Kiger Mustang Ride and Steens 2025 Trip Report
Kiger Mustang Ride 2025 with (left to right) Mary, Me, Tim (Steens Guest Ranch) Ava, and Ty (Steens Guest Ranch)
Wild Horse Adventure 2025 has come and gone. This year I had the pleasure of taking two horse friends, Mary and Ava both of whom I horse-care volunteer with at Forward Stride in Beaverton. We all share a love for horses, and they've heard me talking about my adventures in the Oregon HMA's for a few years. It was time to bring them along!!
I knew there were a lot of horses in the Kiger HMA. So we contacted our friends at Steens Mountain Guest Ranch.and decided to ride in with them to find the Kigers. Having done this ride back in 2021 I knew going into the HMA on horseback rather than in a vehicle is a completely different experience. The wild horses are curious, and don't seem to be as startled. It makes for a very leisurely viewing experience
Kiger Mustang HMA Mares
We saw so many horses. Kiger Mustangs are different from horses in the other HMAs in Oregon, because they have traits unique to them. According to the Kiger Registry the marking and breed standard is this:
COLOR: Variations of the Dun factor color: Dun, Red Dun, Grulla, Claybank, Bay and Black.
MARKINGS: Most Kiger Mustangs have a dorsal stripe. Dorsal stripes may be difficult to see or photograph on some bay and black horses. Herringbone stripes radiating from the dorsal are highly desirable. Leg barring should be present, and expression can range from dark lacing to strong bars. Additional highly desirable dun factor markings include: wither stripes, shadows and bars on neck and chest, barring on the back of the ear, dark marks around the rim of the eye, dark line along the margin of the ear with dark tips, cobwebbing and/or sooty or shadow mask on the face. Mane and tail should be full, with moderate bi-coloring preferred. Lighter colored hair inside the ear is also a Kiger Mustang trait. White markings are not desired.
We saw many horses with white markings. Given there is a planned roundup this summer, we anticipate that many of the horses with those markings will be up for adoption or perhaps re-released in different HMAs.
Just a few of the many foals on the range
Two Stallions working things out
With the high numbers of horses on the range we were able to watch large herd dynamics unfold in front of our eyes. The light dun stallion above, pushed his mares safely aside, then confronted the challenging bay stallion who he eventually chased off.
It was a long, glorious day in the saddle. We are incredibly grateful to Tim of Steens Mountain Guest Ranch for sharing the beauty and his knowledge of the many challenges of Wild Horse Management. It is not an easy topic because there are so many opinions on how to manage America's wild herds. Certainly not all parties agree.
Day two we headed into Steens Mountain HMA - do you happen to see my new wheels??? I finally have a car that can take me places where the roads get bumpy - Meet Whinny!! My new Jeep. Wahoooooo!! I'm an off-roading queen now 👍😆
With high herd numbers in the Steens HMA last year, approximately 750 were gathered off the range in 2024. I knew this year would be very different than last. We drove to all the waterholes I knew of well off the main loop. Much to my surprise we only saw horses at the large Lauserica waterhole.
A not great image of a small herd by Lauserica waterhole. They were far away.
Off the main loop we saw Patriot. He's been around a long while and has many scars to prove it.
Patriot was hanging with gelding Bruiser. He's a chunky one for sure.
Patriot and Bruiser were hanging together under a tree right off the main loop. While I love seeing these guys, I guess I've become a bit of a wild horse snob. The horses you can routinely see off the main loop are so accustomed to seeing humans (and have been rounded up and re-released) that they don't react with the same level of alertness to seeing humans as some of the less commonly seen horses.
We did try our best and my Jeep Whinny drove for hours looking for horses. We did see a larger herd somewhere in the middle part of the HMA, but were unable to locate them by driving on the inner roads.
As we left the HMA we spotted this guy on private property on the West side of the HMA. It was evident to us that he was trying to get back to the HMA because he was pacing, calling and galloping along the fence line by the highway. Sometimes when the local ranchers are moving cattle the horses move as well.
Our last stop on the way home was at the Burns Mustang Pens. On all my trips to Steens, I've never been able to time it with the facility being open. It really made this trip a full circle journey. While not everyone agrees with how wild horses are managed, in my limited experience I've had several situations where horses that I have photographed and painted have been rounded up and then adopted into great homes. The owners have always been happy for the stories from the range and to see the paintings I've created. The journey of training a horse from the wild can be an incredible bonding experience. If you have the means and the capability you can adopt one yourself. Here is a link to the Online Corral