Peruvian Paso
|
|
Baronesa.jpg
The Peruvian Paso is a breed of gentle horse distinguished by a uniquely efficient gait called the paso llano. The breed's ancestors include the Berber, Spanish Jennet, and the Andalusian. The New World breed was refined and developed in Peru.
| Contents |
Gait
Instead of a trot, the Peruvian Paso performs a gait between the walk and the canter that is broken pace. This means it has four equals beats and is performed laterally - left hind, left fore, right hind, right fore.
This characteristic gait was bred into the Peruvian Paso for the purpose of covering long distances over a short period of time without tiring the horse or rider. The gait is inbred and does not require training. Purebred Peruvian Paso foals can be seen gaiting alongside their dams within a few hours of their birth.
The Peruvian Paso performs two executions of the four-beat gait. The first, the paso llano, is isochronal (four equal beats). This is considered the preferred gait. The second, the sobreandando, is faster. Instead of four equal beats, the lateral beats are closer together than in the paso llano, and the pause between the fore of one side to the rear of the other side is longer. It is closer to a pure pace.
The gait supplies essentially none of the vertical jolt familiar to equestrians and hence posting (moving up and down with each of the horse's footfalls) is unnecessary. It is also very stable, as the Peruvian Paso's execution of the gait (http://www.ancpcpp.org.pe/animacion/index.htm) means there are always two, and sometimes three, feet on the ground. The rider's back feels no strain or jolt. Hence, this is a favored mount for riders with back trouble.
This tractable horse, paradoxically high in spirit and stamina, is also favored for family and children's riding, as well as long endurance rides.
Breeds with this gait are referred to as Palfreys.
Termino And Walking
A unique trait of the Peruvian Paso is termino — a loose, spectacular action in which the front legs are rolled to the outside as they stride forward, similar to a swimmer's arms. Individual Peruvians may have more or less termino.
Which makes to this animal different from other races equinas in the world is its typical air of intermediate speed, that in the others is of trote. This air Or MODALITY in walking is trote lateral or AMBLE and denominates level step in its more typical rate; but it can have different rates and speeds, that they can be executed as well by a same unit
To this sum of airs it is called steps to them. During the execution of these fine steps, the mount has a single and exceptionally smooth horizontal balance; The other races of horses balance horizontal vertically and. This causes that riding it he is specially pleasant. The smoothness is one of the appreciated fundamental virtues and more in the race of this horse.
"To Walk in Level Step", Carlos Parodi García (criador) speaks on the level step: He is to show the innate isochronal harmonic displacement of each individual search of the extremities of the horse. The animal raises the previous extremity and later of the same side, it locates the first later one in the ground and soon the previous one of the same side, also does with the other biped. Obvious this isochronal harmonic movement of individual searches goes accompanied with previously enunciated when we defined what is the "Termino".
It is important to need that, in the harmonic time of the displacement the Peruvian horse of step gets to have greater number of extremities in support on the ground, consequently better impulsion and minor reaction at the moment of impulsion in the transfer of the center of gravity. Which one comes off the following variations in airs or modalities of the level step: Crawled Level Step, Level Step Mincemeat, Struck Level Step.
The TERMINO: is a particular attribute that jointly and after: the smoothness and the advance, are the original and beautiful spectacle of the observation or dynamic morphologic evaluation of the horse like individual, in the mechanics of his to walk racial.
In the Peruvian horse of step it has like characteristic, greater predominance in isochronal harmonic movements of searches in the previous members that in the later ones.
Consequently the harmonic, isochronal execution and of peculiar graciosidad of elevation, suspension, elegant rotation outside the line of seriousness, reduction and support of each isochronal search, of previous or front extremity, denominates “Termino”.
In addition depending on the elevation of the arm, it rolls and cane will show greater or smaller agudes in the “termino”.
Brio
In selecting for temperament, Peruvian Paso breeders are searching for brio. Brio is often translated as "spirit," but this does not capture the complexity of the term. Brio is a somewhat contradictory temperament, which combines arrogance, spirit, and the sense of always being on parade, with a willingness to please the rider. If a horse has a bad temperament, it will not be bred, lest that trait be passed to further generations.
Appearance
The horse is medium size, usually standing between 14.1 and 15.2 hands tall, with a powerful build. Breeding has focussed on temperament and gait, not appearance. Hence, the coat is not distinctive; it may be chestnut, black, brown, bay, buckskin, palomino, gray, roan or dun; with the solid colors, grays and dark skin considered most desirable. The abundant mane is lustrous and fine, curly or straight. Aficionados claim that the Peruvian Paso presents a noble, arrogant appearance which makes him preferred for shows and parades.
History
The breeding stock for the Peruvian Paso horse begins with the horses brought to Peru during the Spanish Conquest. As Peru became the most important center of Spain's South American colonies, these horses were supplemented with some of the finest Spanish breeding stock.
Once in Peru, horses were used primarily for transportation. In the north of Peru, the vast size of sugar and cotton plantations meant that overseers needed to travel long distances, often taking days to cross the plantation. In the south of Peru, the arid deserts that separated settlements required sturdy, strong horses. Peru did not develop a livestock-based economy, such as in Argentina, and thus did not need to breed horses for the speed or agility needed for those purposes.
Because the use of horses in Peru centered on travel, and the existing breeding stock met that need, there was no need to introduce outside blood. Thus, while in most of the rest of the world, the dominant type of horse changed from the ambler (laterally dominant) to the trotting (diagonally dominant) horse, the Peruvians bred the amble deeper into their horse. As a result, the modern Peruvian Paso is one of the rarest of breeds, one that passes its gait on to 100 percent of its purebred offspring.
The Peruvian breeders selectively bred primarily for gait, conformation, and temperament. They wanted strong, hardy animals that were comfortable to ride and easy to control. Over four centuries, their dedication to breeding only the best bloodstock resulted in the modern Peruvian Paso, which has been called the greatest triumph of selective breeding in the equine world.
A decline in the use of the Peruvian Paso horse was seen in the southern part of Peru in the early 1900s, following the building of major highways that allowed motor travel to replace the use of the horse. Many of the major breeders in the area gave their best horses away to peasants living in the nearby quebradas (valleys). It was in one of these quebradas that breeder Gustavo de la Borda found Sol de Oro (Viejo), the horse that was to become the most important modern sire in the breed.
The Peruvian Paso continued to flourish in the northern regions because it was still needed for transportation on the haciendas. This changed with the harsh Agrarian Reforms instituted by the government of Juan Velasco Alvarado in the late 1960s. They had a devastating effect on the Peruvian Paso horse within Peru. Major breeding operations were broken up and breeding stock was lost. Because interest in the Peruvian Paso horse was growing in the United States and Central America at the same time, many of the finest Peruvian Paso horses were exported, leading to a period where it appeared the Peruvian Paso horse would disappear in its homeland.
This has not happened. The past thirty years have seen a resurgence in the Peruvian Paso horse's fortune in his homeland. Many Peruvian Paso aficionados in the United States believe the best horses are once again being bred in Peru. The annual National Show in Lima is a major event in Peruvian cultural life. The Peruvian Paso horse is recognized as Patrimonio Cultural (Cultural Patrimony) of Peru.
Not a Paso Fino
A close relationship between the Peruvian Paso and the Paso Fino breed is often assumed. Although the two breeds share ancestors in the Old World, and also share the characteristic gait ('paso' means "gait" in Spanish), the two breeds were developed separately in the New World in different regions, and have been maintained in relative isolation.
The Paso Fino was developed widely in Latin America, while the Peruvian Paso is exclusive to Peru and has even been called that country's "national horse".
Peruvian Pasos Today
Peruvian Pasos are growing in popularity in the US and elsewhere. The estimated 25,000 (est. 2003) horses worldwide are used for horse shows, parades, pleasure, trail, and endurance riding.
The Peruvian Paso has been declared a Patrimonio Cultural (Cultural Patrimony) of Peru in an attempt to shore up the breed within the country. There are now laws in place that restrict the export of national champion horses.
External Links
- American Association of Breeders and Owners of Peruvian Paso Horses (US) http://www.aaobpph.org/index.html
- Peruvian Paso monthly magazine (US) http://peruviandigest.com/
- Peruvian Paso Horse Registry (US) http://www.pphrna.org/
- National Association of Breeders and Owners of Peruvian Paso Horses (Peru) http://www.ancpcpp.org.pe/
- About the breed http://slc.bc.ca/rf/aboutbreed.htmes:Caballo peruano de paso