Mequon — Even in the portable pens, the wild horses were beautiful.
Once, they ran on western ranges. On Saturday, they stirred on the dirt.
One by one people crept near the metal fencing and looked in, to view these wondrous animals that have a magical, almost mystical hold on the human imagination.
"I'm just window-shopping with a horse-loving child," Cynthia Weise of Mequon said.
It was the first National Wild Horse Adoption Day held by the U.S. Department of Interior's Bureau of Land Management.
Wild horse and humane animal advocacy groups from around the country, along with the Bureau of Land Management, joined together at more than 65 sites to try to spur the public to consider what is known as adoption.
The Bureau of Land Management's Milwaukee office has jurisdiction in 20 eastern states. The Milwaukee-area event was held at the agency's holding facility in Mequon.
For $125, an owner could adopt one animal. Adopt a second animal, a so-called buddy, and it cost just $25 more. By the end of the day, four of the eight horses up for adoption were adopted.
Ro Rajkovich of Eden and her daughter Rachel Graf of Appleton came down to get one animal.
They took away two yearlings, a filly that was captured in Utah in November 2008, and a gelding captured in Nevada in January.
"I've been riding and training my whole life, but I've never had a wild mustang before," Rajkovich said.
Here's what she knows about the animals, though: Their instincts are near the surface.
"In the wild, they learn what to be worried about and what not to be worried about," she said. "That wild mountain lion, yes, be nervous. That blowing branch, no."
She said she plans to spend weeks, perhaps even months gentling the animals, "getting them where they're not afraid of you." Perhaps, by spring, she may be able to saddle the animals.
It's a long way from the open range.
Gabriele Thompson, a Bureau of Land Management wild horse and burro specialist, said the nation's wild horse population - which exists on hundreds of ranges in 11 western states - needs to be controlled because the animals "have almost zero predators."
"A mountain lion might take a sick foal, but the horses increase in numbers 20% a year," she said. "So, every five years, the herd size doubles. If we don't remove horses, they would destroy the ranges because of overuse."
Thompson has a clear love and appreciation of the animals.
"The only difference between a mustang and any other horse is, they were born in the wild and have no human contact until we bring them in," she said. "You have to spend a lot of time with them, get used to them, so they can make sure they're not under threat. The wild horses, once they trust you, they form a very strong bond with their caretaker."
"When you adopt them, they have a clean slate, no bad habits," she said. "If they develop a bad habit, you give it to them."
Those who adopt the animals don't actually own them until they get title, usually in one year.
"Until they get the title, Uncle Sam owns the animal," said Randy Anderson, a Bureau of Land Management wild horse and burro specialist.
He said those who adopt the animals come from all walks of life and are looking for good, healthy horses.
"These are wonderful horses that are able to do anything," he said. "They're used in all disciplines, as trail horses, in competitions and endurance riding."
In recent years, U.S. adoptions have declined, from around 6,000 annually to 3,000 annually. Thompson ticked off a list of reasons.
"The economy, market saturation, there are a lot of other unwanted horses," she said. "You can get a domestic horse, a broken horse, for next to nothing. You have suburban sprawl. Boarding costs are going through the roof."
And yet, for a hardy bunch, there really is nothing like the grace and beauty of a wild horse.