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We wanted to work with horses, not just as a hobby. We wanted to be able to sometime in the future have it as a full time job.
So, we purchased a farm, but still had no idea what kind of horse that would suit us. It was a tough choice. Everyone in our little family should be able to enjoy the kind of horse we would go for. It couldn't be too small and not too big. It had to be good as a children's horse, endurance horse, just as well as being able to compete in jumping, dressage etc. A fast learning, adaptable, hardy and extremely kind horse was what we were looking for.
We thought about all kind of breeds, but none felt completely right. One day "mustangs" popped up in my head from nowhere. It was probably the "wild-west-theme" that somehow woked a distant cowboy dream within me that made it the perfect idea.
We started to look for mustangs in Sweden, but realised that there existed just about a dozen here.
It seemed no better than if we really wanted a pure mustang the way to go was importing one. But what kind of mustang should we go for?
Spanish mustangs, american mustangs, kiger mustangs, sorraia mustangs..? There were so many different types....
We wanted the purest mustangs possible. Since the word mustang means "wild", that meant horses that still were wild. Did they really exist?
The mustangs originate from the Spanish horses which the conquistadores brought over in the 1600's century. These horses were considered to be the best of it's kind during this time, so thats why we also wanted to have as much Spanish blood as possible in our horses.
First, we thought of the Spanish mustangs. We found out that most of them live in captivity since a hundred years back. Line breeding seem to be quite common among these horses as well and this is nothing we believe in. After our visits to USA we also learned that many of the good qualities that the Kiger mustangs possess (for ex. extremely hard hooves) does no longer exist in these horses.
There are still many American mustangs wild in the U.S. These horses differ from the Spanish mustangs because they also have genes from many other breeds.
We had never heard of the Kiger mustangs! We read about this type of horse and got more and more interested. This horse seemed to have only advantages! They were still some of them wild, and DNA-tests had been made on theese horses showing they were very close related to the Spanish horses brought over a couple of hundred years earlier.
Theese horses were supposed to be a fast learners, very allround, extremely hardy and with a wonderful mind. The size, (somewhere between 130 cm and 160 cm, mean around 145 cm) was perfect!
....So, we visited th U.S twice to choose a couple of mares! We learned very much about the Kiger mustangs during theese trips. We met many nice people that only live for theese wonderful horses and they gave us much useful information.
We feel very certain that we picked out the best mares for our purpose!
We could at the same time look at the 2 stallions our mares were bred to before their trip to Tibble begun. Just perfect=)
All of our present and coming horses are and will be documented full Kiger mustangs with origin from the two first herds in Kiger and Riddle Mountain HMA.
Our goal is to preserve the Kiger mustangs and introduce this magnificient horse in Sweden and the rest of Europe.
So, we purchased a farm, but still had no idea what kind of horse that would suit us. It was a tough choice. Everyone in our little family should be able to enjoy the kind of horse we would go for. It couldn't be too small and not too big. It had to be good as a children's horse, endurance horse, just as well as being able to compete in jumping, dressage etc. A fast learning, adaptable, hardy and extremely kind horse was what we were looking for.
We thought about all kind of breeds, but none felt completely right. One day "mustangs" popped up in my head from nowhere. It was probably the "wild-west-theme" that somehow woked a distant cowboy dream within me that made it the perfect idea.
We started to look for mustangs in Sweden, but realised that there existed just about a dozen here.
It seemed no better than if we really wanted a pure mustang the way to go was importing one. But what kind of mustang should we go for?
Spanish mustangs, american mustangs, kiger mustangs, sorraia mustangs..? There were so many different types....
We wanted the purest mustangs possible. Since the word mustang means "wild", that meant horses that still were wild. Did they really exist?
The mustangs originate from the Spanish horses which the conquistadores brought over in the 1600's century. These horses were considered to be the best of it's kind during this time, so thats why we also wanted to have as much Spanish blood as possible in our horses.
First, we thought of the Spanish mustangs. We found out that most of them live in captivity since a hundred years back. Line breeding seem to be quite common among these horses as well and this is nothing we believe in. After our visits to USA we also learned that many of the good qualities that the Kiger mustangs possess (for ex. extremely hard hooves) does no longer exist in these horses.
There are still many American mustangs wild in the U.S. These horses differ from the Spanish mustangs because they also have genes from many other breeds.
We had never heard of the Kiger mustangs! We read about this type of horse and got more and more interested. This horse seemed to have only advantages! They were still some of them wild, and DNA-tests had been made on theese horses showing they were very close related to the Spanish horses brought over a couple of hundred years earlier.
Theese horses were supposed to be a fast learners, very allround, extremely hardy and with a wonderful mind. The size, (somewhere between 130 cm and 160 cm, mean around 145 cm) was perfect!
....So, we visited th U.S twice to choose a couple of mares! We learned very much about the Kiger mustangs during theese trips. We met many nice people that only live for theese wonderful horses and they gave us much useful information.
We feel very certain that we picked out the best mares for our purpose!
We could at the same time look at the 2 stallions our mares were bred to before their trip to Tibble begun. Just perfect=)
All of our present and coming horses are and will be documented full Kiger mustangs with origin from the two first herds in Kiger and Riddle Mountain HMA.
Our goal is to preserve the Kiger mustangs and introduce this magnificient horse in Sweden and the rest of Europe.
