James Sharpe, standing nearby, left his Lakeland home at 5 a.m. in search of a sturdy horse to work his cattle. But he soon confessed to another motive:

"I wanted one of these ever since I was a kid," said Sharpe, 60, who grew up watching John Wayne movies. "This is our heritage," he said from beneath a white Stetson.

To any of the 300 people near Southeastern Livestock Pavilion on Saturday, it was clear this was not a typical horse auction in this city renowned for its million-dollar thoroughbreds.

Just three months ago, the 125 mustangs on display were as wild as they appeared, roaming the West as living symbols of the American frontier.

"Christopher Columbus and the Spanish conquistadors brought these animals into the New World," said Bill James, spokesman for the federal Bureau of Land Management.

"In the westward movement, they got away from farmers, ranchers and cavalry soldiers. They've been running out there for more than 200 years."

Nearly 40,000 mustangs roam federally protected land in Nevada, Wyoming, California, Utah, Oregon and several other Western states.

Once used for target practice by renegade "mustangers," or killed by ranchers eager to expand grazing territory, the wild horses were protected by the Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act of 1971.

With the threats gone, the population doubles every five years, straining the fragile rangeland, so the government regularly rounds up several thousand for auctions across the country.

Since the adoption program began in 1973, 185,000 mustangs and burros have been domesticated.

After being chased by helicopters into corrals, the horses in Ocala were taken to a holding facility in Elm Creek, Neb., and given shots, wormed and checked for equine encephalitis. Then they were trucked to Florida.

Most of the mustangs and 10 burros, descendents of the pack animals used by gold prospectors, brought to Ocala this weekend will go home with new owners. The horses are typically used for leisure riding and herding cattle.

The burros, which drew adoration from even the most leathery men, sold for about $400, more than most horses. "They're so cute and adorable," said Jacky Martin, who was looking for a male, or jack, to pair with a jenny she bought at auction last year.

About 40 mustangs will be available today from 8 a.m. to noon; all horses are $125. Those not adopted will be trucked to Cross Plains, Tenn., for auction in February. If they are unwanted after several tries, they are taken to a sprawling, fenced-in sanctuary in Oklahoma to live out their years.

The adoption process is not without controversy. Some animal rights groups say an increasing number of horses end up in slaughterhouses; others think the horses should be left alone.

James said his agency closely monitors the adopted horses for a year but after that, they are no longer government property.

Diamonds in the rough

But there is a definite trade-off. Buyers know what to look for -- a strong muscular structure, for example -- but are never quite sure what they are getting

The horses are a scraggly lot, with long, knotty manes and shaggy coats. They bite and kick and are extremely wary of humans.

Most people enjoy the challenge. "It's kind of like an Erector set," said Joe LaLonde of Kathleen, who owns seven mustangs. "You just want to see what you can do with them."

LaLonde, a member of the Tampa-based Free Spirit Mustang and Burro Club, proudly displayed before and after pictures of a brown colt. The scrawny, ungroomed horse had blossomed into a handsome stud.

Taming a mustang requires equal amounts of skill, affection and patience, said Chris Irwin, a prominent horse trainer from Canada who was in Ocala Saturday to demonstrate his trade.

In a matter of hours, Irwin was able to pet a mare. He is the exception; it will take most people months before they can saddle their horses.

"To compare a wild mustang to a domestic horse is like comparing a wolf to a golden retriever," Irwin said. "You are going up against 50,000 years of genetics."

The allure of the mustang shows in the eyes of Honey Lague, a 52-year-old former schoolteacher from Dunnellon.

Lague was at the livestock pavilion at 8 a.m., eager to fill out the necessary paperwork to take home a horse. A few weeks ago, a friend gave her a mare named Queenie, and she was hooked.

"This is something I always wanted to do," she said, clutching her auction card. "Wild horses are so beautiful; there's a real romance."

She found a good spot around a circular corral used to show between one and three horses at a time. The amplified voice of auctioneer Maurice Raybon, a 50-year-old Tampa man, filled the air with a dizzying stream of consonants and dollar amounts. The federal agency, which is considering holding the auction in Tampa next year, took checks, cash and credit cards for the animals. In groups of two or three, mustangs would charge down a narrow channel into the corral. Their muscles bulged and nostrils flared.

"I'm still shaking; it's like I just won an award," Lague said after landing a yearling and a colt for $875. She plans to use the animals for trail riding.

Del Staggs picked up a pair of fillies for $650. "It's a bargain," said Staggs.

And how did Magee, the Ocala man with an eye for the black colt, fare? He got his horse, for $150. "I was ready to pay $700 for him," he said.

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Lucy Morgan

From the Times state desk