After leaving the South Steens, we decided to head down toward Diamond and visit Pete French's Round Barn. Deb had been there years ago as a child, and Pam had never been there. So off we went...and made a wrong turn, which they are blaming me for. Why me? I was in the back seat, not at the wheel! Just because I was there just a couple months ago...sheesh!
We found ourselves heading up a gravel road that, at the base, a sign saying Welcome To Diamond had been waiting to greet visitors. Deb drove right past, not noticing it. I saw it, even from the back seat, and wondered if we'd passed that on the last trip. I didn't think so, but...what did I know? I may have been asleep on the first trip, who knows?
About the time I was letting them know that I thought maybe we'd taken the long way around the loop, we spotted another sign: Kiger Herd Management Area. Sometimes wrong turns can turn out to be a good deal.
We found ourselves heading up a gravel road that, at the base, a sign saying Welcome To Diamond had been waiting to greet visitors. Deb drove right past, not noticing it. I saw it, even from the back seat, and wondered if we'd passed that on the last trip. I didn't think so, but...what did I know? I may have been asleep on the first trip, who knows?
About the time I was letting them know that I thought maybe we'd taken the long way around the loop, we spotted another sign: Kiger Herd Management Area. Sometimes wrong turns can turn out to be a good deal.
Kigers are a man made mustang. They were noticed by Jim Harding amongst the Beaty's Butte horses many years ago. They looked different, and were completely isolated from the others on that HMA. Jim got permission to pull them out and set them aside. He made it his mission to find others with a similar Spanish look to them, and before long the Kiger Mustang was born.
Kigers can be found on two different HMAs; Kiger and Riddle. They're close to each other, but not to any other HMAs. The primary color is dun...from grulla to red dun to what we once referred to as a line back buckskin. Other colors can be found there as well...black, bay and brown are all acceptable colors.
Kigers are somewhat elusive. Most people feel privileged to find a band of 3-6. Know how may we spotted down there on that road? 21! And then Deb looked up on a ridge and spotted the backs of 3 more.
Needless to say, we were quite happy to have taken a wrong turn!
4 comments:
Wow they look pretty cool, and I never knew they were different. Learned something new today, thanks :)
Lucky you didn't have to drive the 11 mile into the viewing area. Next time you're at the Round Barn Visitor Center, ask Dick Jenkins how the Kiger came about.
I would love to go there!
What are we calling the "line-back buckskins" these days?
I have one. though her legs are chocolate, not black. She's a captive-born Kiger from wild-caught parents, and I bailed her out of a very bad situation.
Her name is Diamond for three reasons: location of the Kiger herd, diamond-shaped star, and she was a diamond in the rough. Her name if I would register her is Little Miss Can't Be Wrong. She's very smart, strong-willed, and very fun!
Post a Comment