Stormy

[nrly]

She has been working on an extreme cowboy course that a friend has made where we stable her, she is going at it slow, but she isn't shying away from things on the course. We are very pleased with how she is doing.
Nola
Rock'n M Kiger Ranch
Mesa, AZ & Snowflake, AZ

[Michelle Clarke]

what kind of obstacles is she working on???

[nrly]

going over a telephone pole that has a mound of dirt two pole laid across from each other that she goes into and back's out of, 4 railroad ties that she has to go over, and barrels to weave in and out of, up and over a large hill. dips and curves,as soon as he builds his straight bridge it will go over a ditch he will make. she is doing very good, and so is my husbands BLM Mustang.
on thing my hubby has done with her is get her use to going in to some really tight places, and she does not panic when he does this with her. We have hung bran bags off her headstall, anything we could think of to make her bomb proof. for a 4 year old she is wonderful. We have also done allot of ground work, and round pen work with her.
The other day after not being ridden for 3 months cause it was way to hot, Jim saddled her and rode her in the paddock, well she bucked and crow hopped with him, and her heart was not really in it she settled down and it was like she did not have those months off.
she was awesome and so he started the extreme Cowboy course to give her mind a work out and she is doing a wonderful job. not going fast but she is responding. Were not ready for the timed part of it just yet.
nola

[angelskiger]

I have noticed that Maverick is definately an "A, B,C" horse.. meaning I hardly ever have to keep coming back to "A" and start over with him. Once he gets it, which is normally quick, its there and even when I dont work him for a week or so, he remembered and I can continue on with the next lesson. If I happen to have to refresh, its only once and he's there. I'm still working on the "flight" instinct. It's only been 4 months now, I can see some change, so that's good. Not sure if it's just instilled in them and will always be, (I know all horse's have it, this is my first mustang) but Im hoping to at least get him to think first. Right now, it's run first, look back later. I do get him stopped with a one rein stop. Lot's of wet blankets, exposure and more de-spooking is the goal right now. I also think he needs to earn his confidence in me and himself which will come in time.

He's a sweet and beautiful boy!! Definately makes me laugh

[Michelle Clarke]

I think alot of the Kigers show that high trainability and quick learning and "I got it" ability. In fact, that is a problem I have with selling purebreds to certain folks. If they are not looking for a horse to partner with them on a journey, like learning horsemanship or getting into a discipline per se, then they have troubles with them. The Kigers also seem to get quite bored quickly with the same thing and if it takes the person a long time to really learn something, then they wind up frustrating the horse fast. Some learn to take advantage of people who are not quick to get things and in turn, play games with them. I find they need lots of challenge.

My first Kiger, Zorro (aka Midnight), was always better than the last time I rode him, even if it was weeks in between. In fact when I sold him, I sold him to an older gal that wanted a horse she could just get on and trail ride even if the horse had been off for three months. Zorro loved to trail ride so much, that it never mattered how much time he had off, he jumped in the trailer and was excited to get going down the trail. She got him to where he would go into schools with her to do education on Wild Horses - even rode in elevators; he really turned out to be a neat neat horse. She moved from Illinois to Colorado right next to the mountains and I know Zorro is in hog-heaven up there!

Anyway, I think Kigers are surely a "horsemanship-horse".

[nrly]

so do I , this breed has allot to give, Stormy learned so fast, she was off for the summer cause it was way to hot to ride, so when we did finally saddle her she tried to buck. crow hop and not with allot of heart, she was back to her old self and responded like she had never had the 3 months break.
and her ride is so smooth, several people have commented she is gated. do any others feel they can be gated.nola

[Michelle Clarke]

I have been told some of the Kigers are gaited, though I personally have never seen it. Horses can be smooth without being gaited. The Kigers are so balanced and fluid moveing that maybe can mistake them for being gaited even when they are not. Alot of Spanish type horses will also show an "almost" lateral gait when they are very young. When you get to more advanced type training, especially into Classical Horsemanship, they develop a diagonalized walk, which just has to do with the fact it is easy for them to get very round.

If you have ridden different gaited horses - like Tennesse Walker (who to me feels like you are riding Lerch from the Adams Family ;D or like a Paso Fino, which is very different and smooth, but there is a slight up and down bounce (though it is not really a "bounce"). The Iberian type horses just have incredible movement that makes folks look good in the saddle! JP calls it "soft gaited".

There is a huge difference between training a Sport-type horse (warmblood/thoroughbred kind), than training a Spainsh horse due to the different conformation and abilities. They just develop differently, collection comes easy and can be taken advantage of waaaay too early and ruin the horse. They also have the ability to lock their back and make it seem like they are smooth when in reality, it is an evasion or protection.

Horses that lock their backs, especially when they are very short-backed, can actually develop a lateral gait due to the compensation in the way they move. I had a student that had a Morgan - a chunky, little normal Morgan, not the big saddle-seat type; and that horse had a clear lateral gait that the gal just LOVED, but when I told her the mare was in pain, her saddle did not fit and it was not natural for her to move that way, she got offended because she thought she had something so special. Eventually she quit taking lessons because I was having her work on relaxing exercises with the mare and she started trotting again...

[angelskiger]

Maverick is very smooth also. I can sit his trot very easily. He is very short backed, so I'm searching for a smaller pad for him.

[Michelle Clarke]

Reinsman has nice shorter pads - rounded on the backside. We have found that some of the barrel pads also work well. You can always use the nice thick felt pads and cut the back too...

[DianneC]

That's so cool about Stormy. What a wonderful horse she is developing into. You're doing a great job with her.
I wouldn't call it gaiting, but I've noticed in pictures of Chinny and Bravo that their back foot hits the ground a half-second before their front foot in the trot. Perhaps that's why they are so smooth to ride. Chinny rocks me from side to side a little at the trot, which took some getting used to. I've noticed about him and several of his foals that their heads don't move up and down even when they're going over rough ground at a gallop, and their backs move very little. It gives the impression that it is effortless.

[nrly]

Dianne that is so true when we got her a friend watched her trot around the round pen and and was amazed that her rump did not move, and her head was still, he was so impressed with her.
nola

[DianneC]

I don't know how they do it. When Storm was just a month old his pasture was marshy in spots, soft and uneven footing where the horses had walked through it. There were little rushes growing ther too. Storm would race around through this area jumping the rushes and even doing that, his head didn't seem to move up or down.

[nrly]

tonight Stormy was upset with me she smelt Riddle on my gloves and she was not to happy, she laid her ears back flat, turned around and walked away from me. Tomorrow i will spend time with her, it was like a teen age act of rebellion. caught me off guard, but i undersyand it, she has not shared me before, jealous i think.
nola

[nrly]

Stormy with Jim about 2 weeks before we went to get Riddle

[lindaf]

What a handsome girl. I like that far-away look.
Linda