Mustang Camp is Huge Hit for Local Youth

In early August, youth from Northeast California participated in 4-H Mustang Camp held at the Lassen County Fairgrounds. Youth learned about natural resource management including measuring and identifying range plant species, how to determine wild horse populations, human-wildlife interactions and more. The camp is a blend of classroom curriculum, hands-on activities and tours of wild horses at the Litchfield BLM Wild Horse Facility and in the wild on Herd Management Areas. One of the parent volunteers commented that they “didn’t learn about these range management skills until college or later, after starting to ranch themselves and they were happy to see youth learning these techniques early.”

While visiting the Litchfield Corrals, youth learned about how wild horses are gathered, cared for and offered for private placement all over the United States. They used their camp program books to identify horse (and burro!) colors, markings and BLM freeze brands. There are currently over 73,000 horses on the range in the United States, nearly three times the appropriate management level. Mustang Camp is funded in part by a Bureau of Land Management grant.

Youth are given the opportunity to learn about a variety of career paths throughout the camp from education and cooperative extension to range management, wild horse management, and animal care positions.

One of the highlights was a morning with Donna Shaffer, a local wild horse trainer. She brought Jack, her former Devil’s Garden Colt Challenge horse and Bean, her current Oregon Teens and Mustangs wild horse. Youth learned about the care and time it takes to train a wild horse as well as interact with Donna, Jack and Bean. At the end of the camp, six youth were interested in training a wild horse and participating in a future Devil’s Garden Colt Challenge. The 2025 DG Colt Challenge will be held at the Modoc District Fair August 24^th starting at 11am.

Mustang Camp organizers are already looking forward to next year and hope to expand to include more educational opportunities in hydrology and forestry in addition to range and wild horses. Look for registration information in June 2026.