Wild burros, horses go to auction in Yuma

  Yuma resident Tom Sheffield stands in a 20-by-20-foot corral, trying to tame a wild horse.

  Sheffield's broken wild horses for 30 years, and Friday he took time off from his job to work with horses the U.S. Bureau of Land Management will auction Saturday.

  "Someone's going to want to adopt a horse you can (hold) a lot quicker than one you can't," Sheffield said.

  The BLM will hold the silent auction at the Broken Gate Saddle Club, located at Avenue 3E and County13th Street, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.

  The auction starts at 10 a.m., but Lori Cook, with BLM public affairs, said bidders who haven't already been preapproved should arrive at 9 a.m. to fill out an application.

  To adopt an animal, Cook said, takes "lots of time and patience."

  "People need to realize that they are wild animals," she said.

  The bids start at $125, Cook said. After the first round, Cook said, they'll hold a second round "just to make sure everybody is happy with what they got."

  There are 20 wild horses and four wild burros up for adoption. Cook said there will be an opportunity for a bidder to get an additional horse for $25 through the Adopt a Buddy Lottery.

  "Realistically, someone could get two horses for $150," Cook said.

  All of the animals that don't receive bids will go for $125, she said.

  The bidder will keep the animal for one year, and after that the animal will belong to the bidder, Cook said.

  The BLM rounds up the horses and burros from all over the U.S. The agency has found 80 horses around the east side of YPG in the past five years, said Roger Oyler, state program lead for horses and burros in Arizona.

  He said they've found between 175 and 200 horses near the Cibola-Trigo area, but most of the horses come out of Nevada and Wyoming.

  Oyler said the BLM monitors the animals' population levels and when it gets above the appropriate level, they go out and gather up animals.

  Jack Nelson and Kay Roberts, winter visitors from Michigan, came out to look at the animals at a preview Friday.

  "You just kind of wonder if they really got them from the wild," Nelson said.

  Nelson and Roberts, both of whom have had horses, said the animals looked great.

  Nelson said he's "pretty impressed" with the condition of the animals. "They look good, real good."

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SCHEDULE:

• Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. - Preview animals, apply to adopt, register to bid in auction, silent bid auction and Adopt a Buddy Lottery

• Sunday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. - Loading and transport home of adopted animals.

Adoption fees for all animals start with minimum bid of $125 by approved adopters in Saturday's auction

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Stephanie A. Wilken can be reached at swilken@yumasun.com or 539-6857.