TIP stands for Trainer Incentive Program, which is run by the Mustang Heritage Foundation (MHF), who partners with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), to help find good homes for mustangs.
Basically, anyone with a BLM-approved application can adopt a wild mustang or burro for $125. However, the adopter must either have a knowledgeable trainer lined up to work with the animal, or have the knowledge themselves. Training a wild horse or burro is quite a bit more challenging than training a domestic equine!
That's where TIP comes in. A trainer, who has been approved by both the BLM and MHF, picks up the wild horse from a holding corral, gentles it, and then makes it available to a BLM-approved adopter. Although the animal is still considered very "green" and inexperienced, the TIP trainer's primary job is to get the horse past that first big hurdle of overwhelming fear of humans.
In order to be considered "gentled", the TIP trainer must train the horse/burro to meet a minimum of 3 criteria:
- Easily halter and lead
- Pick up its feet for cleaning/farrier work
- Load/unload into a trailer
While the experience and willingness of the animal to do those 3 will vary with the animal and the trainer, and any additional training (if any) will vary, it has been determined that the average adopter should be able to work with and handle the animal at that point. Another benefit to adopting a TIP-gentled horse is that the adopter is only required to have 5 foot high fences, which is the height of the average livestock corral panel or round pen. To adopt a totally wild animal, adopters must have 6 foot high fences.
