Wyoming Herd Management Area Brochure

The Bureau of Land Management maintains and manages wild horses or burros in herd management areas (HMAs). In Wyoming, about 3,000 horses are managed in 16 different HMAs scattered across the western part of the state. Wyoming has no wild burros. The Bureau establishes an appropriate management level (AML) for each HMA. The AML is the population objective for the HMA that will ensure a thriving ecological balance among all the users and resources of the HMA, for example, wildlife, livestock, wild horses, vegetation, water, and soil.

The Wyoming horses have a diverse background of many domestic horse breeds. They are generally most closely related to stock horse breeds like the American Quarter Horse, Thoroughbred, and Morgan. Some have shown characteristics of gaited breeds
such as Rocky Mountain Horse, American Saddlebred, and Standardbred. Occasionally draft and curly horses are found within the HMAs. In general, the horses range from 13 to 16 hands weighing between 750 and 1,100 pounds.