In 1493 Christopher Columbus landed in Central American for the second time, bringing with him a number of cavalry mounts from Spain; Andalusians, Spanish Barbs, and Spanish Jennets. This was the first of many importations to follow, horses which provided the foundation stock for the many Spanish breeds of the America's. In 1532 Francisco Pizarro set out to invade Peru, taking sixty-two horses with him on his march to Cajamarcha, seat of the Incan government. These horses were reportedly so valuable that they were shod with silver, and the foals carried in blankets across the mountain passes. Soon Pizarro opened stud farms to breed remounts for his army, and so the "Caballo Peruano de Paso", the Peruvian Paso Horse, came to be. Settlers soon brought new horses with them into Peru, and the flourishing haciendas began to import new bloodstock from Spain. Now, after centuries of isolation in a challenging environment, the Peruvian Paso is a unique and valuable breed known for its strength, stamina, character, and gait.
Conformation and Color:
The Peruvian Paso is a small and well-muscled horse, standing 14 to 15.2hh, with horses under 15 hands prefered. He is refined, but in a Spanish sense; graceful, poised, and infused with energy and strength. His proud head is of medium size, with a straight or slightly-concave profile, and dark expressive eyes; his neck is gracefully arched, with a long mane and forelock. It is set high on well-defined withers and a laid-back shoulder. The Peruvian is half-body, half-leg, with a short or medium length back and a wide, deep, well-muscled chest. His croup is round and muscular, with a low set tail. This helps him push from the rear and collect properly. The Peruvian moves in a smooth, sliding manner with little hock action, so the Peruvian has greater angle in the hocks than most other breeds. His hooves are noted for their density and strength and Peruvians are never shod. The most common colours are chestnut, black, bay, brown, palomino, and grey; roan, buckskin, dun and grulla are also found.
Unique Gaits & Charictaristics:
The Peruvian Paso is the only gaited breed in the world that can boast of 100% transmission of its unique natural gaits to every foal born. The Peruvian has two natural gaits, the paso llano and the sombreandando, both four-beat lateral gaits. The paso llano has an even 1, 2, 3, 4 cadence, with the hind foot of each side striking just before the front foot. The sombreandando is faster, with a 1, 2 - 3, 4 cadence. The ideal Peruvian Paso can perform both of these gaits at a variety of speeds, always maintaining smoothness, timing, advance, overstep, and balance. Peruvian Pasos rarely trot or canter, and these gaits are discouraged.
The Peruvian Paso has three very unique characteristics that define the breed. The first is brio, their temperament. The Peruvian is bred to be brave, fiery, and proud, a noble Spanish mount; but at the same time, they are friendly, calm, and eager to please. A well bred Peruvian is a fiery show horse and a friendly family companion. The second is pisos, which is their manner of going. The Peruvian Paso must drive powerfully from behind, with long strides in a harmonious rhythm, and high action in front. The third is termino, a unique swimming motion. The forelegs have a sideways rolling motion derived in the shoulder, with the hoof always landing square on the ground.
Comparison to Paso Fino:
The Peruvian Paso and Paso Fino are often mistaken for the same breed. In truth, although they share a common Spanish ancestry, four centuries of independent breeding for different purposes has left them two very distinct breeds. The Paso Fino is bred mainly in Columbia and Puerto Rico and bred for rapid short steps with little advance. Termino is considered highly undesirable and they are ridden in english-style tack. The ultimate Paso Fino gait is the fino-fino ("fine walk"), which is short, rhythmic, and high stepping, in contrast to the Peruvian's smooth and ground-covering gait.
Training & Tack:
The principle of traditional Peruvian training is "Great Peruvian horses are born - not trained." Training can help bring out natural abilities, but it cannot provide them. Peruvian's generally begin their training in long lines as yearlings. When they are 3 or 3 1/2 years old, they will be started in bozal under Peruvian tack. Perhaps a year later they are ready to be transferred to bit, and after a year of training will be considered finished in bit.
The Peruvian saddle is similar to that ridden by knights in late 15th century, designed to hold the rider in a secure, classically balanced position. The saddle is constructed to aid in the high degree of collection necessary to properly execute the Peruvian gaits, and is ill-suited to english or western events. The saddle is always worn with a corona, a leather pad, and a saddle blanket made of woven wool. The wood hex stirrup, in a pyramid shape, and the tail piece, called the guarnicion, are unique additions to Peruvian tack. Horses are started on a bozal, similar to the western type, but fastened securely around the nose with reins attached at the top. Eventually the bit is added, and then the bozal removed entirely.
Uses:
The Peruvian Paso's unique gait, conformation, and temperment make it unsuitable for many of our modern day riding styles and events. Bred to be the ultimate travelling mount of strength, stamina and grace, he excels at events that take advantage of his natural endurance. Peruvian's therefore excel in competitive trail classes and endurance racing, and all quality horses should be able to complete a twenty-five mile endurance ride successfully. In the show ring Peruvian's compete in two types of classes, breeding and pleasure. Breeding division classes are judged only upon the inherited qualities of gait, brio, and conformation, and may be in hand, in bozal, or in bit. Pleasure division classes are judged both upon the trained performance of the horse and the equitation of the rider. They may be in bozal or in bit. A special class in this division is called Pisos (Gait), and in it horses are judged strictly on their gait.
This page is part of the Hurricane Farms Sim Horse Club. Although the information presented herein is, to the best of my knowledge, correct, it is being used here in a fictional context. All images on this site are copyrighted and used by permission.
Origin of the Breed:
Unique Gaits & Charictaristics:
Comparison to Paso Fino:
Uses: