Saving America's Wild Horses

Saving America's Wild Horses

Bruce “Smoky” Stevens wears a black hat, but he’s one of the good guys. He’s been working for more than 20 years to save an icon of the American West: the wild horse.

Stevens calls himself “just a wore-out, broke-down, old cowboy.” But as a wild horse specialist for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in Worland, Wyo., (pop. 5,742), what he does is save as many of America’s wild horses as he can—any way he can.

Stevens is the one who arranges for the auction of mustangs gathered from the rugged rangelands of Wyoming. The horses have few natural predators any more, so the bureau rounds up enough horses from public lands each year to maintain an ecological balance. Finding homes for the captured horses saves them and the remaining members of the herd from starvation.

The white-haired, mustachioed man clad in jeans, boots, vest, and black cowboy hat reminisces about the horses he’s saved the way an empty-nester brags about his children.

“One has been in Olympic competition,” he says. “There’s a team (of wild horses) that pulls a wagon in the Cheyenne Frontier Days (parade) every year. Part of the New York City Police Department has wild horses. You never know where you are going to see them.”

The captured horses are kept in Rock Springs (pop. 19,050) until they are “adopted” under the auction program created in 1976. Although the minimum opening bid for a horse is $125, the average sale price is just under $200, and bids can go as high as $1,500.

Stevens’ first brush with wild horses was in Nevada, where he helped the BLM gather them on rangeland adjacent to the ranch he managed. That experience led him to Wyoming’s program in 1981.

Besides scheduling auctions, he sets up corrals and sale rings, and does a little Western matchmaking, gabbing with folks as they wander from pen to pen. His goal is to match buyers with the right horses. Finally, he takes bids and uses a healthy dose of humor to jump-start the bidding.

“Sometimes I’ll go sit up next to someone—especially if it’s a good-looking lady—and I’ll start raisin’ her arm,” Stevens says. “I only pick on people I know I can joke with.”

Scott Fleur, a BLM auctioneer, says Stevens is a natural comic when it comes to encouraging bids. “I say, ‘Hey, Smoky, get down on your knees and start begging (for bids)’, and he’ll get down on his knees.’’

Despite Stevens’ best efforts, 271 of the 565 horses offered for adoption in Wyoming in 2000 weren’t sold in the state and were taken to auctions in Eastern states. Those that couldn’t be sold then were returned to the wild. The BLM maintains records on all wild horse adoptions, and Stevens keeps a scrapbook containing “before” pictures of the horses just off the range and “after” pictures taken by their proud owners.

“When I get pictures back from (owners), I don’t even recognize the horse,” he says.

The owner’s satisfaction with his purchase is important to Stevens.

“If I can see they are going to be unhappy, I try to make a swap with them,” he says. “There was a bookkeeper at a ranch, and she picked out a nice red roan 2-year-old. We went to halter it and the horse threw a fit. She went plumb white. I asked her if she wanted to trade and she says yes. She took a little yearling.”

One satisfied owner is Phyllis Preator, who lives in Powell (pop. 5,292). She bought a paint horse, Commanchero, who didn’t suit his original owner. She didn’t find Commanchero any more difficult to train than other horses—just different, Preator says. “They (wild horses) are dealing with reality because of their survival instinct. They are much stronger than a domestic horse. More honest,’’ she says.

The BLM is just as concerned with the welfare of the mustangs as Stevens. A buyer must sign a contract promising to provide sufficient space and food for the animal. After one year, if a veterinarian or government official certifies the horse has been well cared for, the buyer receives title to the animal.

Who buys these horses? People like Stevens—at least in one respect.

“We’re talking about people who love horses here,” he says. “You will get old-time cowboys, rodeo hands, even ladies—some in their 70s, 80s, even 90s come out. We have quite a few people who want to adopt wild horses because they are a symbol of the American West.”

Mary Angell is a freelance writer in Cheyenne, Wyo.

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