Post by mystickiger on Jul 20, 2011 21:51:13 GMT -5
I know that this post will not endear me to some or possibly many. That's really okay. My main concern is the Kiger breed and horses. While I love meeting and interacting with people across the world that share my passion for Kigers, my up most concern is for the horse. The romantic side of most of us sees ourselves adopting a Kiger from the wild and living happily ever after with a beautiful horse, mane flowing in the wind. Sadly, that is not reality when push comes to shove for many starry eyed adopters.
Please consider the horse before making the trip to Burns to adopt, regardless if it's the "most beautiful weanling, yearling, 2-6 year old, etc. that you've ever seen and really, really have to have. Are you prepared to care for that horse no matter what? No matter what includes: catastrophic injury and vet bills, transportation in an emergency whether it's a natural emergency such as fire or hurricane or injury, secured location where you are not going to be looking at a situation where you have one or several horses that you have to unload quickly due to loss of lease, unexpected financial hardship where you can not feed you animals after a couple of months should you lose your regular income or meet unexpected financial burdens. Do you already have enough hay to feed your new addition until next hay season? If not, do you have enough money set aside to secure that hay no matter the cost down the road?
There is so much to owning a domestic horse, let alone one from the wild. Everyone wants the young ones because they are easier to gentle; most of the time yes but not always. Are you prepared to handle that situation both facility wise and knowledge/handling skill wise? Most of all, do you really have the time?
OK, off my podium, just get really concerned when I read some of the stuff that has been written over the past several months. Call me cynical, but I've been around Kigers for along time in the East. I've seen alot of horses come and go but to who knows where. Hopefully the "who knows where" horses ended up in good situations. But since I know some have gone through the auctions here in the East, I really doubt that. Please make sure that you are prepared to keep the animal that you adopt until it is considered a "good citizen" and desirable regardless of the confirmation and breed. Particularly here in the East. Not too many good working ranch horses are sought after out here.
Please consider the horse before making the trip to Burns to adopt, regardless if it's the "most beautiful weanling, yearling, 2-6 year old, etc. that you've ever seen and really, really have to have. Are you prepared to care for that horse no matter what? No matter what includes: catastrophic injury and vet bills, transportation in an emergency whether it's a natural emergency such as fire or hurricane or injury, secured location where you are not going to be looking at a situation where you have one or several horses that you have to unload quickly due to loss of lease, unexpected financial hardship where you can not feed you animals after a couple of months should you lose your regular income or meet unexpected financial burdens. Do you already have enough hay to feed your new addition until next hay season? If not, do you have enough money set aside to secure that hay no matter the cost down the road?
There is so much to owning a domestic horse, let alone one from the wild. Everyone wants the young ones because they are easier to gentle; most of the time yes but not always. Are you prepared to handle that situation both facility wise and knowledge/handling skill wise? Most of all, do you really have the time?
OK, off my podium, just get really concerned when I read some of the stuff that has been written over the past several months. Call me cynical, but I've been around Kigers for along time in the East. I've seen alot of horses come and go but to who knows where. Hopefully the "who knows where" horses ended up in good situations. But since I know some have gone through the auctions here in the East, I really doubt that. Please make sure that you are prepared to keep the animal that you adopt until it is considered a "good citizen" and desirable regardless of the confirmation and breed. Particularly here in the East. Not too many good working ranch horses are sought after out here.
