The end is near for a decades‑long program that allowed incarcerated men in Colorado to care for mustangs rounded up by the Bureau of Land Management.
Inside a Colorado prison, Matthew Kurvink cleaned out corrals that once housed thousands of wild horses as the program closed. “I can’t say enough on how much personal growth this has done for me,” he said.
Kurvink and Justin Leonard, who are serving time for aggravated robbery, spent every day for the past year and a half caring for mustangs. Leonard said the horses helped him, too: “It’s taught me most of our relationships in life are dependent on you being able to understand their perspective and where they’re coming from.”
In September the BLM announced it would end its roughly 30‑year partnership with the Colorado prison program, citing budget cuts. The Colorado Department of Corrections said it regrets the closure and is working to create new rehabilitation opportunities.
This fall, more than 2,000 wild horses were shipped from Colorado to private facilities in Wyoming and Utah at taxpayers’ expense. A CBS News analysis of federal spending records shows each of those two private facilities stands to make about $800 more per horse than the Colorado facility made this past year.
Nationwide, four other prison programs that house wild horses have contracts that expire next year. The BLM told CBS News it has issued contract extensions but is evaluating next steps to manage wild herds in the West; for now, every wild horse rounded up in Colorado will be transported out of state.
At a recent adoption event, some locals criticized the decision. “We want them to stay in Colorado,” one attendee said. As the prison program closed, one volunteer adopted a horse named Hollywood “because I didn’t want to see him go to an unknown,” a reminder of a partnership that gave horses and humans a second chance. Kati Weis, CBS News, Cañon City, Colorado.