On June 29, I traveled to Steens Mountain in southeastern Oregon to go on a guided tour in search of Kiger mustangs. I’ve always been a fan of horses, but have wanted to see Kigers in the wild for many years.
Our guide, Tim O’Crowley, lives on a working cattle ranch, the Steens Mountain Guest Ranch, in Diamond, Oregon. On the day I rode, Tim had his grandson, Tye, and niece, Connie, helping on the ride. Visitors to the ranch can participate in four- or five-day cowboy experiences, one-day Kiger mustang experiences, or two- to four-hour horseback rides. For our ride, Tim’s wife, Susan, laid out a smorgasbord of snacks to fill our saddlebags with.
After getting acquainted with the horses we would ride that day, our group of six riders and three guides took a short drive to the Kiger Herd Management Area. My horse, Larry, had been captured many years ago in the area where we would be riding.
People travel from all over the world to see these horses, but almost everyone in our group was from Central Oregon. The exception was a woman from Boise, Idaho. She was 81 years old and probably the oldest participant to ever go on these trips.
Kiger mustang history
So, what makes a Kiger mustang different from other wild horses? In 1971, Congress passed the Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act to protect wild horses and burros on public lands. In 1977, while gathering wild horses near Beaty’s Butte, Oregon, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Wild Horse Specialist E. Ron Harding noticed an unusual type of horse in the herd. They had strikingly similar markings and conformation, reminiscent of Spanish horses brought to North America in the 1600s. At that time, it was widely assumed that descendants of those Spanish horses no longer existed.
Genetic testing confirmed that the horses gathered near Beaty’s Butte had Spanish markers for dun factor coloration and markings. The Kiger Mesteño Association notes these characteristics include dorsal stripes, jack stripes, zebra stripes on legs, arm bars, bicolored mane and tail, ears with dark outline and fawn colored interior, facial masks, and cobwebbing. Kiger mustangs stand 13 to 15 hands, smaller than most other breeds
Bicolored tails and faint zebra stripes on legs
The BLM separated the Kigers from the other horses and eventually moved them to two Herd Management Areas (HMA), Kiger HMA and Riddle Mountain HMA. In past years, the BLM auctioned off excess Kiger mustangs, but they have not gathered any since 2015.
Kigers in the media
Many of today’s Kiger mustangs can be traced back to a single stallion named Mesteño from the original herd. In 1992, Breyer used him as the model for one of their collections of model horses.
Another Kiger mustang, Donner, was the model for the 2002 animated film, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, and the 2017 Netflix series, Spirit Riding Free! The Kiger Mustang Ranch in Bend, Oregon, raised the colt. Both of its parents were Kiger mustangs. DreamWorks Animation, the future producer of the film and series, purchased him after months of negotiations. Donner, later renamed Spirit, turned 31 in May 2026.
Breyer Spirit model
I’m a big fan of horse characters in books, movies, and series but feel like I have a special connection with Spirit. I live in Bend, where the real-life horse was raised, and I live in the Cimarron City neighborhood, alluded to in the movie’s title.
Finding Kiger mustangs in the field
After reading about the history of Kiger mustangs, I was eager to see them in the field. The riders in our group were advised to wear darker, muted colors so we would blend in with the environment when searching for mustangs.
As we rode along, I asked Connie if she had seen very many greys, often referred to as grullas. She helps at the ranch for a month in the summer. Connie said she had only seen five grullas. Brown-colored horses are much more common. Kiger mustang coat colors include dun, grulla, red dun, bay, black, and claybank.
Just by chance, the first Kiger we saw was a grulla. He was hanging out with a pronghorn. Why? We can’t say for sure, but pronghorn have remarkable vision, and these animals likely alert each other if they sense something nearby. This curious young stallion ended up following us for quite a while. You can see him on the left in the picture below.
Next, we saw a small group with two adults and a foal. Tim said it was only a few days old. After a brief break, we continued on our way.
The big herd
Our next stop was the most exciting one. A herd of Kigers had collected near a large clearing. There were at least 75 Kigers in this group. We ate our lunch and took numerous pictures of the herd. They seemed unbothered by our presence, partly because we had horses with us.
Within this herd, we spotted two black stallions. Tim said they were not Kigers. In the photo below, in the group of three horses near the center of the picture, you can see how much taller the black horse is. These two horses either escaped from somewhere else, or someone dumped them here.
Though the BLM lists the current population at 51-82 horses on the 36,618-acre Kiger HMA, it’s likely much higher. Some estimate there are at least 200 there. The BLM lists the 28,000-acre Riddle Mountain HMA population at 33-56 horses. Since the horses like to rest under juniper trees, certain methods, like aerial surveys, may not be as effective at counting them.
A trip to remember
We started riding at about 8:30 am and finished the ride at 2:30 pm. That was a long day in the saddle. Did you know you use eight muscle groups to horseback ride? By the end of the day, I was well aware of that fact. After stopping at Crane Hot Springs, going to the hot tub at my hotel, and taking a hot bath when I got home, I felt just fine. 😀
Tim helped make this one of the most memorable experiences of my life. His easygoing manner, knowledge of the environment, and gentle sense of humor made it a trip to remember. Once we got back to the ranch, Tim made delicious smoothies. It was a great way to end the day.
Steens Mountain Guest Ranch, Diamond, Oregon
This article will be featured in the July 2026 edition of High Desert Voices, the volunteer newsletter of the High Desert Museum in Bend, Oregon.
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