Branded Bonanza began back in February when trainers went to the Bureau of Land Management's wild horse corral in February to pick out a Mustang to train.
The goal of this program is to find these wild horses and burros their forever homes as the trainers showcase what they taught these horses in a three-day competition at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa.
Check out the wild horses and their trainers in the video
"You couldn’t even touch these horses, they were trying to flee the scene when you would try to catch them," said Matt Zimmerman of Branded Bonanza, which happens in Idaho, Texas, and Nebraska. "It is kind of neat to see the progress that everybody has made in a short amount of time."
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One of those trainers is Maxine Rashford. We watched Rashford and her mustang, named Mara, in the freestyle competition.
Maxine says it takes a lot of work to train a wild horse, but it's all worth it to see Mara get adopted.
"It is definitely hard and annoying because she is sassy," said Maxine, who lives in Sweet. "It makes me feel really good to know that she is safe with a good home and a good owner."
Zaylane Chan also competed in the freestyle competition as Branded Bonanza featured competitions in trail and handling and conditioning. However, Zaylane's mustang Kaida is not up for adoption.
"No, we are keeping her. I love her. The second day we got here, we decided to keep her," said Zaylane. "Her name means little dragon so that is our theme for today."
When the BLM manages wild horse herds sometimes that means taking them off the range. Programs like Branded Bonanza work with the BLM in an attempt to take care of these mustangs when that happens.
"We are trying to find these animals homes and get them off the government’s budget," said Zimmerman. "Getting them into private care is what we are really after."
Branded Bonanza finished up this three-day event on Sunday at the Ford Idaho Center.
Some of the mustangs are still up for adoption, but this would also be a fun event to attend for those who simply love horses.
