Princess and Kevin in the BLM Newsletter!

For immediate release: March 6, 2009

ATTN MEDIA OUTLETS: Great human interest story; lots of opportunity for trainer interviews before, during, and after the event...call for more information, or if you'd like to meet/contact a trainer in your area!



NORTHWEST EXTREME MUSTANG MAKEOVER HEADED TO ALBANY

HINES, Oregon – With only two weeks to go, trainers participating in the Northwest Extreme Mustang Makeover in Albany are putting the final touches on their once-wild Oregon mustangs.

The Northwest event is a spin-off of the highly successful Extreme Mustang Makeover held first in Texas in 2007. The Mustang Heritage Foundation, a
501(c) 3 nonprofit organization, in cooperation with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), created the Extreme Mustang Makeover events in order to recognize and highlight the value of Mustangs through a national training competition.

McMinnville, Oregon trainer Kevin Sink said, “We might get our show ring canter slowed down and work on side passing, but other than that, Princess
and I are really ready to go.” Having a once-wild mustang show-ring ready
in just three months is something to be proud of.

Sink, along with 30 other Oregon and Washington trainers picked up their “to-be-tamed” horses at BLM’s Wild Horse Corral Facility in Hines the first weekend in December 2008. From there, it is a race to the finish: who can best train and show their randomly selected mustang at Oregon’s first Extreme Mustang Makeover Challenge.

Sink admitted, “I was a little worried in the beginning because Princess was a kicker. But she is fantastic these days – she follows me everywhere.”

These events give the public a unique opportunity to see the results of wild horses becoming trained mounts, and to display the beauty, versatility and trainability of the rugged horses that roam freely on public lands throughout the West.

Mustang Makeover trainers will gather March 19 to 21, 2009 at the Linn County Fair and Expo Center in Albany as one of the opening events for the Annual Northwest Horse Show and Expo.

· On March 19 at 6:00 p.m., the Oregon mustangs will be on competitive
display. Trainers are evaluated on the body condition of their mustangs, as well as their ability to handle the horse "in hand" through a series of maneuvers including picking up the horse’s feet, maneuvering it through obstacles and loading it into a trailer.

· On Friday, March 20 at 7:00 p.m. trainers mount their animals and
complete a "horse course" that includes a series of obstacles and requires the trainer to demonstrate the level of competency the horse has accomplished.

· The top ten finalists compete in a freestyle event on Saturday, March
21 at 10:00 a.m -- just one hour before the awards presentation and competitive bid adoption for the trained mustangs.

Sink said, “Bottom line, I want Princess to go to a good home. If at all possible, I want to bring her back home with me!”

For more information on the Northwest Extreme Mustang Makeover, call the Burns District BLM Office at (541) 573-4400. Additional information about the Wild Horse program is also available online at:
www.blm.gov/or/districts/burns/wildhorse/index.php

About the BLM:

The BLM manages more land – 256 million acres – than any other Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The Bureau, with a budget of about $1 billion, also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. The BLM’s multiple-use mission is to sustain the health and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. The Bureau accomplishes this by managing such activities as outdoor recreation, livestock grazing, mineral development, and energy production, and by conserving natural, historical, cultural, and other resources on public lands.

Wild horses and burros are managed in Oregon in accordance with the Wild Free Roaming Horse and Burro Act of 1971. This act gave the Bureau of Land Management the responsibility to protect wild horses and burros while ensuring their populations are managed to maintain or restore a thriving ecological balance.


Submitted photos: 1) Kevin Sink and Princess during their first meeting at Sink's "Stormy Ranch", and 2) Sink and Princess taking a stroll on the Oregon coast in January

(See attached file: Kevin_Princess_Day1.jpg)(See attached file:
Kevin_Princess_Week6_Beach.jpg)







tara

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Tara Martinak
Burns District BLM
Public Affairs Specialist
Volunteer Coordinator
541-573-4519
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