
Mustang Wild Horse History
Mustang - Link to History
How to Gentle A Wild Horse
What's Next After Gentling?
Our "Wild" Horse Herd
Mustang * Horse Colors
Videos from Video Mike
Mustang Links
The Future?
Mustang & Burro Events Lewis & Clark Mustang History, part 2 | | Back to Gallery (IF you have a mustang or burro from one of these herd areas and would like to share, please send me a photo - be sure to include your name, the animal's name, and the HMA - Thanks!) UTAH WILD HORSE & BURRO HERD MANAGEMENT AREASUtah has 24 wild horse herd management areas and an additional 7 Herd Areas that are no longer managed for horses and burros: |
 | Bible Springs
Blawn Wash
Bonanza
Canyonlands
Cedar Mountains
Chloride Canyon
Choke Cherry
Confusion
| Conger Mountains
Four Mile
Frisco
Hill Creek
King Top
Mt. Elinore
Muddy Creek
North Hills
| Onaqui Mountains
Range Creek
Robbers Roost
Sinbad
Sulphur Springs
Swasey
Tilly Creek
Winter Ridge | | 
Bonanza from Bonanza HMA, gentled by http://cowponies.us mare, age 2, appy roan | 
Moon Dancer -Hill Creek HMA near Vernal, UT - gentled by IWHBA | 
Yogi, an Olympic Horse from Blawn Wash HMA | Both of the above mares are being readied for a ride across country from Georgia to California, to be ridden by "the Journeyman" in late 2004 and early 2005 , http://cowponies.us has a non profit division that is called Friend of the Wild Horse in Georgia, and offers hauling, reassignment help, BLM adoption help, gentling, boarding, and mentoring thorugh LRT and natural horsemanship to adoptors and owners of all types of BLM horses. Thanks for posting our girls. Jan Davis West Georgia | 
Lucy - Hill Creek HMA near Vernal, UT- gentled by IWHBA | |
DESCRIPTIONS OF HERD MANAGEMENT AREAS
(excerpted from the Utah BLM website http://www.ut.blm.gov/WildHorses/whherdmap.html )CEDAR MOUNTAINS The Cedar Mountains Herd Management Area (HMA) is located 50 miles west of Salt Lake City. The HMA extends from Hastings Pass southward to the Dugway Proving Grounds and contains 179,584 acres of Federal, State, and privately owned land.
Cedar Mts. HMA: Utah's Dreamcatcher, adopted 2000 by Sandra | 
Slick - Cedar Mtn HMA
- gentled by IWHBA | 
Star from Cedar Mtns
(Gail of Tennessee, adopter) | 
Tinker Belle - Cedar Mtn HMA - gentled by IWHBA | 
Hobie from Cedar Mtn - gentled by IWHBA |  | | |
The vegetation on the upper elevations of the Cedar Mountains is comprised of junipers. The foothill and valley regions include mixed desert shrubs. Due to range fires during the past 10 years, the area is dominated by cheatgrass. Wild horses have occupied the Cedar Mountains since the late 1800s. It is suggested that the original stock was controlled by the Standard Horse and Mule Company that provided remounts for the U.S. Army. However, many of the horses on the Cedar Mountains are descendants of horses that escaped from local ranches. The dominant colors within the herd area are bay and black. Other colors found include sorrel, red and blue roan, buckskin, black, palomino, and gray pinto. The wild horses on the Cedars are classified as average in size. Mares weight 750 to 800 pounds and stallions weigh 850 to 1000 pounds. The BLM management goal for this herd is to maintain a herd size between 180 and 375 head. |
CONFUSION | The Confusion Herd Management Area (HMA) is located approximately 90 miles northwest of Delta in the Confusion Mountains. The HMA is bounded by Cowboy Pass on old U.S. 50 & 6 on the south and the Weiss Highway on the north. Horses can usually be found anywhere throughout this HMA. The Confusion HMA contains 235,000 acres of federal and state land.. The vegetation on this HMA is dominated by sagebrush/shadscale/bunchgrass communities. The original source of the animals in this herd is unknown, but it has been augmented through historic times, and probably up until the late 1960s, with domestic horses from local ranches. The herd has a large number of gray and light colored horses and is being managed to maintain these colors. These horses also tend to be a hand or so taller and a bit heavier than other West Desert horses. This may be due to the proximity to the ranches at Gandy, Partoun, and Trout Creek and the possibility of the introduction of domestic stock prior to 1970. The BLM management goal for this herd is to maintain a herd size between 70 and 100 head. |
CONGER MOUNTAINS The Conger Mountains Herd Management Area (HMA) is located 75 miles west of Delta. The HMA is bounded by old Highway 50 & 6 (Cowboy Pass) on the south. Horses can be viewed from any of the main roads and springs within the HMA.The HMA contains 147,000 acres of federal and state lands. The vegetation on the upper slopes of the Conger Mountains is comprised of mountain brush and juniper communities. Lower slopes are dominated by shadscale/ricegrass and low sagebrush types. The original source of this herd is unknown. However, many of the horses in the Conger Herd are descendants of horses that were turned loose or escaped from local ranches. This herd is being managed to maintain the black, roan, palomino, and dun colors. The wild horses on the Congers average 13 to 14 hands tall and 700 to 1000 pounds. The BLM management goal for this herd is to maintain a herd size between 60 and 100 head. KING TOP MOUNTAINS | The King Top Mountains Herd Management Area (HMA) is located 70 miles west of Delta. The HMA is bounded by old Highway 50 & 6 on the north and the Crystal Peak Road on the south. Horses usually range along the foothills in the southwest portion of the HMA. The HMA contains 149,567 acres of federal and state lands. The vegetation on the upper slopes of the HMA is dominated by pinyon and juniper communities. The lower slopes are covered by sagebrush, shadscale, and ricegrass. The original source of the animals is unknown. However, this herd has be augmented through historic times with domestic horses from local ranches. The King Top horses tend to be a bit smaller than the Conger horses. The herd is dominated by black, bay, and brown colors. Light colors are uncommon. The wild horses on this HMA average 13 to 14 hands tall and weigh 700 to 900 pounds. The BLM management goal for this herd is to maintain a herd size between 40 and 60 head. |
MUDDY CREEK | The Muddy Creek Herd Management Area (HMA) is located 15 miles south of Emery. It extends 5 miles north and 10 miles south of I-70 from Dutchman Arch to Fremont Junction. Horses can be found throughout the San Rafael Swell. The Muddy Creek HMA encompasses a total of 137,110 BLM acres: 72,150 yearlong usage acres, 64,960 critical usage acres. There is state land scattered throughout the HMA. There is no private land within the HMA. Wild horses and burros have occupied the San Rafael Swell area since the beginning of the Old Spanish Trail in the early 1800s. Early travelers would lose animals or have them run off by Indians or rustlers. Many of these animals were headed for California to be traded or sold and were of good stock. The herd was also augmented through the release of domestic horses from local ranches. The Muddy Creek Herd is dominated by bay and brown horses.The average size ranges from 700 to 1000 pounds. The BLM management goal is to maintain the horse herd at near 50 head. |
ONAQUI | The Onaqui Herd Management Area (HMA) is located 40 air miles southwest of Salt Lake City. The HMA extends from Johnsons Pass south to Look Out Pass. Wild horses can be seen on the bench and flat areas along the east and west sides of the mountain range. The HMA contains 43,880 acres of Federal, State, and privately owned land. The vegetation on the upper elevations of the Onaqui Mountains is comprised of mountain brush and scattered stands of conifers. The foothill area is vegetated by stands of juniper trees. Areas that have burned or have been mechanically revegetated contain bunch grass. The valley areas are comprised of sagebrush and annual cheatgrass. Wild horses have occupied the Onaqui Mountains since the late 1800s. Most of the horses are descendants of horses that escaped from local ranches. The dominant colors within the herd area are brown and bay. Other colors found include sorrel, roan, buckskin, black, palomino, and gray. The wild horses on the Onaquis are classified as average in size. Mares average around 900 pounds and the stallions, around 1,000. The horses are good to average in composition and generally remain healthy even during periods of drought. The BLM management goal for this herd is to maintain a herd size between 70 and 120 head. |
RANGE CREEK
A Range Creek mustang in holding in Utah
SINBAD HERD MANAGEMENT AREA (Much of this is borrowed from BLM website 2002 Internet Adoption, which included Sinbad horses - lick here for current Utah BLM website Sinbad page)
Smootchie, an Internet Adoption horse from Sinbad HMA. Originally adopted by Amy Hackett of TN now owned by Deb Bazell in New Hampshire | 
Angelo - from Sinbad HMA - adopted by Jacqui Crews | | |
The Sinbad HMA is located 30 miles west of Green River, UT. It extends up to 18 miles on both sides of I-70 from the San Rafael Reef to Eagle Canyon. This HMA contains 234,000 acres of Federal and state lands. Wild horses and burros have occupied the San Rafael Swell area since the beginnings of the Old Spanish Trail in the early 1800's. Unlucky travelers would lose animals or have them run off by Indians or rustlers. Many of these animals were headed for sale in California and were of good breeding. The herds were also augmented through the release or escape of domestic horses from local ranches. During the late 1800's and early 1900's, a man named Joe Swasey was the owner and operator of the Temple Mountain uranium mine. The mine was on the northeastern boundary of what is now the Sinbad HMA. His family was known for their sheep herds and horse operations. In the early 1900's they ran as many as 800 head on the San Rafael Swell. Near the Muddy Creek HMA they ran Thoroughbreds from Kentucky and sold them to the Army. A few of these Thoroughbreds ran on open range near the Sinbad HMA, but Swasey also bred Welsh ponies. (note: see below: they might have been Shetlands, and the "Thoroughbreds" might have been "Purebred" something else) The pony herd was started sometime between 1925-1930 with 30 head from Kentucky. There was only one stud in the band, named Moony. The ponies were used briefly in the mining operations, but were soon retired and put out on the desert just in case they were ever needed again. By the early 1900's wild horse and burro numbers had soared and they were being captured and sold by "mustangers." This practice continued until the passage of the Wild Free Roaming Horse and Burro Act in 1971. Since then, the herds have been managed by the BLM. The dominant colors of the burros in the HMA are black and gray. The most common colors of horses are black, buckskin, grulla, and bay in that order. The horses range from 700 to 1000 pounds and stand 13 to 14 hands. The Sinbad HMA has enough forage to support 50 horses and 75 burros. To prevent overgrazing and habitat damage, the BLM gathers excess animals every 2 to 5 years. For more information on wild horses and burros in Utah, go to: www.ut.blm.gov Or call the Price, UT BLM office at (435) 636-3600. MORE ABOUT THE SINBAD HORSES FROM JOE SWASEY'S GRAND-DAUGHTER, PATRICIA AXELSEN:Hi Nancy, My name is Patricia Axelsen, my great grandfather was Joe Swasey that you talk about on your website. I really enjoyed the information you have on my grandfather! Thanks so much for giving the credit to him! I have hunted forever and only been able to come up with one other resource saying he started the herd of Welsh ponies in Sinbad...... You also say that he sold horses to the Army. I know that to be fact as my grandmother (Jessie Swasey Jensen) often talked about that. What I wanted to ask is if you have found documents that state this, and if so would you mind telling me where you found them? I am really digging for stuff on my Grandpa, he was and will always be a hero in my eyes. Some people don't understand how important it is to "keep the history going" and let people know the important role of how things was. I found this Newspaper piece sometime ago. I wanted to let you read it as for me it really says alot as far as the "Welsh" ponies. I will quote it as a whole so you can read the whole thing and see what you think about it. I attached three pictures to this....The first one is a picture of the horse herd at Reid Nielsen Pond......it gives you an idea of the horses Grandpa Joe had. I also sent two of his son Joseph Swasey Jr on his pony as a kid. (Joe Jr. was born in 1908) Thanks so much for your time, Patricia Axelsen Price, Utah From the Emery County Progress, 1907-12-14, page 1 Some Fancy Stock Joseph Swasey of Molen received from Chapman Kansas this week the smallest Shetland pony stallion in Utah. The little fellow is a thoroughbred (sic - "purebred" is probably what is meant) past two years old and weighs but 160 pounds. With him came a running stallion, the son and grandson of famous running sires. He is a brown and although but a year past weighs 1040. Mr Swasey expects to get some world beating progeny from this horse. From the same place came a thoroughbred Poland China sow and boar." |
Swasey horse herd at Reid Nielsen Pond in the Sinbad area of Utah in the early 1900's
Joe Swasey's son, Joe, Jr. on one of their ponies (you decide: Shetland or Welsh?)
Here's Joe, Jr again on a different pony - this one look a little more Welsh and less Shetland.
Any and all commercial use is strictly prohibited without the express written consent of the Authors, (c) Patricia Axelsen, or Cheryl Manzanares, all rights reserved, August 2001 |
The Sulphur Herd roams a vast, unpopulated region of alternating high desert basins and expansive mountain ranges. Their home, the Needle Range, is a starkly beautiful mountain block that lies about 45 miles west of Milford, Utah, along the Nevada State line. In some spots, the range rises to nearly 10,000 feet in elevation. from north to south, the mountainous spine of the Needle Range is comprised of two main peaks--Mountain Home and Indian Peaks.In the mountain peaks and sloping lowlands of the Needle Mountain Range roams a nationally recognized herd of wild horses with a Utah heritage much older than most of ours. These horses draw their bloodlines from the old Spanish Type, the first horses brought to America by the Spanish explorers in the late 1500s. Through time, the Sulphur Herd has bred with escaped ranch livestock, but most still hold many of the Spanish Barb traits. According to Dr. Gus Cothran, the Sulphur Springs herd has been blood-typed and found to be the most "pure Iberian" of all the wild herds in the United States today. 
Sulphur Springs horses at 2000 Adoption
Sulphur Springs horses at 2000 Adoption | 
Choco from Sulphur Springs HMA - gentled by IWHBA | 
Cora from Sulphur Springs HMA - gentled by IWHBA | 
Rocky from Sulphur Springs, ridden at Western States Wild Horse & Burro Expo by Kitty Lauman | 
Mariza, owned by Pamela Fyffe | 
Music, owned by Pamela Fyffe | 
Noche, owned by Pamela Fyffe | 
Corbeau, adopted by Pamela Fyffe | 
De Luna, owned by Pamela Fyffe | 
Desert Beauty
(Pamela Fyffe, owner) |  Sulphur Prince, Sulphur Springs stallion, born in 1995, captured northern HMA in 1996, and adopted by Steve Maxfield/Utah. In 2003, Chuck & Judy Cubel, purchased Sulphur Prince, from Mr. Maxfield. | 2006 Gather:
The Sulphur herd was gathered in summer of 2006 |
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