The name “Paso Fino” refers to horses that perform the paso fino gait, but when used alone, it might not fully convey its intended meaning. Let me explain, because there is considerable confusion about its use.

PURE PUERTO RICAN PASO FINO

The name “Paso Fino” originated in Puerto Rico to identify the Island’s native horse breed and its characteristic gait. The first written record of the name dates to 1860, when Puerto Rican historian Adolfo de Hostos mentioned in “San Juan, Ciudad Murada” that a group of breeders on the Island “came to produce, thanks to selection, a breed known by the name of Paso Fino Horse, much admired in the Antilles.”

The first official stud book for the Puerto Rican Paso Fino horse was established in 1943, when the “Asociación de Dueños de Caballos de Silla de Puerto Rico” (Puerto Rican Saddle Horse Owners Association) was organized.

Over the past 160 years, Puerto Rican Paso Finos were taken to sugar cane plantations in the Antilles; President Rafael Trujillo (and other Dominican horsemen) purchased Puerto Rican Paso Finos to improve the native horse population in the Dominican Republic; and Puerto Rican horses were also exported to Venezuela, Costa Rica, and Cuba. Some claim that even Colombia imported Puerto Rican Paso Fino horses from the Island.

American soldiers stationed at Ramey Air Force Base in Aguadilla fell in love with the Paso Fino because of its smooth gait and versatility. Upon returning home, they brought with them the horses they had acquired on the Island. As early as 1960, Puerto Rican Paso Fino horses began to be exported to the United States on a larger scale, and in 1964 the American Paso Fino Pleasure Horse Association was founded in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Pure Puerto Rican Paso Fino Federation of America—the only organization that currently promotes the PPR Paso Fino in the United States—was established in 1987 in Columbia, South Carolina.

In the early 1970s, a group of Puerto Rican horsemen argued that the Paso Fino breed was highly inbred and needed to refresh the genetic pool by outcrossing it to another breed. The Colombian Paso, a modality of the Colombian Criollo Horse, was selected for this “experiment.” Puerto Rican breeders soon became divided between those who supported the crosses and those who wished to preserve the breed’s purity. Those promoting the crosses formed their own organization, while those favoring purity coined the term “Pure” to indicate horses free of foreign blood.

The Pure Puerto Rican Paso Fino’s gait is a four-beat lateral gait in which each leg moves independently at an equally spaced rhythm. The typical sound of the gait is ta-ca-ta-ca-ta-ca-ta-ca. This gait is natural, and foals typically exhibit it from birth. Puerto Rican breeders pride themselves on the naturalness of the breed’s gait.

The Paso Fino gait can be executed at three combinations of speed and collection: the Classic Fino (called Paso Fino on the Island), which is the quick, tight show gait; the Paso Corto, which is more relaxed, extended, and ideal for trail riding; and the Paso Largo, which shows greater extension and speed to cover ground quickly. These three gaits and their naturalness make the breed exceptionally versatile. In Puerto Rico, most horses are used primarily for show, but in the United States they participate in many equestrian disciplines—from shows to trail riding, endurance races to cow work, dressage to mountain rescues.

Today, the Pure Puerto Rican Paso Fino is recognized as an endangered breed by The Livestock Conservancy and Equus Survival Trust.

COLOMBIAN PASO FINO

The Colombian Paso horse is a modality or type within the Colombian Criollo Horse breed (Caballo Criollo Colombiano). The other modalities are not gaited: Trote & Galope, Trocha & Galope, and Trocha Pura Colombiana—all three with diagonal movements.

Raffi Rivera, a Puerto Rican horseman and well-known Colombian Paso Fino breeder, explained that when he attended a fair in Colombia in 1970, he noticed horses performing a gait similar to the Puerto Rican Paso Fino. He told Fabio Ochoa that these horses could be marketed as Paso Finos and sold to Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and the United States—the three markets that were acquiring Paso Fino horses from Puerto Rico. At that time, this type of horse was known as Paso Colombiano or Paso Castellano.

As previously mentioned, the Colombian Criollo Horse includes both gaited and trotting horses, divided by modalities (modalidades). For many years, these horses were interbred without restriction. There are also known outcrosses to other breeds. For example, Don Danilo, born in 1954, was sired by a Paso horse out of a mare produced by a Lusitano sire and a Paso dam; thus, Don Danilo was 3/4 Colombian Paso and 1/4 Lusitano. This is important because he became a prolific sire, producing offspring in all four modalities of the Colombian Creole Horse.

The naturalness of gait is not an essential trait of the Colombian Paso Fino. Colombian enthusiasts often explain that many of these horses rest in Trocha, a four-beat diagonal gait (between Paso Fino and Trot). They also describe how these horses might perform a relaxed Trocha in the countryside and then shift into Paso when collected upon entering town.

Colombian Paso Finos were imported to Puerto Rico in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s, where they were crossed with Puerto Rican Paso Fino mares. (Colombian Paso Finos are still imported; these decades were simply the main period of crossbreeding.) Many crossbred horses were sold to the United States during that time. Colombian Paso Finos were also imported directly to the United States and crossed with Paso Finos already there. This is when the term American Paso Fino emerged (more on this later)..

Colombian Paso Finos are energetic horses with a very quick, tight gait. Solid colors are preferred. In the United States, they are shown following the PFHA model of Classic Fino, Performance, and Pleasure—classes not used in Colombia.

Recently, the PFHA began registering the diagonal modalities of the Colombian Criollo Horse. I believe this threatens the proper understanding of the Paso Fino gait, breed, and concept. Trocha and Trote horses are not part of the Paso Fino gait, breed, or modality. If the PFHA wishes to follow the CONFEPASO/Colombian model and include these modalities, then it should change its name from Paso Fino Horse Association to Colombian Criollo Horse Association. Otherwise, it sends the misleading message that Paso Finos are multi-gaited horses capable of performing Trocha and Trote, which is not true.

AMERICAN PASO FINO

The idea of a “Paso Fino horse of the Americas” (Paso Fino de las Américas) spread during the 1990s. Supposedly, all Paso breeds descended from the Iberian horses brought by the Spanish Conquerors were “Paso Finos.” Under this concept, Puerto Ricans, Colombians, Dominicans, Cubans, and even Peruvians were considered different families or strains of a single “breed.” This idea was used to promote interbreeding among all Paso breeds. The problem is that it ignores the selective breeding processes performed independently in each country—processes that spanned centuries—as well as the inclusion (or lack) of blood from other breeds. More recently, respected geneticists have shown that isolation has produced considerable genetic differences between these populations. For example, Dr. Gus Cothran, geneticist at the University of Texas, conducted a study on the Iberian origins of New World horse breeds and placed the Puerto Rican Paso Fino, the Colombian Paso Fino, and the Peruvian Paso on three distinct branches of his phylogenetic tree.

“American Paso Fino” is also the term used to describe horses with both Puerto Rican and Colombian blood—a “new” Paso Fino breed created by interbreeding the Colombian Paso and the Puerto Rican Paso Fino. The goal was to combine the elegance and substance of the Colombian horse with the naturalness and smoothness of the Puerto Rican horse. These crosses were common in the early years of the PFOBA and PFHA, but today the populations are largely separate: the PFHA includes mostly Colombians (with some interbreeds), while the Pure Puerto Rican Paso Fino Federation represents the Pure Puerto Rican in the United States.

What is interesting is that the PFHA still uses a breed description based on the Puerto Rican Paso Fino—the first Paso Finos introduced to the United States, and whose description was taken from Puerto Rican associations. Yet its population is now mostly Colombian Paso Finos and, more recently, Trocha and Trote horses. This not only creates confusion; it is incorrect to use the description of one breed to describe another.

CONCLUSION

Not all Paso Fino horses are the same. In fact, there are significant genetic, phenotypic, and movement differences between the Puerto Rican Paso Fino and the Colombian Paso Fino. Therefore, it is misleading to use the term “Paso Fino” alone; or, if used alone, it should refer only to the Pure Puerto Rican Paso Fino horses, which were the first to bear this name. To refer to other Paso Fino breeds, the proper demonym should be used: Colombian Paso Fino, or, when applicable, American Paso Fino.

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ENDNOTE

The photo accompanying this article shows Guamaní in his younger years at the Cautiño’s hacienda, La Tuna, being ridden by Eusebio Massó. Guamaní was one of the best and most influential sons of Dulce Sueño, the “Father of the Modern Breed.” Photo from the collection of Ramón Ortiz.