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Welcome to PasoPedigree.com where we share the exciting history of the smooth gaited Paso Fino Horse

Paso Fino translates into "Fine Step"

Paso Fino horses, originally from Colombia South America and Carribean Islands such as the Dominican Republic and the US Territory Puerto Rico, quickly stole the hearts of those who learn of their people friendly traits and their smooth riding gaits. Desendants of Arabs, Berger, Barb and the Spanish Jennet the Paso Fino expresses stamina and endurance while giving you a no bounce ride. In other words a Paso Fino horse does not trot like a Quarter Horse or other non-gaited horse. And for the most part a Paso Fino horse is written with light pressure on the bit as opposed to a loose rein that many Quarter Horses are ridden with.

The Paso Fino moves very much like a fast walk with the left rear hoof hiting the ground first then the left front, right rear and finishing with the right front before repeating the movements. The slow gaited walk is called a Corto with the next faster speed called the Largo. And yes they can canter and gallop too but mostly they are ridden in their most comfortable gaits the Corto and Largo.

Within the breed there are different variations of the Paso Fino gait and in how the individual horse expresses their gait. The most common is the Pleasure horse whose action is steady and smooth but with out the quicker or shorter action of the Performance and Fino horses. Paso Fino horses exhibiting the pleasure gait make excellent companions for trail and also show and they make up the largest numbers in the Breed. Actually within the show circuit Pleasure Horses are not recognized in a Pleasure division in Colombia.

The Performance Paso Fino has a more animated and quicker leg action. While still performing the 4 beat gait they pick up their front knees and hooves a bit higher with more action and with more rear drive than the pleasure horse. A good Performance horse moves forward with very little encouragement with a tremendous rear drive pushing your forward.

A Fino type Paso Fino horse is truly a show horse of ultimate proportions doing what no other horse in the world can do. They are like the extreme athlete of the breed. Like an Olympic Athlete that has been in years of training they move forward very slowly but with tremendous action. The rider is like sitting on a powder keg of excitement that feels like its ready to explode yet very much under control. Their heart rate is over twice that of a Performance and Pleasure horse as they do their Fino gait. Because they are so rare they are valued much higher than most Pleasure and Performance horses but they are a show horse and not suitable for normal trail riding and enjoyment. Most Paso Fino shows finish with their final shows being the Fino classes, saving the most exciting for last.

If you would like to get a better feel for how a Paso Fino horse moves so smoothly our friend Fernando Montealegre from Colombia has provided an excellent example on his web page PasoFinoGait.com that you can view in an animated gif.

Wikipedia also has some information on the Paso Fino Horse that you might enjoy also.

We have more exciting Paso Fino information coming. Currently if you search on YouTube or Google Video you will find some of our videos as well as other Paso Fino videos. We will be hosting more videos here soon for you to enjoy, but do check out the videos on those sites if you are interested in viewing more videos in the mean time.

Do you have a Paso Fino Story to Share?

Just drop us a line and let us know about your story that you would like to share about your Paso Fino horse. Share about your first paso or your favorite paso or how you did in your last show.

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