Wild horses on display at Vistors Center

The Green River Visitors Center has a couple representatives from Wyoming's wild horse herds living on site this summer. The two horses are part of an annual summer tradition at the center, which houses wild horses during peak tourism months to give visitors a chance to glimpse the animals as they pass through the city.

The center has two geldings on display from the Wyoming Honor Farm. The two are from herds found in central Wyoming. Both were captured with their mothers as part of a population control program in the herd management areas managed by the Bureau of Land Management. They were captured in the autumn of 2020 and, after they were weaned from their mothers, were taken to the honor farm for training. According to Janet Hartford, the volunteer who works with the chamber and BLM, the bay gelding is the friendliest of the two, often approaching people to have its head petted and neck scratched.

"He's a really nice little horse," she said.

The second horse, a brown gelding, is also very gentle, Hartford said. She hopes the two will be adopted by the end of the summer through the BLM's wild horse adoption program. With the training they've received at the honor farm and given their temperament, Hartford believes they will make excellent horses for someone. If they're adopted before Sept. 1, Hartford has requested they stay at the visitors center until then so they can be viewed.

While the horses are gentle, they can get "mouthy" as Hartford describes it and may bite. There isn't signage on the fencing around their corral, but people are asked to keep their hands away from the horses' mouths and to stay outside of the corral. They're also asked not to feed the horses anything.

Hartford said people often want to pick up clumps of grass to feed the horses, but fail to realize the grasses near the visitors center are treated with pesticides or fertilizer and may harm the animals. Also, feeding the horses may result in a person's fingers getting bitten as the horses eat what they're offered.

Starting in July, Hartford will be at the visitors center working with the horses each Wednesday from 5:30-6:30 p.m. During those times, Hartford plans to demonstrate how trainable the horses are and hand out prizes to visitors. She's also seeking suggestions about how to reach more people.

Finally, there is a naming contest for the two horses. People can submit their suggestions to the visitors center or through Hartford's Facebook page. The horses' names will be chosen in early August.