When buyers missed out or couldn't buy a government Kiger, Littleton was there for them.
For a while Littleton ran a side business, Western Heritage Enterprises, selling books, belt buckles and other Kiger-related tchotchkes.
They say they came up with the name Kiger after the glacier-cut Kiger Gorge on Steens Mountain, near the horses' territory.
He gripes that it polluted the breed by registering more than 100 Kiger-type horses, some from other parts of the country.
The battling factions are "like the Hatfields and the McCoys, " says Melissa Scott, a Kiger owner and exhibitor from Decatur, Tenn.
One collector estimates the value of a Kiger mustang has dropped by two-thirds since 2000, in part because of a ranch-bred Kiger boomlet.
Horse lovers warmed to the breed when Robert (Bobby) Ingersoll, a well-known horse trainer, entered a Kiger in a reining competition in Reno in 1992.
He staged Kiger shows, bought ads and participated in TV specials.
With all this Littleton lost some enthusiasm for Kiger-boosting.
Richard (Rick) Littleton, the nation's best-known Kiger breeder, shrugged.
An airplane pilot, Littleton first espied a Kiger as he was flying over the herd-management area with BLM District Manager Joshua Warburton, who was eager to generate outside interest in the horses to ensure their protection.
Around the same time, Steens Kiger, Littleton's prized stallion--the horse had sired 20 foals a year in his prime and was the most prominent privately owned Kiger--had a breeding accident during which an ornery mare kicked him in the privates.
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