Trey’s Story is our real-world example of wild horse stewardship, showing how education, second chances, and informed care can work together in practice.
While the Act does designate that both wild horses and burros are protected, it does not ensure annual funding of the program with the BLM and it does not address how the BLM is required to manage population growth. These are ongoing decisions and it’s a shared public responsibility to ensure our wild horse heritage continues.
Wild horses are protected by federal law and managed on public lands. Each year, the program must be funded through congressional approval. Every year, Congress must approve a spending bill that, in turn, controls things like the number of roundups, offsite holding. In addition, every year the spending bill must get support for “riders” such as prohibiting wild horses from being sold to kill buyers as this is not part of the federal act. Being informed and engaged can help ensure responsible spending and responsible actions.
Learning the basics, sharing accurate information, volunteering, and funding implementable work all move the needle. Every engagement matters.
Our wild horse heritage is bigger than sides. It calls for responsibility, relationship, and collaborative solutions that keep horses and habitat healthier over time.
Quick answers to common questions about humane management, fertility control, public lands, and how people can help.
Wild horses live on federally managed public lands, where the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) determines how many horses can be in each Herd Management Area (HMA). Wild horse stewardship means helping people understand how those decisions shape the care of horses, land, and habitat over time.
On-the-range wild horse population management is done through two types of methods. By far the largest method used is through removing horses from the wild via round-ups/gathers. The other method is by using fertility control tools such as PZP darting. Fertility control tools allow wild horses to remain in the wild on our public lands while reducing the number of births. In FY 2025, the BLM used fertility control methods on 921 horses and removed 7,853 horses from the wild, which is 8.5 times more.1 In FY2026, Appropriations bill, Congress allocated up to $11 million exclusively for fertility control methods signaling increased focus on methods that keep wild horses in the wild.2
Congress created the legal framework through the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 and continues to shape the program through appropriations, oversight, and policy direction. In practice, that means funding decisions can affect which tools are supported and how the program is carried out. For example, the Interior Appropriations bill for FY26 allocated a record $11 million exclusively for fertility control methods.1
Yes. Wild free-roaming horses and burros on public lands owned and managed by the federal government are federally protected under the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971. The law protects them on designated public lands while also requiring federal agencies to manage them under specific statutory rules. Similar protections exist on state owned lands.
Start with one steady step: learn the basics, share accurate information, and support work that can actually be implemented. Volunteer if you want hands-on participation, and use “Get the Facts” as your grounding tool when conversations get noisy.
Begin with the facts: Download our free 10 Wild Horse Facts »
If you prefer to support from a distance, your donation helps fund education and project-based stewardship that can be tracked over time. Make a donation »
The American Wild Horse Foundation is a 501(c)3) charitable organization.
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