New Member

[stlkigers]

Welcome to the board....Love your horses! Who is Cisco's sire, or was he conceived in the wild? Looking forward to more pics of your horses!

Angela

[Leesa]

We participated in an internet adoption back in Sept. of 2003 where we came away with two Kiger mares from the Riddle Mountian herd which we later named Salerosa, a yearling at the time, and Dulcinea del Toboso, a 2 yr. old. They were shipped to Lousiana where we picked them up on Dec. 14, 2003 and brought them home. By Feb 2004 it was obvious that Dulcinea was putting on a lot of weight and I suspected she might be pregnant so I had the vet out to check her. Low and behold she was but our vet said not to get our hopes up. While she was now on good feed & hay,and of course getting vaccinated and wormed, I put her on a mare & foal supplement and kept my fingers crossed that the foal would at least survive. And survivie he did. He was born on May 18th (hence the name Cisco de Mayo), rather small but we assume it was Dulci's 1st foal, but he has steadly grown and developed every since. Therefore, he is about 4 1/2 now. Our vet calls him our "surprise prize" as in never knowing what your going get out of the Cracker Jack Box. He always comments on how lucky we were. The fact that this wild mare probably went thru hell during the adoption process (gathered in Oregon, shipped to Nebraska, held in pens and then shipped to Lousiana and then to FL.) and still produced a quality, thriving, colt is a testment to the hardiness of this breed and her strength and personality. Her name means "sweetheart" and even though she is the alpha mare in our herd (she rules with quiet dignity) she loves to be loved on. She will put her face in your chest or over your shoulder to let you love on her, and breath in your face and hair while she caress' you with her soft lips. She is such a doll.

We started Cisco under saddler when he turned 3 and have been taking it slow with him. So far he has been out on about 6 trail rides and one 10 mile endurance ride two weeks ago. My husband will be riding him this weekend in a 25 mile ride so we are anxious to see how he does. He LOVES being out on the trails and while he is still learning (you know the "I don't dare cross the puddle that looks like a fathomless pit" that is really about 12" across & 1" deep balking stuff) and is very good around other horses even mares.

We hope to use him as a breeding stallion, starting either in 2009 or the year after, and to breed to Kiger's as well as other breeds. I think he still has some maturing to do physically and is still very young at this point in many ways so we will make that decision when depending on how he is doing by the end of this year.

Kelly, thanks for posting photos of your wonderful horses. I love Bit of Honey (what a face!)and Ginger, Shelby looks like a magnificent stallion (is he grullo?can tell from the photo) and little Babba is sooooo cute! He reminds me of Cisco when he was little. Your grulla/os Nieta and Bandit are very very nice and you have good crosses too. Its amazing what these Kigers bring to the table and pass along to their foals. Are there many Kigers in Canada and do you have any difficult selling your horses up there?

[canadiankigers]

Hi Leesa:

Thank you for your kind words about our Kigers. Yes, Shelby is a line back grullo. He is so sweet and quit soft in his nature, a real gentleman!!!!! He loves kids and lets them climb all over him.

We no longer have Ginger, unfortunately she had a nasty accident and we lost her just after she weaned her colt Doc. We still have Doc Holiday and he is now a wonderful carriage horse for my business partners wife.

Other than the Kigers we have owned or imported, there are two others, both partial bloods. I am looking at a wonderful mare in Illinois right now that is out of a wonderful grey mare and by a freeze branded stalllion. We are also expecting two more foals next spring out of the two mares we imported from Oklahoma.

We here in Canada are also experiencing the horse market crunch but luckily, we have enough people interested in Kigers that the foals are in high demand as weanlings. The two foals we are expecting next spring are already spoken for. They will both be living close to home so I will be able to watch them grow.

The only difficulty we have selling are the two partial blood mares (Saleen & her daughter). Everyone who inquiries about them are interested until they realize they are not pure Kiger. I want to send them out for training this fall and hope to be able to sell them as green broke. If not, they will stay with me, both would make great babysitters for those precocious weanlings. If I do breed them, it will more than likely be to either a pure Polish Arab stallion or a Luso stallion.

Kelly

[stormyranch]

Hello Leesa and welcome! Kevin and I live in the Portland, Oregon area. We have 7 Kigers, 4 of which we adopted from the wild.
Our stallions Dino and Lui, both adopted in 1999.



Absolutely Beautiful horses Leesa.
Michelle also has an Aldonza! What does that name mean?

[nrly]

welcome to the board... I have 2 Kigers one mare who is my treasure and one stallion who is my husbands horse..
stormy:AKA Little Dunder Storm

Riddle our Stallion:


Also a BLM mustang mare who is a Diva
a Regestered black and white Tabiano paint
A big gallot who we think is 1/2 TB and 1/2 QT we love em all..

[fantasykiger]

Oh Leesa I just love your horses and what a treasure to be surprised by as fine colt like Cisco from a mare adopted from the wild. He reminds me so much of Fantasy my half Kiger mare when she was younger. Fantasy is 11 yrs old now and in foal with my what I hope will be my very first saddle mule. Fantasy has one Kiger Mustang daughter Wickee.
Fantasy

Wickee

[Leesa]

Thanks one and all for the warm welcome and for posting photos of your wonderful horses. I enjoyed looking at each and every one of them. There aren't too many Kigers down here in FL so it's nice to see so many out there and from all over the country too.

Kelly, my sincere condolences at the loss of Ginger. At least you have Doc to remind you of her. It was interesting to hear that you have more of a market for the purebred Kiger then the half. Not that there is anything wrong with that at all. Down here hardly anyone knows what a Kiger is much less has ever seen one. Our interest in crossing the Kiger to the Andalusian is to appeal to the potential buyer who wants an Andalusian but can't afford one. With a Kiger/Andalusian cross we believe they can get a quality Iberian horse that will look like the Andalusian and have the soundness, hardiness, great bone, even temperment and hooves of both breeds at a substancial savings in dollars. And as in the case of our Senona the Dun factor too.

Oh, and stormyranch (sorry don't know your name yet) the name Aldonza is a Spanish name that means "sweet" or "nice". Her dam's name is Dulcinea del Toboso. Dulcinea is derived from the Spanish work "Dulce" which also means "sweet" and "candy". Although she never appears in the story itself Dulcinea del Toboso was the name Cervantes' Don Quixote gave his love interest, Aldonza Lorenzo, as she was from El Toboso a village in La Mancha.

[DianneC]

Hi Leesa, Welcome! Was there a picture of Cisco on the other Kiger board a year or two ago? I remember how wonderful he was. I think Cisco is really something! Just wait until he is five or six, he'll be even more stunning. That one shot of his head where he is turned is so spanish looking to me. Congratulations! I think your plan is good, I've thought a lot about crossing with either Lusitano or Andalusian. Never did it because I was so happy with Chinook and Bravo's kids, but I think it is a good plan to introduce the breed to new people and you can show in many more shows. I'm curious as to how you feel the temperament of your two stallions compare. I've heard that Andalusians and Lusitano stallion have a similar personality to the Kiger. What do you think?
Here is link to our photo album community.webshots.com/user/ied0c

[Leesa]

Dianne, I think I posted photos of Cisco on the other board when he was a yearling but have not done so since then. If we're lucky he will turn out as nice as your Chinook when he fully matures. Chinook is georgeous! He looks Iberian (like an Andalusian or Lusitano) in every way and I can see why you have not bothered to cross with Andalusians or Lusitanos. Is he a true black?

We kind of got to where we are today a little backwards. My first purchase was a PRE mare at 3 months. I had planned on purchasing a PRE stallion nxt but my husband wanted a mustang. While doing some reserach we found out about the Kiger and an up coming internet adoption. This was back in 2003. Well we participated and bidded on 4 horses. We ended getting our 2nd and 3rd choices. Then of course we get them home and find out one was pregnant and wala Cisco was born. So then we have one PRE and three Kigers. So much for my PRE stallion at that point. Anyway, we attempted to breed all three mares to a bay PRE stallion (who shall go nameless) via AI for two seasons with "0" results! After basicly throwing a whole lot of money down the drain and Cisco being too young to breed I almost gave up. Then along came Teonado who was up for lease. After checking out his get and lineage on line and conversing with his owner we drove up to VA and brought him home. He pastrue bred both Kiger mares but I held off on the PRE mare as I am right in the middle of training and showing her. The whole AI thing with the Kiger mares is another topic for another day as I would like to find out how others breed their mares. So right now due to Cisco's age, having this wonderful Andalusian stallion to breed to on the farm and training/showing my PRE we are concentraing on crossing the Kiger with the Andalusian to not only get the word out about Kigers but to reach the Andalusian market that can't afford a purebred. My future plans are to breed Cisco (when he is ready) to our other Kiger mare for a purbred, to outside mares (both Kigers, and other breeds too, hopefully) as well as purebred Andalusians & PRE's.

As for temperment. I strongly believe it is a combination of both genetics and environment. We have idential twin daughters and after they were born I joined a Twins Club where upon I found out that clinical studies were being conducted on multiple birth children and adults (both those who were raised together from birth as well as seperated) to see how much of their personality and development was due to genetics verses environment. The results were uncanny in that twins that had never even seen each other and lived in different environments and raised by different parents actually acted, dressed and choose the same types of foods and activities. So to my point and to answer your question. Teonado was breed by someone else and sold to his current owner 14 years ago. He obvioulsy has a wonderful temperment and persoanality and has been trained well. So with him I belive it is due to both genetics and how he was raised and trained even though I was not there; I just see the results. Cisco was imprinted at birth (we do modified imprinting) and while he acts like a junvinile stallion, and is a lot of work somethimes, he has a very good temperment too. Anyone can walk into his stall and be with him without being in fear of their lives. While we started him under saddle he was sent off for 60 days of professional training and works well under saddle. My husband is on his way back from a 25 mile Combined Trail Ride event so it will be interesting to see how he did. He has only been out on the trails about 6 times and was in a 10 mile CTR two weeks ago. He is doing very well and learning at the same time so I would say his temperment is just as good at Teonado's and hopefully will continue to improve as he gets older and has more training.

All in all based on where we have been I would not change a thing. Our Kiger mares and stallion are every bit as wonderful as my PRE mare and the Andalusian stallion we are leasing. I feel this has a lot to do with nature basicly taking the Iberian ancestors of these horses, combined with living in the wild were the fitest survive, and a little intervention on the part of the BLM by recognizing and perserving the charteristics of these horses, the Kiger breed is born. I say the Kiger is America's Iberian horse.

[nightrider]

Hello All
I am a new member here and after watching this and other sites for some time decided that this was as fair and open as I have seen.
I became involved with Kigers after I married Barbara then Rehfield.
Barbara founded Corral Creek Kiger Ranch in 1988 and was one of the founding members of the KMA. Barbara was involved with Mustangs and Mustang groups prior to that.
I was skeptical of Mustangs to say the least, having been raised on a ranch in NE Oregon.
It didn't take long untill I fell in love with this breed .
Barbara and I are moving ahead to improve on her already solid foundation stock by introducing 2 new brood mares from the last Kiger adoption a 5 year old what gave us nice filly this spring and a 2 year old that will be introduced to the boys at an older age.
We went outside the herd this year to introduce some new blood to 2 of our best mares and 3 of our young hopefull's. All were breed to what we feel is an outstanding young foundation stallion named Capitano.
I could ramble on here but I won't
Thanks
George

[desperatehorsewife]

Hi George! And welcome to the wild and wonderful world of mustangs!

[angelsdream]

Welcome George! Glad to have you on here.

[Michelle Clarke]

George, nice to have you on Board...we look forward to your input and seeing some of your horses!

Michelle

[kimk]

Hi George!
Good to see you here. Barb has always been so quiet about participating on these boards.
As you may or may not know, Barbara was my mentor when I started with Kigers in 1989.
Please keep us posted on what's up with you guys!
Kim

[kigercat]

And I was introduced by my boss to Kim...who introduced me to Barb and I bought my 1st Kiger from her...a Buddy baby! Almost 10 years ago...wow how time flies and Kigers multiply. I now have 5! They are like potato chips...can't have just one! ;D