Kigers - where are we today?

[sbutter]

Bill, you make a very excellent point that no one has touched on. I am always excited to hear about Sunny's accomplishments, but even if you win at all those shows, it doesn't mean those people will want to breed to your horse. As a kiger breeder it's always an added bonus to compete and do well against other breeds, especially when it is at their own game. With a horse that can do those kinds of accomplishments, other kiger breeders will want to have that horse in their bloodlines. But you aren't going to have owners from other breeds line up to breed their best horses to your kiger horse. We see this in the TB business. The moment a Kentucky mare is bred to a California stallion, the value instantly drops in the mare no matter how good of a horse she is. There is a huge prejudice there, even though the horse can compete and do everything their horses can do.

To get other breeders to invest their time and money into the kigers, there would have to be a money advantage. Even if we had kigers do phenomenal in open shows and competitions, why would they want to switch over when there is (currently) no money to be made in any of our programs? The majority of breeders you will attract are other kiger enthusiasts and people that want a nice all around horse to ride on. For kigers, it would be a one generation investment and then it all disappears again when their progeny are being ridden on trail rides and the occasional horse show. The hype would come and go, unless there is a way to keep it burning. I see a rise in versatility competitions and other shows that aren't cornered by a particular breed. These could potentially be venues that kigers could tap into and make a place for themselves consistently enough for there to be a long term demand. It may also be a good idea to have a long term plan to make shows for kigers, where there is prize money. I don't see that happening anytime soon, but it could potentially be self sustaining enough to guarantee a future for kigers.

I am also very excited to hear about the Equine Affaire and the potentially big impact it can have for mustangs. There are so many good mustangs out there that would make phenomenal trail horses, etc. The 88 Ranch Wild Horse Program is another great way to give mustangs a good foundation and home.
www.edmundstwining3rd.com/88ranch.html
www.gerrygesell.com/index.html
www.gerrygesell.blogspot.com/
middleburgeccentric.com/scripts/NewsManager/templates/ecc_artical.aspx?articleid=2300

[mystickiger]

"So...I think it is time for a Kiger Owners/Breeders Association - NOT another registry. Many breeds are run off of an association just as this. It needs to be a support for the horses and the owners in every, way, shape and form. It has to be done right, with no prejudice and whether the horse has hooked ears, white markings or not. Whether the owner trail rides or shows or just looks at their horses out the window.

It is time for change and time to focus on a REALISTIC target market. The more lower level horses that can get into the hands of amatures, the more they will take lessons and the more professionals will eventually see them and let it go from there. "

Thank you Michelle! To me, that pretty well sums it up. An inclusive breed association, not breeders association, is what can secure the future recognization of the Kiger breed. It's a ways off with lots of work to be done but an association working with registries could possibly gain USEF recognization for the breed. If we continue to rely on the BLM and those papers only then Kigers are only another pretty mustang. They are a recognized breed, otherwise why breed a horse from the wild at all? Leave that to the BLM.

Lots of good points in this thread, most of which have been discussed for years. Hopefully we won't spend the next 10 years only to be back at this point. I, for one, look forward to helping anyway I can to move Kigers to the next step.

[angelsdream]

Several have commented on even tho a certain horse has all these ribbons in a certain discipline, we still won't get a quarter horse per say to breed to a kiger stallion - in my opinion, the purpose of showing/exposing our kigers is not to get to breed to quarter horses or other breeds, its to establish our own bloodlines that are good in this or that in hopes to get people to buy kigers for that purpose. Isnt that how other breeds have become so popular in certain disciplines? Focusing on one discipline and breeding for it? Not that I want the kiger to be pinned down to just one type of riding, not at all because they are very versatile and can do everything but in order to get our "BREED" recognized and noticed above all the other breeds where they've been breeding specifically for a certain purpose (cow horse) for 100's of years, we have to start somewhere. If we have said number of kigers that have excelled in reining for example, then we would have people wanting to buy those bloodlines for reining. What's better than having a pure kiger that is climbing the top without giving credit to the other 1/2, if its a 1/2 quarter horse, 1/2 kiger..right?

[dunbnwild]

I LOVE the idea of a breeders association!

I'm not sure why we always refer to the QH when talking about our breed, though- we have less Kigers in the world than there are QH's in my zip code! Maybe looking at smaller breeds and seeing how they've grown would be more productive. Even a breed like the Morgan is soooo much larger than our own that it feels impossible to compare.

[fantasykiger]

I usually compare them to the Rocky Mt. horse while the Kiger Mustang is not gaited it's claim to fame is beauty, ease of trainablity and comfort with reliabilty on the trail. There are more then one Rocky Mt. horse registeries, on the east coast they are refered to as Kentucky Mt. horses. There are battles over bloodlines and when I helped a friend purchase her first RM horse the breeder gave us the lo' down on registries and it was like, I have heard this before. The same arguements we have here with in the Kiger Mustang breed. Yet the Rocky Mt. horse has real following and has not lost it's value over the years. Baby steps....I would like to see that for the Kiger Mustangs. Before we fret about becoming top 3