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Meet
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Few people have the privilege of looking ancient history in the face every day. Yet for Judy Yancey, that is exactly what she does each morning. A longtime horsewoman, Judy is now breeding Kiger Mustangs, a relatively rare horse whose ancestry traces directly to the mounts brought to the New World by Spanish conquistadors centuries ago. Pronounced like “tiger” with a “k,” the Kiger Mustang was not even known to exist until the 1970s. With the passing of the Wild Free-Roaming Horse & Burro Act in 1971, which was designed to protect, manage and control wild herds, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) was required to round up and count all mustang herds in the United States. In an incredibly remote and rugged area of southeastern Oregon, one herd of 27 horses was discovered in 1977. Remarkably, every horse in the herd was similar in color and conformation, strongly resembling the Spanish Mustang, once thought to be extinct in the wild. All horses were a shade of dun color and had primitive Spanish markings, including the zebra stripping on their legs and a dorsal stripe down the back. Genetic testing at the University of Kentucky proved that these horses carried Spanish markers in their blood. This meant they were directly linked to the very horses ridden by the early Spanish explorers in the 1600s, and therefore, to the wild ancestors of those horses from Spain and Portugal. They were named Kiger Mustangs, after the Kiger Gorge region of the Steens Mountains in southeastern Oregon. It is no accident that a Kiger Mustang was the prototype for the resourceful and majestic stallion in the popular animated movie, “Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron.” In order to preserve these special horses, the group was divided into two herds and released into two separate management areas in Oregon. Dividing them was intended to guard against losing all of the horses in the event of a natural catastrophe, such as wild fire. By releasing the herds into management areas that were fenced off from other mustangs, the purity of their bloodlines would not be diluted. At times, horses are transferred from one herd to the other to limit inbreeding. The two Kiger Mustang management areas will support a total of 138 horses. The BLM continues to manage the Kigers, periodically gathering them when the herds increase by 20%. Due to the extremely rugged surroundings and the fact that the durable Kigers will outrun men on horseback, the herds must be gathered by helicopter. After roundup, the horses are corralled, and the weak and young horses are pulled out. All horses are vaccinated and dewormed, and the best of the older horses are returned to the wild. The excess horses are then offered to qualified adopters. The first Judy heard of these unusual horses was in 1977, when a tiny article in a national horse publication mentioned their discovery by the BLM. Perhaps it was the fact that Judy’s great-great-grandmother on her mother’s side was Choctaw Indian, but Judy has always had a fascination for all things pertaining to the American Indian. That she is now in a position to help preserve and promote a breed of horse that the Indians once rode seems most serendipitous. Raised in the Lone Star State, in 1975, Judy established Yancey Farms in Grapevine, Texas, her business of breeding European warmblood horses. She started with the Trakehner, a breed that was endangered after World War II, and then later fell in love with the Oldenburg, an elegant German breed. Having honed her skills and knowledge over the years, Judy now has some of the finest Oldenburgs in the world. For the past 30 years,
she has made a living by breeding, importing and marketing top quality
warmbloods. In 1988, Judy was the first person in the United States
to start importing and marketing frozen equine semen. This facet of
her career now comprises a large percentage of her business. She is
still the largest broker in the U.S. for frozen imported warmblood
semen, and represents the top stallions out of Germany’s Oldenburg
region. “Bill and Kay have given me unquestioned support and loyalty in all my horse endeavors,” says Judy. “It’s with their gracious cooperation that I began breeding the ‘Cherokee Kigers of Clear Creek.’” Judy traveled to Oregon after one of the last Kiger gatherings. “They hadn’t been turned back out yet, so there in the corrals was every Kiger from the wild. It have me goose bumps to see them.” Her goal with the Kiger Mustangs is to preserve, protect and promote the breed. Call it a mission if you like; Judy certainly thinks of it that way. “To me, the Kiger is one of the few mustangs with the closest link to the romantic past of the first horses that came to this country. “Many people hear the word ‘mustang’ and think ‘wild,’ but that is not the case with this unique breed. They are extremely peaceful horses, wonderful to ride and fun to be around. You teach them something one time and they’ve got it. They are so genetically consistent and they really reproduce true,” she adds. “You can depend on their gentle and exceedingly trainable nature. They’re steady under saddle. They have lots of bone, strong hooves, and straight legs. This is because they’ve been selected by Nature. This is what my breeding program keeps in mind -- not to mess up what Nature has created.” On a recent visit to Clear Creek Farm, Judy proudly introduced this writer to her Kiger Mustangs. Although she has much to say about these noble horses, and understandably so, words aren’t necessary. Just being in the presence of these horses is enough to let any real horseperson realize what special animals they are. Less than 2,000 Kigers exist in the world, and I felt honored to have my hands on a few of them. Their unique coloring and markings make them stand out from the equine crowd. In addition to the dorsal stripe down the back and the obvious zebra stripes (leg bars) on their forearms, there is a distinct dark cross over their withers (the base of the neck). Their sharply pointed ears are outlined in black and if you lift the thick forelock, there is a unique “cobwebbing” pattern of dark hair at its base. As noted, Kigers are always a shade of dun. This includes golden dun, red dun, Grulla (a mousey gray), and claybank (or buttermilk – think of the color of Dale Evans’ horse). Blacks do exist, but are rare, and Judy has one. Judy got her first Kigers in 1999. She brought home two mares, both in foal. Her foundation broodmare and excellent representation of the breed, Cherokee Spirit, is a lovely golden dun who rewarded her new owner with a colt Judy named Cherokee Twister. This handsome horse is now a four-year-old and Judy’s trusted riding horse. At nearly 16 hands, Twister
is unusually tall for a mustang, but has the stout, heavy muscling
and appearance of the Kiger. “They make the ideal trail horse,”
says Judy. “I was trailering Twister to the forest to ride when
he was just 2-1/2 years old.” Judy has six Kiger mares for breeding and typically sells her young stock. She has sold nine Kigers to date, and two more yearling colts will enter training this fall and then be offered for sale. At their training facility near Morriston, Fred Tuller and Roe Woodside have worked with several of Judy’s Kiger mustangs. Roe has ridden since early childhood, and worked with many different breeds through the years. “The Kigers are super smart and easily trainable,” she says. “I’ve been around a lot of horses and they’re one of the smartest breeds I’ve trained. Once they’ve learned something, it’s pretty solid. They’re just as easy as, or easier, to train than domesticated horses. They’re more aware of their surroundings than other horses, which comes from being in the wild.” She adds that the Kigers have good endurance and are very savvy about taking care of themselves, unlike many domesticated horses. Fred and Roe use natural horsemanship methods in their training, at the heart of which is the concept that man is a predator and the horse is a prey animal. The trainer has to understand how the horse thinks in order to clearly communicate with the animal. “They have a sense of self-preservation,” says Roe of the mustangs. “You can’t be ‘predator-like’ to them. If you’re aggressive and they feel threatened by you, it won’t work. I don’t think a beginner should just get a wild mustang and bring it home to train.” With the BLM’s continued careful management and conscientious private breeders like Judy involved, the Kiger Mustang appears to be in safe hands. Through her long experience in breeding warmbloods, Judy is knowledgeable about crossing breeds to improve and strengthen bloodlines. “This is my artistic creation,” she explains. “I don’t play piano well and I don’t paint well, but you can see my artistic creation in the horses I produce.” Her reputation as a breeder of quality has made it easy for her to sell horses through the years. She is interested in crossing some of her Kigers with Lusitano and Andalusian horses, both Spanish breeds that hark back to the original horses of the Conquistadors. “I think the Kiger Mustang will continue to gain in popularity as more people get introduced to them,” she adds. Fortunately for this unique breed, the enthusiasm of private breeders like Judy Yancey will ensure that their future is protected and preserved. Judy Yancey is pleased to share her passion for her horses. To learn more about the Kiger Mustangs or to arrange a visit, contact her at 352-369-5970 or by email at yanceyfarms@att.net.
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