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Post by waterbearer on Aug 30, 2008 23:06:14 GMT -5
Hello all! I'm new here (just approved today), but have spent the past several days going through just about every post, and I really like what I see: thoughtful, intelligent posts by true Kiger enthusiasts that are neither saccharin nor snark. How refreshing.
I've been following Kigers for some years now, and have been a horse (animal, really) enthusiast my whole life, but am unfortunate in that I do not, nor have I ever, owned a horse. Born and raised city dweller. However! I shall hopefully embark on a life with horses soon by taking my first (real) riding lessons this Fall. Yes... a 31 year old city dweller beginner rider. Should be interesting.
Anyway... I'm just so pleased to have an opportunity to chat with the actual owners of the horses on the websites I've been drooling over for years. I decided years ago that if and when I'm worthy, my first horse will be a Kiger, so I'm happy to learn anything I can from the people on here. I already have a color question (and it's not about gray), but I'll save that for later. Off to bed now!
Thanks for having me!
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Post by Michelle Clarke on Aug 31, 2008 7:57:01 GMT -5
Great to have you on Board! Glad you are enjoying things here and hope you will join in. Keep us updated on your lessons you are starting!
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Post by fantasykiger on Aug 31, 2008 12:38:42 GMT -5
Welcome to the board so glad to have new members on board and beginners at any age. I am curious to what made the Kiger Mustang your breed of choice for the future horse partner? I know why I love em'. Do keep us up to date on all your progress  |
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Post by dara on Aug 31, 2008 12:39:46 GMT -5
hey- welcome! I am also some what new and i love to get on here and talk to other kiger lovers too. i am sure you will learn a lot and enjoy as much as i have.
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Post by waterbearer on Aug 31, 2008 14:02:28 GMT -5
Welcome to the board so glad to have new members on board and beginners at any age. I am curious to what made the Kiger Mustang your breed of choice for the future horse partner? I know why I love em'. Do keep us up to date on all your progress Thank you everyone for the welcome! I look forward to giving updates on my progress. Currently on a hunt for a permanent job (unemployed and temping lately), with a goal of being financially set and having the time to devote on starting lessons in the Fall, AND actually living in the city, so I'd have to board at least 40 minutes away, it's fair to say that I will not be able to purchase a horse in the very near future. At least, not responsibly. So... who's to say if and how my tastes may change once I've had a chance being up on different mounts, and what kind of activities I'll want to do with my horse and how that will color my breed preferences. Not to mention where I'll live once I can own one. For the immediate future, I'd just be looking for a sound, sane horse for trail rides and to learn some beginner's hunter/jumper stuff. And who knows where that will take me. So, if the stars align in a way that I fall in love with some Appendix mare and she's a good fit... so be it. However, in my fantasy, I envision showing up to some of the hunter/jumper shows around here where there are more than a few horse snobs, on my beautifully turned out, tall (I'm 5'9" 150lbs.) Kiger gelding, and blow them all away with my funny-colored feral horse (as some might see it) doing dressage. I know there are more than a few Kigers I've seen who have the conformation and mind to excel at this, and I think if done right, it'd be a wonderful way to promote the breed. In short, I like their style. I love their long cannon bones and big, sturdy feet; their lively action and "Iberian" movement. They seem like they'd be so pleasant, so smooth to ride. I've rarely heard a bad word spoken of their temperaments or intelligence, and I like what I hear of their health and hardiness. If I were lucky enough to find this dream horse at a BLM roundup… all the better to adopt a horse from the wild and give it a useful home. And I'd be less than honest if I didn't tell you that I do so love their so-called primitive colors and markings. Oh for that gelding to be a silver grullo with tons of dun factor! Sorry. I have a tendency to be long-winded more often than not. |
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Post by fantasykiger on Aug 31, 2008 14:51:01 GMT -5
No need to apologize for good explinations in your posts long or otherwise  I think all your reasons for owning and riding a Kiger Mustang in the future are fabulous. For all their beauty, they are absolutely wonderful characters with people loving dispositions for sure. I have yet to see a hunter/jumper Kiger personaly but I don't doubt that some are suited for the job. I do happen to agree, any Mustang doing dressage makes me smile real BIG ;D I love to see them perform. |
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Post by kimk on Aug 31, 2008 15:12:50 GMT -5
Welcome, and ask away! Nobody on this board tends to get too riled up about much. Good questions make for good conversation.
Kim
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Post by waterbearer on Aug 31, 2008 15:45:22 GMT -5
....I have yet to see a hunter/jumper Kiger personaly but I don't doubt that some are suited for the job. I do happen to agree, any Mustang doing dressage makes me smile real BIG ;D I love to see them perform. Well, maybe you'll see one someday! I always think of JB Andrew doing Grand Prix. If a drafty Nevada mustang can do it, why not a Spanish mustang from Oregon? |
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Post by toucan on Aug 31, 2008 21:06:40 GMT -5
Hello, Waterbearer. Good luck and enjoy your lessons! You are right, I too believe that Kigers can do whatever their rider/owners set their site upon. Maybe not or maybe so - upper level, the rider will set that mark. Hasn't happened to my knowledge yet but it will happen. Afew owners are actually competing at th lower levels which is a great start.
BTW, hunter/jumper, eventing and dressage horses are three different worlds IMHO.
Stephanie
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Post by waterbearer on Sept 1, 2008 14:12:46 GMT -5
...hunter/jumper, eventing and dressage horses are three different worlds IMHO. Stephanie Hi Stephanie. Thank you for the welcome! Correct me if I don't know what I'm talking about, and I truly mean that as I know I'm the horse noob here, and until I have plenty of experience under my belt will gladly defer to those who do. Constructive criticism and downright correction is ALWAYS welcome, but... in my mind I don't see hunter/jumper and dressage being that incompatible. I understand that in jumping your seat is much more forward than in dressage. However, hunter and dressage are fundamentally both about (and again, correct if I'm talking out of my arse here), the same things: proper form, balance, control, and the relationship between horse and rider. I don't see it being too difficult to accomplish both well, provided of course the horse is built for it. Now straight jumping, cross country, etc. in my mind is further apart from hunter/jumper and dressage, than the last two are from each other. I think it's possible and necessary even, to have solid fundamentals whether it being going over very small jumps, or just doing flat work. Anyone watch the Olympics and see Anky's halt in dressage? Sloppy, rude and unsportsmanlike in my opinion. I don't want to be that rider. Not that I think I'm going to make it to the Olympics by any means! I just mean... well, it's like figures no longer being compulsory in figure skating. I think you lose something in a sport when the fundamentals give way to just making an overall smashing impression. Where's the skill in that? I took a friend last summer to see the Tempel Lipizzans. He’ll enjoy just about any art or skill so he appreciated it on some level, but he wouldn’t know a horse from a mule, so his experience was different than mine. While I saw Piaffe, Passage, Pirouette, Capriole, he saw, “walking,” “going faster than walking,” “spinning in a circle,” and “jumping.” If it’s not about the fundamentals, then they might as well have him judge the Olympics next time, ya know? I know you weren’t necessarily talking about not having good fundamentals, but for what I believe I would like to accomplish, proper equitation and an excellent relationship with my horse in and outside of the ring is paramount and I think in that respect, hunter and dressage skills are in the same vein. Timed jumps may be a goal someday, but we’ll see what I can accomplish with proper form first. I’d at least like to try in both and then take it from there, and since there are certainly more popular horse breeds for this, and even a prejudice against the non-warmbloods, wouldn’t it be great if I succeeded upon the back of a mustang? Also, as almost an aside at this point (told you guys I was long-winded ;D), I think it depends a little on the area in which you live. I live in Chicago, so with Lake County just to the North, and being in the Midwest, I think with the circuits I see around here, the worlds may not be that far apart. |
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Post by JoanMRK on Sept 1, 2008 17:16:44 GMT -5
Hi Waterbearer, Welcome to the board! I look forward to hearing more about your Kiger search when you're ready. ;D
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Post by DianneC on Sept 2, 2008 22:35:22 GMT -5
Hi Waterbearer,
Welcome! This is interesting conversation already so do keep on being long winded. There are some Kiger owners out your way, so maybe they will see your posts and invite you to get together.
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Post by waterbearer on Sept 2, 2008 22:58:17 GMT -5
Hahaha! Thanks Dianne. Don't mind if I do. And it didn't even occur to me until after I typed all that, that Stephanie / toucan was probably talking more about the leg action of the horse, then the rider, but I couldn't bring myself to ramble on even more!
Ya know, I can't help but to think that should things go as planned and in the time frame I'd like, that right now there could be a foal out there that will be ready to go just as I'm ready to own for the first time. Who knows? Could be either in the wild, and would probably be a 3 or 4 or 5 year old at time of the next gather, or it could be from a breeder on this board. The wait seems like it will be interminable.
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Post by DianneC on Sept 7, 2008 20:49:20 GMT -5
Having horses teaches you patience, especially when that's the last thing you want to learn! I can still remember waiting for Cedar to come. There must have been six or seven plans to bring her that all fell through before I got her. But what a happy day that was!
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Post by lindaf on Sept 8, 2008 17:51:52 GMT -5
Hi waterbearer,
There is a poster by the same name on FHoTD. Are you one and the same?
Welcome to the forum.
Linda F
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I think all your reasons for owning and riding a Kiger Mustang in the future are fabulous. For all their beauty, they are absolutely wonderful characters with people loving dispositions for sure. I have yet to see a hunter/jumper Kiger personaly but I don't doubt that some are suited for the job. I do happen to agree, any Mustang doing dressage makes me smile real BIG ;D I love to see them perform.
