Youth invited to Mustang Camp in Lassen County June 28-29

Laura Snell, right, leads a mustang population model activity at Mustang Camp in Utah. Photo by Dennis Hinkamp

UC Cooperative Extension in Modoc County is partnering with Utah State University to offer a mustang camp for California youth ages 9 to 19.

The 4-H Mustang Camp, sponsored by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, will be held on June 28-29.

This overnight camp is an opportunity for youth across California to learn about managing public lands, rangelands, wild horses and burros. Mustangs are feral horses that roam freely. 

“We realize not everyone can take a wild horse home so we'll take the young people out on the range,” said event organizer Laura Snell, UC Cooperative Extension livestock and natural resources advisor for Modoc County.

“Participants will learn about range management, the grasses, habitat, ecosystem and wild horses,” she said.

4-H Mustang Camp participants will visit the feral horses on the range. Photo by Dennis Hinkamp

Youth also will learn about careers with U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service related to wild horse management. 

Camp participants will spend the night at a campground and use facilities at the Lassen County Fair Grounds. Registration for the mustang camp is $75 and includes lunch and dinner on June 28 and breakfast and lunch on June 29. Space is limited to 25 youth.

“Our hope is that by participating in this camp these young people will leave understanding and appreciating the uniqueness of our wild horses and burros,” said Snell.

The 4-H Mustang Camp is sponsored by the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Program and UC Cooperative Extension in Modoc and Lassen counties. It will be held at Lassen County Fair Grounds at 195 Russell Avenue, Susanville, CA 96130.

Registration for camp is open through June 14. To learn more about the camp or to register, visit https://extension.usu.edu/utah4h/events/mustang-camp.

At the 4-H Mustang Camp, youth learn about the feral horses and range management careers. Photo by Dennis Hinkamp

Colt Challenge on June 22

The public is invited to celebrate the five-year anniversary of the Devils Garden Colt Challenge on June 22 in Alturas in Modoc County. In the Colt Challenge, 4-H and FFA youth in California and in the Oregon border counties of Lake and Klamath take home young, wild horses in December to train, then gather in June to show their horses' progress. Attendance is free.

For more information about the Colt Challenge, visit https://www.devilsgardenucce.org/post/colt-challenge-faq.

Maddi leads Fiona through an obstacle course in the 2022 Colt Challenge. Photo by Pam Kan-Rice

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