01/13/2026
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For 25 years, I bred and sold Kiger Mustangs all over the world. Most of my mares were wild caught and branded. One very special mare was Beleza. Our first year together was pretty tough, as she was opinionated and ready to fight at any moment. She eventually settled into routine and a secure lifestyle with me. Leza had some amazing foals, both purebred Kiger and one Lusitano cross.
All my breeding stock went to other special breeders when I began my journey with Lusitanos. However, my senior stallion, Charo and Leza made the trip across the US with us from Texas to South Carolina a couple of years ago and has enjoyed a quiet retired life. Though her BLM papers say she is 30, the dentist told me years ago to add about 10 years to that. Sweet old momma, who can say?
This past year she was not able to eat hay anymore, so in the mornings, we would let her out of her shared paddock, loose on the property for the day, with 20lbs of senior feed at her disposal. She enjoyed her free time - picking a sunny spot in a meadow to sleep or going into the barn and visiting the babies and stallions.
We knew this winter it would be time to let her pass on and as everyone else in this situation, some days I thought it was time and other days, she was extra energetic and spry. Which of course was the last week...until it wasn't. We helped Leza pass on this weekend, in her favorite spot we came to call Kiger Cove. I'll miss her sweet face peeking in the barn to see if she could flirt with the boys or to remind me to "freshen" up her feed bucket with some soaked alfalfa pellets. π
Sharing some of my favorite photos of her and her foals. If you make it to the end, there's a video of her a couple months ago..my sweet momma.
