Northern Nevada Correctional Center Wild Horse Training Facility
The Northern Nevada Correctional Center/Stewart Conservation Camp Saddle Horse and Burro Training Program is a cooperative partnership between the Bureau of Land Management and the Nevada Department of Corrections-Silver State Industries. The NNCC is not only a contract holding facility with a capacity of 1,500 animals but it also has a training program where they utilize inmates to train wild horses to make available to the public for adoption. Because the facility is a correctional center, it is a closed facility yet does opens to the public 3-4 times a year during their adoption events.
Through this training program, wild horses and burros are gentled and trained before being adopted. About 60-75 wild horses and burros are trained and adopted at the facility each year. Each wild horse or burro receives approximately 120 days of training, but they are still “green-broke.” They will need daily training and handling by an experienced rider when they arrive at their new home.
The program holds quarterly adoptions each year and all wild horses and burros are offered through a competitive-bid adoption conducted by an auctioneer. There is plenty of time to preview the wild horses and burros and talk to their trainers before each adoption starts. Each wild horse or burro is only offered for adoption once during each event. This is an adoption, not a sale. The adopter must take proper care of the wild horse or burro for one year and at that time can apply for title. Once the title is issued the wild horse or burro will then belong to the adopter.