The history of the Paso Fino began
in Spain where the Moorish occupation brought
with it the Berber, or Barb, horse. Breeding with
local stock produced the Jennet, a smooth gaited
horse, now extinct. These, in turn, were bred
with Andalusians and produced many of the horses
that the Spanish conquistadors brought to the New
World. The remarkably smooth gait of the Jennet
became the sought-after trait in breeding, and
the Paso Fino is the culmination of that
preference. The lateral
four beat gait is distinctive in the Paso Fino.
The feet on each side of the animal move in
sequence, rather than the more usual diagonal
gait in which the front foot on one side works in
sequence with the rear foot on the other side.
This is an entirely natural movement, not a
trained step.
There are three distinct speeds
of the step exhibited in the ring. The slowest is
the paso fino,
where the incredibly quick staccato of the hoofs
propels the horse forward at a stately, even
pace. The paso corto is
the more relaxed, medium speed, and the paso
largo is the fastest of the breed's
smooth gaits. The corto is the average trail gait
and is equivalent to the trot of a conventional
horse. The Paso Fino can travel at this pace for
hours, and due to the smooth ride, so too can the
rider.
Paso Finos range in size from
about 13.2 hands to 15.2 hands. Colors and
markings run the entire horse spectrum from
chestnut, bay, palomino, black, grey and roan to
pinto. In the Caribbean and South America, these
horses are not only show and pleasure horses, but
are trained to a variety of tasks on the farm and
ranch. An amazing horse for its versatility and
spirit, it makes a wonderful all around trail,
show and pleasure horse.
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