Ace

His name is Gambler”. Actually it’s My Nevada Gambler, but he goes by Kiger.  He’s full mustang and 1/2 Kiger mustang. he’s 5 years old, is about 14.3 hands and may grow another inch and a half. He’s got the most calm disposition you can imagine. He seems to be unflappable.

There was great big tree blocking the trail we were on. So he sauntered right up to it, asked if I wanted him to go over it or under it, and when I didn’t reply he started eating the moss off it. That was the first time he had been to the river; he walked right into it, got a drink, and splashed around. On the way there we went through copious amounts of sticky, thick, clay mud on the trail; no lunging or lurching or trying to avoid it—just plowed right through it.

On Sunday, June 16 Janine and Kiger did his first Squaw Butte Trail ride.  They did a loop from the Yellow Jacket trail head.  Up the Telephone ridge trail, then onto the Rice Peak Trail, about 18 miles total.  Along the way he encountered mud, step overs, creek crossings, steep climbs and descents, and a football size snow field that if it had been a ski run would have been rated “Blue”.  This little horse is all heart and can do, not missing a beat, whatever came along.  If another horse did it, so did he!

What a guy!  Visit “Horse Springs Kiger Ranch”

Oregon has arguably the most prized wild horses available on public lands featuring the Kiger mustangs. Oregon’s wild horses are known for their quality and color and are popular with adopters throughout the United States. The Spanish Mustang was a part of early American history, having roots in Native American history, and is the horse that helped settle the west. At one time it was thought to be extinct on the range. Since the Kiger Mustangs may well be one of the best remaining examples of the Spanish Mustang, their preservation is extremely important. Kiger Mustangs have the physical conformation of both the tarpan and oriental hotblood horses from which the original Spanish Mustangs came. They have small, round bones, small feet and very little feather on their legs and fetlocks. Their eyes are wide set and prominent. These animals also have distinctly hooked ear tips and fine muzzles. The Kiger Mustangs also look very much like the modern day Spanish Sorraias. They are indeed a unique breed of wild horse.

Janine with her trail companion “Kiger”, notice the zebra strips on the legs, typical of Kigers.