Kiger Mustang
Kiger Mustangs are a type of horse which were discovered in the 1970s during a routing roundup by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in the Beatys Butte, in southeastern Oregon (Harney County) in the United States. Up until this point, there is inconclusive evidence as to whether or not these horses were handled or exposed to humans before this time.
Kiger Mustangs are primarily dun factor in color and have primitive markings, including zebra stripes on the legs (anywhere from hock to arm band) as well as a dorsal stripe or jack stripe. Typically a dun color is a shade of yellowish brown or alight brown grey. A single horse that has the dun factor may have many, but not all, of the primitive markings. (Dun factor markings include: dorsal stripe, jack stripe, zebra stripes on legs, arm bars, bicolored mane and tail, ears with dark outline and fawn colored interior, facial mask and cobwebbing.) Dun factor horses are most commonly identified as duns and grullas. Kiger Mustangs typically have dark color markings around their ears and muzzle, as well as the mane and tail being of a very dark brown or black.
The Kiger Mustang is an established breed of horse. Spanish markings were found when blood testing was done at the University of Kentucky. The DNA testing showed a high level of Spanish markers linking the Kigers to the Spanish explorers' horses of the 1600s.
Many of today's Kiger Mustangs can be traced back to the stallion "Mesteño", whose name means "wild" or "unclaimed". Mesteño was last seen in 1996 at the approximate age of 26 - 27 after having lived his entire life in the wild. But the origin of the Kiger Mustang is thought to have come from Spanish Conquistadors coming to the "New World" from Spain.
The horse featured in the animated film Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, was based on a real Kiger Mustang. [1]
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