The Paso Fino is a naturally gaited light
horse
The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million y ...
breed dating back to horses imported to the
Caribbean
The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
from
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
. Pasos are prized for their smooth, natural, four-beat, lateral
ambling gait; they are used in many disciplines, but are especially popular for
trail riding
Trail riding is riding outdoors on trails, bridle paths, and forest roads, but not on roads regularly used by motorised traffic. A trail ride can be of any length, including a long distance, multi-day trip. It originated with horse riding, and ...
. In the United States two main groups of horses are popularly called "Paso Fino": One, also known as the Pure Puerto Rican Paso Fino (PPR), originated in
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...
. The other, often called the Colombian Paso Fino or Colombian Criollo Horse (CCC), developed in
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
. Though from similar Spanish ancestors, the two groups developed independently of one another in their home nations.
History
The Paso Fino name means 'fine step'. The Paso Fino is a blend of the
Barb
Barb or the BARBs or ''variation'' may refer to:
People
* Barb (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname
* Barb, a term used by fans of Nicki Minaj to refer to themselves
* The Barbs, a band
Places
* Barb, ...
,
Spanish Jennet, and
Andalusian horse
The Andalusian, also known as the Pure Spanish Horse or PRE (Spanish language literally translates to “Spanish pure breed”. This name is sometimes capitalized when used in English-language publications, but is all lower-case in Spanish, wh ...
and was bred by Spanish land owners in
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...
and
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
to be used in the
plantations
A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...
because of their endurance and comfortable ride. All Pasos share their heritage with the
Peruvian Paso
The Peruvian Horse is a breed of light saddle horse known for its smooth ride. It is distinguished by a natural, four-beat, lateral gait called the ''paso llano.'' This breed is protected by the Peruvian government through Decree number 25919 o ...
, the American
Mustangs
The mustang is a free-roaming horse of the Western United States, descended from horses brought to the Americas by the Spanish. Mustangs are often referred to as wild horses, but because they are descended from once-domesticated animals, they ...
, and other descendants of
Colonial Spanish Horses. Puerto Rican and Colombian horses, as well as Paso Finos from
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
and other tropical countries, have been interbred frequently in the United States to produce the modern American Paso Fino show horse.
On the second voyage of
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus
* lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo
* es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón
* pt, Cristóvão Colombo
* ca, Cristòfor (or )
* la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...
from
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
to the
Americas
The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World.
Along with th ...
in 1493, he disembarked with his soldiers, 20 horses and 5 mares on the island of Borinquen at the bay of Aguada (today
Añasco), and gave the region the name San Juan Bautista.
Soon after, in May 1509, the first governor of the island,
Juan Ponce de León, brought horses to Puerto Rico from his
hacienda
An ''hacienda'' ( or ; or ) is an estate (or ''finca''), similar to a Roman ''latifundium'', in Spain and the former Spanish Empire. With origins in Andalusia, ''haciendas'' were variously plantations (perhaps including animals or orchards), ...
, El Higuey, located on the neighboring island of La Española (now
Hispaniola
Hispaniola (, also ; es, La Española; Latin and french: Hispaniola; ht, Ispayola; tnq, Ayiti or Quisqueya) is an island in the Caribbean that is part of the Greater Antilles. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and th ...
).
Puerto Rican Paso Fino
![Draw-DulceSueno-Jo-Ann-Ferre](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Draw-DulceSueno-Jo-Ann-Ferre.jpg)
The Puerto Rican Paso Fino was developed on the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico over a 500-year colonial period.
Island geography and the desires of a people for hardy, sure-footed, comfortable horses led to the independent development of the breed. Frenchman Andres Pedro Ledru, in a notation about horse races held on 17 July 1797, wrote that the speed of these horses was admirable, "they have no trot or gallop, but a type of pace (''Andadura''). A gait so precipitated that the eye can't follow the movement of the legs." As early as 1849, Paso Fino competitions were held in Puerto Rico, with prizes for winners, for the purpose of improving local horses. In 1882 the first racetrack was built, and in every race meet, there were Paso Fino and Andadura categories.
According to genetic research, Puerto Rican Paso Fino originated from the local Criollo (non-purerbred) horses that were a product of many years of admixture between different Iberian breeds originally brought to the island by the Spanish settlers. These horses carried with them a mutant "gait-keeper" allele that first increased in the Puerto Rican Criollo population as they were bred for centuries for the smooth ride long before the Paso Fino breed was established on the island. In fact, the Criollo horses in Puerto Rico still carry a genomic signature of selection around the "gait-keeper" locus today. Consequently, the Paso Finos, where the mutation is present at 100%, must have originated as a local breed from the population of local non-purebred horses on this island, where they were later selected for other characteristics to improve gait and appearance.
According to Ramirez de Arellano, when the United States invaded Puerto Rico in 1898, the Paso Fino played a first-order role in transportation as well as agricultural work. Manchado, a notable horse of the time owned by Don Nicolás Quiñones Cabezudo of Caguas, was said to be "so fine that it gaited at liberty without its rider in the town square when asked."
In 1927 the most influential sire in the modern Puerto Rican Paso Fino breed, Dulce Sueño, was born in Guayama.
In 1943, the Federation of the Sport of Paso Fino Horses of Puerto Rico and a breed registry were established. Copita Don Q, a Dulce Sueño grandson, was the winner of the first annual Federation contest in 1943. In an agricultural almanac published in 1947, Gustavo A Ramirez de Arellano wrote, "at present the descendants of the famous stallion 'Dulce Sueño' are the ones who have most obtained titles and trophies from the association of owners of saddle horses."
Colombian Paso
Importation and development in the United States
The rise of the Paso Fino in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
began in the 1950s and 1960s. The first Paso Finos in the United States were imported by members of the armed services, who purchased the horses while stationed in Puerto Rico. This stock provided some of the first Paso Finos bred in the United States.
Colombian Pasos came to the United States beginning with a rancher who visited Colombia and purchased quite a number of the horses to work his cattle. He introduced the second strain into the US. While the two strains are still bred individually to retain their purity, they are also crossbred to produce the best of both strains.
["The Paso Fino"](_blank)
. ''Paso Fino Horse Association''. Referenced January 6, 2008.
Today, the Paso Fino Horse Association (PFHA) oversees and regulates registered Paso Finos in the US. It was founded in 1972 under the name "American Paso Finos", later changing to its current name. It registers and promotes both Puerto Rican and Colombian horses, and under the PFHA, the two groups have been frequently
crossbred
A crossbreed is an organism with purebred parents of two different breeds, varieties, or populations. ''Crossbreeding'', sometimes called "designer crossbreeding", is the process of breeding such an organism, While crossbreeding is used to main ...
. As the numbers of Colombian horses have begun to significantly outnumber those of Puerto Rican bloodlines, a trend has developed favoring
preservation breeding
Preservation breeding is an attempt by many plant and animal breeders to preserve bloodlines of species, either of a rare breed, or of rare pedigrees within a breed.
Purpose
Preservation breeding can have several purposes:
# Protection of g ...
to preserve the bloodlines of each group.
The American ''Trote & Trocha'' Association formed to promote the horses, primarily of Colombian breeding, that perform a diagonal ambling gait known as the "Trocha". The Trocha differs from the classic lateral ambling gait of the Paso Fino.
Characteristics
![Manati2009 483- Platanera Dorada](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Manati2009_483-_Platanera_Dorada.JPG)
The Paso Fino tends to be refined, standing an average of but is powerful for its size.
It has a convex head, clean legs and a relatively short back with prominent withers.
Cannon bones tend to be short and the hooves are hard. The Paso Fino often has a thick mane and tail. It is found in all horse colors and there are no restrictions by the various breed associations.
The Puerto Rican Paso Fino is the only breed in which
tiger eye
Tiger eye or goat eye is a gene causing diluted eye color in horses. There are two variants, Tiger-eye 1 (TE1) and Tiger-eye 2 (TE2), which are both recessive. Horses displaying tiger eye typically have a yellow, orange, or amber iris. Tiger ey ...
was found, which usually lightens the eyes to a striking amber, yellow, or bright orange color.
[
*]
The action of the two strains is somewhat different. The Puerto Rican Paso Fino is prized for its fine or delicate step, while the Colombian Paso Fino tends to have more of a rapid,
piston
A piston is a component of reciprocating engines, reciprocating pumps, gas compressors, hydraulic cylinders and pneumatic cylinders, among other similar mechanisms. It is the moving component that is contained by a cylinder and is made gas-tig ...
-like action.
This is a lively horse that has a natural drive and willingness, known colloquially as ''"brio",'' and generally an amiable disposition. Paso Finos come in a variety of colors, sizes and body types, but the even four-beat gait and brio are present in all good representatives of the breed.
["Der Paso Fino"](_blank)
, ''Paso Fino Association Europe''. Referenced January 6, 2008.
Gaits
The Paso Fino executes a natural evenly spaced four-beat lateral
ambling gait, similar to many
gaited horse
Gaited horses are horse breeds that have selective breeding for natural gaited tendencies, that is, the ability to perform one of the smooth-to-ride, intermediate speed, four-beat horse gaits, collectively referred to as ''ambling gaits''.
In mos ...
s. Both the Colombian and the Puerto Rican strains of the Paso Fino execute the lateral gait naturally, without the aid of training devices.
The Paso Fino's
gait
Gait is the pattern of movement of the limbs of animals, including humans, during locomotion over a solid substrate. Most animals use a variety of gaits, selecting gait based on speed, terrain, the need to maneuver, and energetic efficiency. Di ...
s are performed at varied levels of extension in stride. All four
hooves
The hoof (plural: hooves) is the tip of a toe of an ungulate mammal, which is covered and strengthened with a thick and horny keratin covering. Artiodactyls are even-toed ungulates, species whose feet have an even number of digits, yet the rumi ...
travel close to the ground while in motion and are lifted equally in height as the horse covers ground. At whatever speed the
horse
The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million y ...
travels, the smoothness of the gait ideally allows the rider to appear motionless with little up and down movement.
* The ''classic fino'' or ''paso fino'' is a
collected gait with rapid footfalls that covers as little ground as possible. It requires a high degree of collection. This is a show gait reserved for competition. Walking, trotting, cantering or any detected break from the rapid evenly spaced sequence of steps is grounds for disqualification at any time during a fino event.
* The ''paso corto'' is slightly more extended, and used during
trail rides. The speed of this gait is comparable to the speed of a
trot
The trot is a ten-beat diagonal horse gait where the diagonal pairs of legs move forward at the same time with a moment of suspension between each beat. It has a wide variation in possible speeds, but averages about . A very slow trot is someti ...
but is much smoother.
* The ''paso largo'' is a fast, lateral, four-beat gait in which the horse can reach speeds equivalent to a
canter
The canter and gallop are variations on the fastest gait that can be performed by a horse or other equine. The canter is a controlled three-beat gait, while the gallop is a faster, four-beat variation of the same gait. It is a natural gait po ...
or slow gallop. The paso largo is not just an increase in speed but also shows a distinct extension in stride. The paso largo can be extremely fast, up to 25-30 mph.
Only a few Paso Finos can perform a true classic fino, but the majority perform the other gaits with ease. The correctness of the gait is very important by today's standards, therefore horses with a very even four-beat gait are much preferred for professional breeding.
In Colombia, some related native horses perform a slightly different, unevenly timed diagonal four-beat gait, known as the ''trocha,'' which is similar to the
fox trot
The foxtrot is a smooth, progressive dance characterized by long, continuous flowing movements across the dance floor. It is danced to big band (usually vocal) music. The dance is similar in its look to waltz, although the rhythm is in a tim ...
, and very smooth. While some Paso Finos will perform the trocha, it is discouraged and considered a fault in the purebred Paso Fino. In Colombia the "trocha" has evolved, becoming a separate genealogical line. It is inherited in a manner similar to the lateral ambling gaits of the purebred Paso Fino. Trocha rivals in popularity with paso fino in Colombia, but crossbreeding is now avoided. Another Colombian breed performs what is known as ''trote y galope.'' The trote y galope horses perform an exaggerated diagonal two-beat trot and a very collected canter, but they do share some common heritage with the Paso Fino. Not as well known as Paso Fino, these variants are just beginning to be recognized in the United States.
"Breed Information"
. ''American Trote and Trocha Association''. Referenced January 6, 2008.
Uses
Paso Finos are versatile and are used in many disciplines. They have horse shows
A horse show is a judged exhibition of horses and ponies. Many different horse breeds and equestrian disciplines hold competitions worldwide, from local to the international levels. Most horse shows run from one to three days, sometimes longer fo ...
for the breed only, but are also seen competing in all-breed disciplines such as well as trail riding
Trail riding is riding outdoors on trails, bridle paths, and forest roads, but not on roads regularly used by motorised traffic. A trail ride can be of any length, including a long distance, multi-day trip. It originated with horse riding, and ...
and endurance competition, driving and gymkhana
Gymkhana () ( ur, جِمخانہ, sd, جمخانه, hi, जिमख़ाना, as, জিমখানা, bn, জিমখানা) is a British Raj term which originally referred to a place of assembly. The meaning then altered to den ...
.
See also
* Cavalcade
A cavalcade is a procession or parade on horseback, or a mass trail ride by a company of riders. The focus of a cavalcade is participation rather than display. Often, the participants do not wear costumes or ride in formation. Often, a cava ...
Notes
*
References
External links
Federación del Deporte de Caballos de Paso Fino de Puerto Rico
Pure Puerto Rican Paso Fino Horse Association of America
Paso Fino Horse Association
Central Canada Paso Fino Horse Association
American Trocha and Trote Association
Paso Fino Magazine
Paso Fino Association of Europe
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