The Kiger Mustang
The story of the Kiger Mustang began hundreds of years ago. At that point in time, the ancestors to the horses that make up the Kiger Mustangs were known as the majestic Spanish Horses. Today, these magnificent horses are managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in two herds in Southeast Oregon and number less than 150 in the wild.
What is known today as North America has not always had horses roaming on it. Ancestors to the modern horse roamed North America for hundreds of thousands of years, until about 10,000 years ago when the horse on this continent became extinct. Before this happened, horses crossed land bridges between the continents and flourished in other parts of our prehistoric world. Horses were not to roam North America again, until the Spanish Conquistadors arrived on this continent in the 1500s. With the Conquistadors came their trusted form of transportation, the proud and truly magnificent Spanish Horse.
As these horses were imported to the new world, they were traded, stolen, and some escaped into the wild lands of the new world. The North American continent was once again blessed with the horse. These horses spread across the land of North America and once again roamed most parts of the Central and Western United States. As the U. S. was settled, various horse breeds were brought west. Many of these horses cross-bred with the wild and free roaming Mustangs of Spanish origin resulting in many of today's Mustang herds being of mixed breeding. However, in some of the most remote and rugged areas of the Western U. S., several herds have survived that possess many characteristics and resemble the original Spanish Horse. These herds escaped much of the infusion of mixed breeding and to this day are believed to be some of the best representations of the original Spanish Horses brought to this world by the Spanish Conquistadors.
Left to run free for several hundred years, the Mustang herds in the U.S. flourished and multiplied. Many believed the Mustang was just an old scruff horse and rounded them up for slaughter or used them for target practice. Others saw them as a piece of American Heritage and knew the abilities these horses possessed. These individuals gathered Mustangs and put them on their private ranches for protection. Public out cry, prompted by "Wild Horse Annie", over the treatment of wild horses pressed Congress to enact the Wild Free Roaming Horse and Burro Act of 1971, thus protecting wild Mustangs. Protection and management of the Mustangs was assigned to the BLM to preserve the wild horses on BLM lands. At this point in time, surveys of the Mustang herds were conducted to get an understanding of horse populations on BLM lands and how best to manage them. As the BLM lands were scouted, horses in isolated herds were discovered and recognized as possesssing primitive Spanish Horse markings. Today, several herds of wild Mustangs in the U. S. are DNA tested and are being managed for their Spanish descent and markings. The Kiger Mustangs are one of those herds.
The Discovery
After the BLM became responsible for the management of the wild horse herds, round-ups began to take place. This offered the BLM the opportunity to count, brand, examine and study herd populations. Protected areas known as Herd Management Areas (HMAs) were established, and viable herd numbers were determined for each HMA.
In 1974, Oregon BLM officials conducted their first roundup of wild Mustangs in Oregon. Willard "Bill" Phillips was the Oregon BLM Area Manager, Chris Vosler was the BLM District Manager, and E. "Ron" Harding was the BLM Wild Horse Specialist at the Burns, Oregon Office. Rumors circulated that there were still "Spanish type" Mustangs, possessing primitive markings that ran free in remote mountainous areas of Southeast Oregon. Ron, a life-long horseperson, was interested in horses of Spanish descent and excited about the possibility of "Spanish type" free roaming Mustangs. As round-ups occurred, a few dun factor horses with primitive markings began to come through the Burns holding facility. Bill, Ron, and Chris began to notice that a few of these Mustangs were very similiar in type, color, and conformation; and they exhibited strong primitive Spanish markings. But the area rumored to most likely hide the "Spanish type" horses was yet to be rounded-up and the search continued.
In 1977, during one of the scheduled roundups in the rugged and remote area of Oregon known as Beatty's Butte, most of the Mustangs that were to become the Kigers were discovered. BLM Officials had been told that this area was the most likely area for these outstanding "Spanish type" horses to exist. The area is extremely rough and remote, so less outside influence had occurred from horse wranglers and other horse breeds prior to the 1971 act protecting horses. After the herds had been rounded up, they were transported to the Burns office for inspection. When the first two trailers arrived at Burns, there were many dun factor horses possessing the Spanish horse characteristics. Ron Harding was waiting for the horses at the Burns corrals and when he gazed into the trailers, he knew they had something special! To quote Ron, "I was pumped even before we unloaded them. After we got them off the truck, it neaarly blew my mind!" Ron headed to the BLM Office in town to inform Bill and Chris about what was waiting in the corrals. Ron tells me that when they arrived back at the corrals, there was silence. All three could not believe their eyes. These horses had many primitive Spanish horse characteristics and were very similar in color, markings, and conformation. Could these be the rumored horses? Could it be possible that some of these horses had been runing free for so many years with little influence from outside breeds? Closer examination indicated that this was indeed a possibility. They had found what they had been looking for and these three individuals knew that the Oregon BLM lands had been hiding some very unique and magnificent wild horses.
To this point in time, nearly 4,000 wild Mustangs from the Southest Oregon area had been inspected at the BLM pens in Burns. Of those, only 40 exhibited strong Spanish markings and characteristics. That is 1% of the horses brought in, and most of those were from the Oriana Rim of Beatty's Butte. The BLM Officials knew they had to protect and preserve these horses before they were gone forever. Bill Phillips, Chris Vosler, and E. Ron Harding worked to implement a plan to manage, protect, and preserve these horses.
The Plan and the Name
The Kiger Mustangs are named after a deep gorge which borders the HMA. This gorge was carved by a glacier that existed thousands of years ago. This gorge is named Kiger Gorge. From Kiger Gorge, the term "Kiger" was adopted to refer to these unique and beautiful horses. Thus, the Kiger Mustang is a geographically named Mustang herd, as are many of the Mustang herds throughout the United States.
Bill, Chris, and Ron worked to set up the original HMAs where the Kigers would be placed. Later Chris left the Burns District and was replaced by Josh Warburton as District Manager, Josh picked up where Chris left off. In the early years, as herds and HMAs were being established, two HMAs were set up to protect the Kiger Mustangs. Two HMAs were chosen to limit the possibility of these horses being eradicated in the event of a harsh act of Mother Nature or a killer epidemic. Bottom line, the BLM officials did not want to lose these horses. These two HMAs were called Riddle Mountain HMA and East Kiger HMA. East Kiger HMA was cleared of all horses before the Kigers were released. However, East Kiger HMA bordered neighboring Smyth Creek HMA where other Mustang herds existed. There was concern that the Mustangs in Smyth Creek HMA would cross fences and boundaries and mix with the Kigers that were being established on East Kiger HMA. The decision was made to remove all Mustangs from the Smyth Creek HMA and relocate them. After all the horses were removed from Smyth Creek HMA, Kigers were introduced into Smyth Creek HMA. Later, East Kiger HMA and Smyth Creek HMA were combined to become one HMA, now called The Kiger HMA. Today there are two HMAs to protect the Kiger Mustang, Kiger HMA and Riddle Mountain HMA. These HMAs are located on the Northern flanks of the Steens Mountains in Southeast Oregon.
Twenty-nine horses were selected to start the original Kiger herds. Most of these horses were chosen from the Beatty's Butte herds, but two mares off the East Kiger HMA were selected. All of the horses exhibited the Spanish horse characteristics that the BLM officials were striving to preserve. A total of twenty-three horses were originally released onto the East Kiger HMA, two of those being the two mares that were originally captured there. Of these twenty-three horses, two were stallions (Mesteno and another dun slightly larger than Mesteno) and twenty-one mares. The Kiger Mustang was born. The remaining six selected horses were released onto the Riddle Mountain HMA, four of those being dun stallions. The BLM officials were not able to clear this HMA of all the horses before introducing the Kigers. However, at every chance, the "non-Spanish type" horses were removed from this HMA, and additional "Spanish type" horses were introduced. Over the years, the BLM was able to cull the "non Spanish type" horses from the HMA. Through the years, selected horses have been introduced into the two HMAs. Stallions and mares have been moved from one HMA to the other to increase the gene pool and reduce the possibility of inbreeding. Over the years, the horses multiplied. At scheduled roundups, the horses were reviewed and the horses with the best conformation and markings were released back to the HMAs. The culled "non-Spanish type" horses were released onto other HMAs. In 1986, the first Kigers were adopted out to the public. Today, the Kigers are rounded up every three to four years. Some are selected for adoption, but the "cream of the crop" are released back to continue the Kiger legacy.
Many of today's Kigers can be traced back to the legendary stallion named Mesteno, meaning "wild" or "unclaimed" horse. Mesteno was one of the two original stallions released onto the East Kiger HMA and has become a household name among Kiger owners. The life of this outstanding foundation stallion is captured in a Breyer Horse Series called "Mesteno". Mesteno was last seen alive in 1996 at the approximate age of twenty-seven! At that time, Mesteno did not possess his own mare band, he was no longer able to defend them. It is believed that Mesteno died in the late 1990's having left his legacy running wild and free in the Steens Mountains for everyone to see and enjoy.
The Kiger Mustang's Characteristics
The Kiger Mustangs are one of the most uniform Mustang herds existing today, due in part to management, but mostly due to the strong dominance of their genes and smaller gene pool. They have escaped much of the cross breeding that exists in many of today's Mustang herds. The Kigers may well be one of the closest related Mustang herds of Iberian descent and one of the best representations of the original Spanish horse known in the U.S. today.
Kiger Mustangs are striking to look at. They carry the dominant gene for dun coloration and primitive Spanish (Iberian) markings. Kiger colors include various shades of dun, red dun, grulla, and claybank; and fewer bay, roan, and black coloration. Dun factor markings in the Kiger herds include a dorsal stripe, leg barring (zebra stripes), barring on the neck and shoulders, cob webbing on the face, neck, and shoulders, fishbone markings on the back extending down from the dorsal stripe. Other features are black legs up to the knee, black outlined ears with fawn colored interior hair. Typically the top one third of the ears backside is dark or black, the ears are pointed with a hooked tip. Kigers exhibit an incredibly beautiful, bi-colored black/blonde mane and tail.
Kiger Mustangs range from 13.2 to 15.2 hands, with an average height of 14.2 hands, so they are somewhat smaller than many other breeds. But 500 years of being managed by nature has made this horse extremely smart and strong. Kigers have tremendous stamina.
Kigers typically have a straight to slightly convex head. The head is fairly narrow, with a slightly wider forehead and a refined muzzle. They have crested necks with mature stallions having a magnificently crested neck amd a clean throatlatch. The chest is narrow and typically inverted "V" shaped, the body is narrow with a deep girth area, the back is medium in length and well muscled. Kigers have low, but prominent withers, reaching far into the back. The rump is compact and sloping to the back and sides. Kigers typically have long shoulders, short sloping hips, and comparitively long strong legs. In profile Kigers have an "uphill " appearance, meaning the withers are slightly higher than the hip. Hooves are compact, thick-walled, and extremely tough.
Kigers have big, round, beautiful, high-set, and pronounced eyes. Looking into these eyes, one can only imagine the daily battles these horses faced to survive. But the most outstanding feature of the Kiger Mustang is the incredibly gentle disposition they possess once gentled. Kigers are very proud, extremely smart, and spirited horses, yet are some of the gentlest, eager to learn, and compassionate horses you will ever work with. The Kigers intelligence and willingness to learn makes them very trainable. Kiger stallions are easy to keep and handle, although they should be treated with the respect they deserve. Most stallions are perfect gentlemen and run well with other horses.
The Kiger Mustang is a true example of the will to survive. Battling the extremes of Mother Nature, the westward expanse of settlement and the influence of man on today's horse breeds has done very little to alter the Kigers. The ancestors of these horses were delivered here by the Spanish Conquistadors. The Conquistadors, riding on the back of the Spanish horse ignited the forge that would fire a new nation. The Kiger Mustang represents that forge and remains a proud symbol of all wild Mustangs and a true ambassador of the Western American Heritage.
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