Post by spanishsagegrullas on Apr 28, 2010 14:51:29 GMT -5
This is what I posted late 2007 or early 2008 on the KMA message board. I am posting it here since you all might want to read it, altho it is more of an attempt to have KMA and its members think about the direction the association is headed vis-a-vis the horses that the Association was set up to benefit and promote. So please realise it is just here for your information and historical consideration.
Thanks
Diane P.
Spanish Sage Ranch
Joined: May 04, 2007
Posts: 44
Location: OR
Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 11:41 am Post Subject: Kigers as a type of horse
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I spend quite a lot of time considering the Kiger horse, how it came about, why it came about, where it stands now, and whether BLM is capable, legally or staff-wise, to continue to preserve the Kiger as it was originally preserved, without constant support and input from the public.
On another Kiger board, they on occasion discuss coming up with a different breed standard than the one that KMA has, and even consider
changing some characteristics that were acceptable to those that recognized this horse as important, even questioning why we should defer to what the “founding fathers” of the HMAs at all. This disturbs me greatly.
The reason I came to this breed is because it was a horse which was valued for its type, its look, which was thought to belie its unique genetic make up, a make up that was not found in the other wild herds in the US.
From what I understand the history to be, Ron Harding had always had a fondness for the old Spanish mustang, and did all reading he could on what that horse might look like. He had heard that these type of horses were in Southeastern Oregon, and when he inquired, he was told
that they used to run on the Nevada state line, and if any still existed, they would have been in the Oriana Rim area of Beatys Butte. When these horses were gathered, Ron Harding had this to say about his reaction, as he wrote in an article in the 1990 issue of Mustang magazine:
“They had the color! They had the conformation! They had it all! One without the other would not have meant a thing. Everything about these horses indicated Spanish Mustang. They were alike as peas in a pod. The horses were the best for their type I had ever seen…Can I prove the Kiger horses are Spanish horses beyond the shadow of a doubt? The answer is “no;” however I can say they all have the physical characteristics of Spanish Mustangs and that they are an outstanding type of horse worth preserving for future generations.”
He and Bill Phillips went on to separate these types of horses from the other HMAs, to limit the infusion with other types and colors found in other HMAs.
The very first description of the horses that the BLM sought to preserve in 1976 is described as follows:
“Dorsal stripes are one of the more primitive color patterns of horses. This stripe is found on the Tarpan (the wild European horse), the Onager (a wild Asiatic equus), the Preqalskis horse (a wild Russian horse), and the Sorraia (a wild Spanish horse.) This stripe was a common characteristic of the Spanish Mustang.
Because this is a primitive color pattern, and was common among Spanish mustangs, the Riddle Mt. Herd Management Plan calls for the preservation of this color pattern….It is not the intent of the plan to perpetuate horses of this color that are lacking in other selection criteria.”
Bill Phillips and Ron Harding clearly recognized that the horses that we now call Kigers were a different type than most of the others. They were more primitive in type, more Spanish looking. As someone who is quite knowledgeable about the Iberian horse recently said to me, “Kigers are clearly a blend of Old World Iberian stock.”
The HMAs were set up to preserve the horse and its genes, which amazingly have been proven by mtDNA studies to truly link this herd with the more ancestral Iberian horse, more so than even most modern day Andalusians and Lusitanos, the horses that are hallmark of Iberian breeds. This mtDNA link is not found in any other wild herd.
The goal of the Kiger and Riddle HMAs wasn’t to produce a breed called a Kiger, or a horse to market to the public to make the BLM horses more adoptable. Bill Phillips recently stated, “It wasn't our goal to set up a breed. Our goal was to preserve those horses. Here was a concentration of genes we thought worth preserving."
KMA was established to help preserve this type. As the personnel of BLM changed and BLM’s goal seemed to shift from Bill Phillips’ goal to the goal of adopting the maximum number of horses to the public, and KMA and BLM positions diverged such that KMA could not guarantee that any horse that BLM called a Kiger, KMA could register.
KMA minutes from approximately the early 1990s reflect that, stating:
“Now we, as an association, have to look at all the horses. We know what we want, we know what our horses are supposed to look like. The BLM is going to manage horses for political moves, we are going to register horses for what they really are. As long as we take this point of view, everything will be alright. The BLM is not lying to people, these horses are coming off the Kiger HMA, so they can say these are Kiger horses. We as an association are registering a distinct TYPE of horse that BLM told us they originally put out on the range. We have a different interest than
they do. BLM are going to bring in all the horses they can and say these are Kiger horses because they came off the HMA. We will have to say, fine, but we as an association can’t recognize them.”
The emphasis on the word TYPE is that way in the minutes.
It seems to me that the registry when it started recognized that the Kiger was a horse that was more defined by its type than only defined by its HMA of origin. I know there was a lot of concern about the quality of the horses at this last adoption, and concern that the BLM has lost its focus and needs to be re-oriented towards understanding the type of horse that should be kept out on the range to carry on. I would encourage KMA to maintain itself as the registry which supports the original Kiger type, rather than the hype, and not let Oregon, the US, and even the world
as a whole lose this concentration of unique genes – genes that may really not be found anywhere else in the world - by losing our focus.
Diane P.
Spanish Sage Ranch
Thanks
Diane P.
Spanish Sage Ranch
Joined: May 04, 2007
Posts: 44
Location: OR
Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 11:41 am Post Subject: Kigers as a type of horse
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I spend quite a lot of time considering the Kiger horse, how it came about, why it came about, where it stands now, and whether BLM is capable, legally or staff-wise, to continue to preserve the Kiger as it was originally preserved, without constant support and input from the public.
On another Kiger board, they on occasion discuss coming up with a different breed standard than the one that KMA has, and even consider
changing some characteristics that were acceptable to those that recognized this horse as important, even questioning why we should defer to what the “founding fathers” of the HMAs at all. This disturbs me greatly.
The reason I came to this breed is because it was a horse which was valued for its type, its look, which was thought to belie its unique genetic make up, a make up that was not found in the other wild herds in the US.
From what I understand the history to be, Ron Harding had always had a fondness for the old Spanish mustang, and did all reading he could on what that horse might look like. He had heard that these type of horses were in Southeastern Oregon, and when he inquired, he was told
that they used to run on the Nevada state line, and if any still existed, they would have been in the Oriana Rim area of Beatys Butte. When these horses were gathered, Ron Harding had this to say about his reaction, as he wrote in an article in the 1990 issue of Mustang magazine:
“They had the color! They had the conformation! They had it all! One without the other would not have meant a thing. Everything about these horses indicated Spanish Mustang. They were alike as peas in a pod. The horses were the best for their type I had ever seen…Can I prove the Kiger horses are Spanish horses beyond the shadow of a doubt? The answer is “no;” however I can say they all have the physical characteristics of Spanish Mustangs and that they are an outstanding type of horse worth preserving for future generations.”
He and Bill Phillips went on to separate these types of horses from the other HMAs, to limit the infusion with other types and colors found in other HMAs.
The very first description of the horses that the BLM sought to preserve in 1976 is described as follows:
“Dorsal stripes are one of the more primitive color patterns of horses. This stripe is found on the Tarpan (the wild European horse), the Onager (a wild Asiatic equus), the Preqalskis horse (a wild Russian horse), and the Sorraia (a wild Spanish horse.) This stripe was a common characteristic of the Spanish Mustang.
Because this is a primitive color pattern, and was common among Spanish mustangs, the Riddle Mt. Herd Management Plan calls for the preservation of this color pattern….It is not the intent of the plan to perpetuate horses of this color that are lacking in other selection criteria.”
Bill Phillips and Ron Harding clearly recognized that the horses that we now call Kigers were a different type than most of the others. They were more primitive in type, more Spanish looking. As someone who is quite knowledgeable about the Iberian horse recently said to me, “Kigers are clearly a blend of Old World Iberian stock.”
The HMAs were set up to preserve the horse and its genes, which amazingly have been proven by mtDNA studies to truly link this herd with the more ancestral Iberian horse, more so than even most modern day Andalusians and Lusitanos, the horses that are hallmark of Iberian breeds. This mtDNA link is not found in any other wild herd.
The goal of the Kiger and Riddle HMAs wasn’t to produce a breed called a Kiger, or a horse to market to the public to make the BLM horses more adoptable. Bill Phillips recently stated, “It wasn't our goal to set up a breed. Our goal was to preserve those horses. Here was a concentration of genes we thought worth preserving."
KMA was established to help preserve this type. As the personnel of BLM changed and BLM’s goal seemed to shift from Bill Phillips’ goal to the goal of adopting the maximum number of horses to the public, and KMA and BLM positions diverged such that KMA could not guarantee that any horse that BLM called a Kiger, KMA could register.
KMA minutes from approximately the early 1990s reflect that, stating:
“Now we, as an association, have to look at all the horses. We know what we want, we know what our horses are supposed to look like. The BLM is going to manage horses for political moves, we are going to register horses for what they really are. As long as we take this point of view, everything will be alright. The BLM is not lying to people, these horses are coming off the Kiger HMA, so they can say these are Kiger horses. We as an association are registering a distinct TYPE of horse that BLM told us they originally put out on the range. We have a different interest than
they do. BLM are going to bring in all the horses they can and say these are Kiger horses because they came off the HMA. We will have to say, fine, but we as an association can’t recognize them.”
The emphasis on the word TYPE is that way in the minutes.
It seems to me that the registry when it started recognized that the Kiger was a horse that was more defined by its type than only defined by its HMA of origin. I know there was a lot of concern about the quality of the horses at this last adoption, and concern that the BLM has lost its focus and needs to be re-oriented towards understanding the type of horse that should be kept out on the range to carry on. I would encourage KMA to maintain itself as the registry which supports the original Kiger type, rather than the hype, and not let Oregon, the US, and even the world
as a whole lose this concentration of unique genes – genes that may really not be found anywhere else in the world - by losing our focus.
Diane P.
Spanish Sage Ranch
