MUSTANG FACTS
What You Should Know

More than 73,000 Mustangs and wild burros currently live on public land in the United States.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Forest Service oversees 179 Herd Management Areas (HMAs) across several western states.

However, the available land provides sufficient food and water for only around 27,000 animals — the official “Appropriate Management Level” defined by the BLM.

Since the actual population significantly exceeds this level, thousands of Mustangs and burros are gathered each year and placed in designated holding facilities.

In this way, the BLM attempts to prevent overpopulation, which would otherwise lead to food shortages, environmental damage, and increased mortality within the herds.

Once, it was their blood that carried the ships of explorers across the ocean. Garranos, Sorraias, Lusitanos — Iberian horses whose lines merged with others in the New World and became what we now call Mustangs. Strong. Alert. Free.

What makes the Mustang so special? Quite simply: natural selection.

The choice of parents is not determined by studbooks, but by wild, competing stallions. The harsh living conditions eliminate weakness; only the strong — those with sound legs and robust health — survive.

Wild horses may appear plain at first glance, but in many ways, they are the finest horses of all. The wilderness gave them no alternative. What emerged are horses with unparalleled intelligence, endurance, and overall resilience.

When you buy a BLM or Forest Service Mustang that has already lived several years in freedom, you can be certain you are receiving an exceptionally healthy, sure-footed, and well-socialized horse — which does not mean it is automatically suited for life with humans.

The moment you purchase a horse that was not conceived and born in the wild, natural selection has been interrupted.

Wild horses are socialized through herd structures and functioning hierarchies in the wild. Their extraordinary intelligence develops because their senses are challenged from the very beginning — they must make good decisions to survive. Their endurance is built through daily foraging, often covering many miles. Horses that reach their third year of life are not only resilient, but true survivors.