A wild horse and burro adoption event is slated for 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. May 8-9 at Gentled Hearts Stable in Huntingdon, where guests can meet 40 unhandled and untrained animals looking for a forever home.

Stacy Hickes, the owner of Gentled Hearts Stable, partnered with the Bureau of Land Management to create awareness about the overpopulation of wild horses in the West.

Hickes said the government will round up the horses and place them in pens regardless of if anyone wants to adopt them. Because the pens can’t sustain all of the wild horses, some will starve.

To prevent that, she’s working to take some of those animals and give them comfortable homes.

Adoptions “help get mustangs out of the holding facility and into homes where they can have a purpose,” she said.

For those considering adoption, she said it takes a lot of patience to tame a wild horse, as safety is key. She recommended 6-foot fencing and a three-sided shelter with at least a 20-by-20-foot space for the horse to roam.

Jeanine Watson, Penn’s Cave executive business director, said that more than 65,000 wild horses and burros are in holding facilities across the U.S. waiting to be adopted, according to 2025 data.

Penn’s Cave currently owns eight wild horses and two burros from the Gentled Hearts Stable’s adoption program.

Many mustangs from both the Bureau of Land Management and the Department of Agriculture Forest Service will be available at the event, with horses ranging from 1 to 17 years old, Hickes said.

Applications to adopt are approved on-site, with a minimum fee of $125 for a horse. Applications can also be submitted before the event at https://wildhorsesonline.blm.gov/.

Appointments to adopt will be available before the event.

Contact Stacy Hickes at gentledheartsstable@yahoo.com and 814-251-5089 for more information.