The BLM will offer 10 professionally gentled, off-the-range Mustangs in hopes that more people will purchase them if they've already started training. | Photo: iStock

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is hoping that a competitive-bid wild horse auction will set the stage for a shift in the way the agency manages Mustangs on the range and in long-term holding facilities, a plan that many wild horse advocates and groups support.

Currently, the BLM relies on gathers to reduce the number of Mustangs on the range to designated appropriate management levels, then places the animals in holding facilities. Some of those horses are made available for adoption, while others remain at long-term holding facilities. More than 40,000 wild horses and burros reside at BLM holding facilities in Western states.

During a two-day event slated to take place in April, the BLM will offer 10 off-the-range Mustangs professionally gentled at an equestrian center the agency established in conjunction with private sector nonprofit partners in Oregon