Buy a Kiger mustang

- From Hell Kigers:

We expect 1-2 foals in late summer 2021. (Mahana x Durango and Chiquita x Durango)

When you buy a kiger mustang from Hell Kigers, price include:
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• Registration in KMA and KHAR (see register explanation below)
• Passport
• Veterinary examination

Foals are not sold prior to 8 month of age. Preferrably they should be weaned naturally (normally between 10-12 months).

We do not practice booking of foals prior to their birth. But you are welcome to announce your interest in a specific foal. 

All of my horses are documented full Kiger mustangs with origin from the two first herds in Kiger and Riddle Mountain HMA.

- From other breeders:

We have now reached over 100 kiger mustangs in Sweden. The breed is now well established with 4 other breeders: 

Tomas Lindén: www.mustanger.se

Jessica Monasdotter: www.kigermustanger.se

Helena Lidén: https://www.facebook.com/Hastqvalite

Michelle Söderström: www.oknaranch.com

There are also several breeders in Germany!

- Guidelines for buying/import a Kiger Mustang (My personal recommendations)

1.       The kiger mustang should be registered in a kiger registry. Chose registry wisely.  Read and learn about their differences. Import costs are lower for a registered horse.

2.       The kiger should have a verified pedigree back to freezebranded (wild) individuals. It can be hard to trace ancestors back once you have your horse in Europe. Decide if you want the parentage to be DNA verified or not (registries do this differently). 

3.       If you are about to buy a freezebranded individual, make sure you get all paperwork - including BLM-documents and Animal health & Identification record.

4.       The transport costs are much more expensive than the horse itself. It might be a good idea to buy a mare and have her bred in good time prior to transport. Then, you get two for the price of one :-)

5.       If you buy a kiger on the kiger adoption, the horse must stay in the US for one year before it is allowed to leave the country. Many kiger breeders are very engaged and some of them love to help out with hosting and training your horse during this period. 

6.       Transport companies can assist with quarantine and transport all the way, from the US to your home. I have used Nedpoint (flight from Texas) and Mersant International (flight from California). Transport planes go to Amsterdam and the horse will travel with truck from there. Quarantine is one month in the US.

7.       If you want to use your kiger in breeding, you should definitely read about color variations in kiger mustangs, what is desirable-and what’s not? And what’s important for you? Grey kigers have previously been mistaken for beeing “claybank”. True claybank is red dun with the crème gene - and these are rare.

8.       The term “found” kiger is widely discussed. It means that the horse itself or its ancestors trace back to other HMA’s than Kiger or Riddle Mountain. These horses were chosen upon their kiger-like characteristics by BLM and added to the herds or breeders to increase the genetic diveristy of the breed. Make a decision whether this is important for you or not.

9.        If you have the opportunity - go to the US and look for your perfect kiger mustang - or let someone you trust do this for you. 

10.       Ask questions! Kiger owners are in general very helpful. They love to share their knowledge about the breed. Learn all you can before you buy your kiger. Once you have your horse in Europe- no one will ever pay for a ticket back :-)

Kiger Registries

If you have plans of purchasing a Kiger mustang there is of great importance to read about the registries in order to understand what you are about to buy.  Then, it's up to each and everyone to judge whats important and not.

Much has happened in the Kiger world lately, and it can be difficult to grasp everything!

NOTE: The horse needs registration documents from KHAR to be included in the Swedish studbook. In other parts of Europe, KMA registration documents are needed.

Below is an explanation of each kiger registry...

Take home message (summary):

• IF you want a kiger mustang with verified parentage to Kiger and/or Riddle Mountain, ALWAYS check pedigree back to freezebrand AND DNA. Just because the horse is registered doesn't mean it is from the original kiger herds!  
• There are 2 active registries; KMA and KHAR.

KMA - Kiger Mesteno Association

The first kiger registry, established in 1988 to protect and preserve the remaining wild kiger mustangs and the ones in captivity. A registry and a standard of perfection for kiger and half-kiger mustangs.
The origin of the kiger is of great importance and therefore the informative studbook lists from what areas (HMA's) each horse comes from. The studbook is devided into 4 divisions; Foundation, Permanent, Open & Half-Kiger.
Kiger mustangs in the Foundation division are caught in the wild from Kiger or Riddle Mtn HMA and have a "W" in the end of the registration number.
Kigers with a "P" in the end of their registration number belongs to the permanent division and are either bred in captivity or originate from other Oregon HMA's (not Kiger or Riddle). Then one needs to go backwards one or more generation to deduce the origin. Open division (O) is for young kigers that can not yet be inspected or kigers with a low score upon inspection. The horse can be moved from open division after inspection.
Half-Kiger division is for horses with the sire or dam registered as a Kiger. 
DNA is mandatory in all divisions to verify parentage.

In 2016, KMA introduced the temporary "Sanctioned division" (S). The purpose with this division is to include horses that fulfill the breed standard and have ties to verified kiger mustangs but where the horse can not be registered due to other factors, like lack of DNA or documentation. 

KHAR-Kiger Horse Association & Registry

KHAR is an organisation which, like the above registry, work to protect and preserve the kiger mustang. The registry is devided into three divisions; Traditional, Appendix and Partblood. Traditional is for all kigers that trace back to Kiger or Riddle Mtn HMA. In "Appendix" kigers that do not meet the breed standard and kigers with origin from other Oregon HMA:s (not Riddle and Kiger) are registered. Horses that to any percent can be considered a kiger mustang and are crossed with other breeds can be registered in the Partblood division. The KHAR registration numbers identify each horse for its color, sex and origin.
Until some years ago kigers that partly (<40%) originated from other Oregon HMA:s (not Kiger or Riddle) were registered in the Traditional division as well.
DNA is not mandatory in all cases. No official studbook available.

SMKR-Steens Mountain Kiger Registry
​Established in 1993 to protect and preserve the kiger mustang. The difference between KMA/KHAR and SMKR is that SMKR also register grey kigers. DNA has not been mandatory of the horses to verify origin. No official studbook available.

SMKR merged with KHAR in 2015.

AKHR-The American Kiger Horse Registry

AKHR:s goal is to register all kiger mustangs that originate from Kiger or Riddle Mtn HMA. However they don't claim any inspection of the hores and don't have any special requirements of origin or colour/conformation like the above registries. However, the one's that are listed as "full" Kigers comes from the original Kiger and Riddle Mtn herds (DNA-tests etc.). This registry seems to be down since a few years back.

References:

KMA studbook, KHAR bylaws 2007 (1st ed.), KHAR bylaws 2012 (4th ed.) and below mentioned websites of each registry.

For more information:
KMA: http://www.kigermustangs.org/
KHAR: http://www.kigerhorse.org/
SMKR (no longer available): http://www.kigers.com/smkr/
AKHR (no longer available): http://www.uskigers.com/
More registries: http://www.redoaktree.org/indianhorse/breeds.htm