ROBERTSDALE — Local veterinarian Dr. Cindi Brasfield gave a presentation on wild mustangs in the West to a group of about 25 horse owners on Tuesday, March 15 at Robertsdale Feed & Seed Store on Highway 59.

There are currently 51,150 mustangs in federally designated Herd Management Areas managed by the Bureau of Land Management in the United States, Brasfield said.

According to BLM statistics, in order to manage the population properly, there should only be about 26,000. The BLM conducts wild horse and wild burro adoptions throughout the year and while the number of wild horses on protected lands in the West has increased by 18 percent over the last several years, the number of adoptions is decreasing, Brasfield said.

“There are about 47,000 mustangs in pens waiting to be adopted,” said Brasfield, whom herself has adopted 30 mustangs through the years. “I don’t have the answers, I just know that there is a real problem and people need to be aware of it.”

As part of the presentation, Amelia Rhodes gave a demonstration with her horse Mendy. Rhodes, then 17, purchased Mendy as part of the Mustang Heritage Foundation’s Youth Employment Program.

With the help of Brasfield, Rhodes was part of the 12-week work-from-home program and trained Mendy from a wild mustang to gentle in 120 days, competing in Fort Worth, Texas, where she finished eighth out of hundreds of competitors.

Also on display Tuesday was Brasfield’s latest acquisition, Avatar, a Kiger Mustang. Found in the southeastern part of Oregon, Kiger Mustang’s are descendents from original Spanish breeds brought to the United States in the 1700s.

Tuesday’s presentation also included a talk from Earl Morton of Archer Daniels Midland about misconceptions when it comes to horse nutrition.