INTRODUCTION

The Moors—Berber and Arab Muslims from North Africa—invaded the Iberian Peninsula in 711 and remained there for almost 800 years.  To put this in context, the last Muslim state (Granada) was reconquered by the Spaniards in January 1492, after a war that lasted ten years.  A few months later, in August 1492, Christopher Columbus set sail on his first trip to the New World.

For 800 years, the Moors bred their Barb horses in the Iberian Peninsula, sometimes crossbreeding them with native Iberian horses.  The Moors’ light cavalry was known for the speed, agility, and fiery nature of their horses, their riding style “à la jineta,” and their skirmish tactics.  The Spanish mimicked the Moors, crossbreeding their horses and establishing their own light cavalry.

In his 1562 treatise “Il Cavallarizzo,” Claudio Corte established that the “Jennet” was the most common type of horse used by the Spanish light cavalry.  It is important to note that he used the term “type,” not “breed.”  The name Jennet derives from the riding style “à la jineta.”  These horses—of Barb and Iberian bloodlines—were described as agile, quick, responsive, and having an ambling gait.

There is a quote from the Inca Garcilaso de la Vega in which he affirms that the Inca Empire in South America was conquered “à la jineta,” making a direct reference to the riding style of the Spanish light cavalry and the Jennet type of horses they rode.

These are the horses that were brought to the New World: a non-homogeneous cross between Barb and Iberian horses bred to be used as war horses (light cavalry).  The Jennets were of small stature, rustic, strong, agile, hardy, with the courage to excel in battle, and most of them were amblers.  In the Americas, the Jennets are the foundation stock of many different breeds.  In Spain and Portugal, when they were crossbred with warmbloods decades later, they gave rise to the modern Andalusian and Lusitano breeds.

It is often said that the Paso Fino and other American breeds resulted from the cross between Andalusians, Barbs, and the “now extinct” Spanish Jennets, as if these “breeds” were imported separately by the Conquistadores and then combined in the New World.  The truth is that they were called “Andalusians” because they came from the Andalusia region of Spain; they were a cross between Barb and Iberian horses—a cross that took place in the Iberian Peninsula over hundreds of years—; and they were called “Jennets” because the lancers’ horses, ridden by the Spanish light cavalry, were ridden “à la jineta.”

EARLY HISTORY

Horses first arrived in Puerto Rico in 1509 from Juan Ponce de León’s Hacienda Ziguayagua in Hispaniola (now the Dominican Republic).  More horses, mostly mares, followed during the next few decades.  Horse breeding grew, and a significant horse export business was established on the island.  There are records of the export of horses from Puerto Rico to Florida (1521), Venezuela (1528 and 1530), Trinidad (1530), and Peru (1533 and 1534).

During the first decades of colonization, large farms bred military horses to supply the conquest of Central and South America.  Simultaneously, settlers began an alternative process to produce horses suitable for transportation and agriculture.  It was here, in the need of the humble Puerto Rican “jíbaros,” that the characteristics that would later give birth to the Paso Fino horse began to be refined.  When the demand for conquistador horses declined, the smooth and versatile type of the Puerto Rican horses became the new commodity.

“Las Carreras de San Juan” began in 1637, and by 1650, according to historian Adolfo de Hostos, Puerto Rico was living “in the middle of the Equestrian Era.”  The horse was the center of Puerto Rican life.  From landowners to jíbaros, everyone participated in festive and sporting activities that celebrated the horse.

FIRST SIGNS OF A BREED

In 1797, after a visit to the island, the French naturalist André-Pierre Ledrú wrote about the “indigenous horses” with a different kind of gait.  He said that these horses “have neither trot nor the ordinary gallop, but rather a kind of amble, a gait so hasty that the most attentive eye cannot follow the movement of their legs.”  He was describing the Paso Largo and Andadura gaits at “Las Carreras de San Juan.”

By decree of the King of Spain in 1814, the “Sociedad Económica de Amigos del País” (Economic Society of Friends of the Country) was established.  Its purpose was to develop Puerto Rico’s industry and agriculture.  Its greatest achievement was laying the foundations for the equine contests that took place during the second half of the 19th century.

In 1846, Manuel Alonso published his book “El Gibaro” in Spain, where he urged the “Sociedad” to improve the Puerto Rican horse breed and suggested how horses should be awarded at the contest.  It is believed that the “Sociedad” followed Alonso’s guidelines.

The first written mention of the name “Paso Fino” also came from Adolfo de Hostos, who stated in his book “San Juan, Ciudad Murada” that by 1860 a group of breeders in Puerto Rico “came to produce, thanks to selection, a breed known by the name of Paso Fino Horse, much admired in the Antilles.”

TWO ICONIC HORSES

In the last decade of the 19th century, there was a horse that got the attention of the judges at the 1893 Agricultural Fair. Although a small horse, he had excellent conformation and an outstanding Fino gait.  The horse’s name was Manchado,and his owner was Nicolás Quiñones Cabezudo.  Gustavo Ramírez de Arellano said that Manchado was “so Fino that it gaited at liberty without its rider in the town square when asked.”  There is a story of Manchado at the San Juan racetrack, where he was released without a rider at the end of the track, and he gaited with the most exquisite Paso Fino all the way to the finish line while the spectators screamed and cheered for the horse.

Dulce Sueño, who was owned by Genaro Cautiño, is the most famous and iconic of all Puerto Rican Paso Fino horses.  We do not know the exact date, but he was born in the early 1920s, and in 1927, he was proclaimed Champion at Guayama’s Agricultural Fair.  His sire, Cayeyano (also known as Caramelo, Cayey, and Faraoncito), also produced Toledo, Príncipe, Patiblanco, Pocholo, and Regalo.  Dulce Sueño, along with his brothers, became the foundation of the modern Puerto Rican Paso Fino breed.  So much so that he owns the undisputed title of “Jefe de Raza” and is considered the father of the modern Paso Fino breed.

There is an old story about the time when Rafael Leónidas Trujillo, President of the Dominican Republic, tried to buy Dulce Sueño.  It is said that in the 1930s, a high-ranking officer from the Dominican Republic arrived at La Tuna, Genaro Cautiño’s farm in Guayama, with a blank check for him to fill in any amount, but Cautiño refused to sell his horse.  It is also said that Cautiño’s family still keeps the check as a reminder of the greatest Paso Fino horse to have ever lived.

Dulce Sueño died on Tuesday, April 29, 1941.  The next day, the island newspaper “El Imparcial” published a note announcing his death and grieving the loss of the best Puerto Rican stallion.  His remains are buried at La Tuna.

The breed has produced many horses with fascinating and colorful stories, but none—not even the legendary Kofresí—rival the fame and lasting influence of Manchado and Dulce Sueño.

SECOND WAVE OF EXPORTS

Just as in Puerto Rico’s first century, more recent history has also seen the export of Puerto Rican horses, sometimes to improve the native breeds in other countries.

There is documented evidence of Puerto Rican Paso Finos being exported to Cuba (1883 and 1899), Venezuela (early 1960s), Costa Rica (1974), and the Dominican Republic on multiple occasions during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  Some people claim that Puerto Rican horses were also exported to Colombia during the 1970s, though I have not personally found any proof to verify this.

BREED RECOGNITION AND BIRTH OF THE SPORT

The Puerto Rican Paso Fino was officially recognized as a breed in 1943, when the “Asociación de Dueños de Caballos de Silla de Puerto Rico” (Puerto Rican Saddle Horse Owners Association) was founded.  It had three objectives: to promote the riding, breeding, and improvement of the Puerto Rican Paso Fino horse, to organize contests and exhibitions, and to establish a genealogical record.

This represented a huge milestone for the Puerto Rican Paso Fino.  On that day, the breed was acknowledged as such, the first official studbook was started, and the Paso Fino became not only a breed but a sport.  The Paso Fino was ratified as the Official Sport of Puerto Rico in 1952 and as Puerto Rico’s Native Sport in 1978.

In 1953, ten years after its creation, the “Asociación” changed its name to the “Federación del Deporte de Caballos de Paso Fino de Puerto Rico.”  Two other organizations were established on the island: “Asociación Nacional del Deporte de Caballos de Paso Fino de Puerto Rico” (1966) and “Asociación Insular de Dueños y Criadores de Caballos de Paso Fino Puro Puertorriqueño” (1972).  All three are still active today.

PUBLIC DISPLAYS AND CELEBRITY INTEREST

After World War II, in 1948, engineer Félix Benítez Rexach took three Paso Fino horses—Dulce Sueño II, Emperador, and Perla—to Paris, France.  They were shown by Minín Kuilan at an equestrian fair, where they won the admiration of French horsemen for their unique gait.

Lyndon B. Johnson, while serving as Vice President of the United States, was in Puerto Rico for the 1962 July 25th Commemoration Parade, where he saw Volare.  He later tried to buy him, but he had already been sold to the United States.  Volare and Faetón arrived in Texas in April 1964.  Faetón and Bolero LaCe, a son of Volare, are two of the six foundation sires at the PFHA.

In October 1966, three Puerto Rican Paso Fino horses escorted the Puerto Rican Delegation at an equestrian competition in Madison Square Garden in New York.  The horses were Poseidón, Chocolate, and Isabela.

June 1977 was the first time there were Puerto Rican Paso Fino horses at the National Puerto Rican Day Parade in New York.  The horses, sponsored by the Puerto Rico Tourist Company and Universal Insurance, were Farouk, Porta Coeli, Danubio, Cosaco, Sandro, and Mambrú.

On January 1st, 1979, Puerto Rico sent a float to the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade in California.  That year’s theme was “Our Wonderful, Wonderful World of Sports,” and Puerto Rico’s float, representing the Paso Fino Sport, which was accompanied by Papirus, Picaflor Jr, and Porta Coeli, won one of the major prizes and the admiration of everyone.

During the visit of King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofía to the island in 1987, they were offered an exhibition of Paso Fino horses.  At the end, the Government of Puerto Rico presented them with a Paso Fino horse named Papy, donated by the Figueroa family.  Papy was taken to the stables of the Zarzuela Palace in Madrid, Spain, and it is said that Queen Sofía used to ride him in the gardens.

Other celebrities who have visited the island over the years and admired the beauty of the Puerto Rican Paso Fino horses include Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh, in 1979; Costa Rica’s President Óscar Arias Sánchez in 1986; and Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, in the late 1990s.

EXPANSION TO THE UNITED STATES

There is no doubt that the most significant modern exportation of the Puerto Rican Paso Fino was to the continental United States.  During the 1940s and 1950s, the breed caught the attention of the military personnel stationed on the island at Fort Buchanan, Roosevelt Roads, and especially the Ramey Air Force Base.  The military and their families acquired horses for gymkhana and trail riding.  A few even became members of the “Asociación/Federación” and showed their horses in competitions.  When they returned to the mainland in the 1960s, they brought their horses with them.  It is estimated that by the end of that decade, there were approximately 600 Puerto Rican Paso Finos in the continental United States.

The American Paso Fino Pleasure Horse Association was established in 1964 in Pittsburgh, PA.  A few years later, it was renamed American Paso Fino Horse Association, APF for short.  By the end of the 1960s, a group of Paso Fino owners showed interest in the Paso Fino sport, and the PFOBA (Paso Fino Owners & Breeders Association) was founded in 1972 in Knoxville, TN.  Over a decade later, in 1985, the PFOBA changed its name to the Paso Fino Horse Association, or PFHA.

It was in 1987 that the Pure Puerto Rican Paso Fino of America was born as the only organization in the continental United States devoted solely to protecting, promoting, and preserving the original Puerto Rican Paso Fino breed.

THE CANADIAN INITIATIVE

In the early 1990s, efforts were made to promote the Puerto Rican Paso Fino in Canada.  A delegation of several people, including breeders, trainers, and officials from the Puerto Rico Department of Agriculture, went to Spruce Meadows Equi-Fair in Calgary.  This is one of the biggest and most important equine fairs in North America.

As a result of this initiative, a group of horses was taken to Canada, where they captivated the public.  Some of these horses were sold and remained in Calgary.  Canarico was the first Puerto Rican Paso Fino foaled in Canada.  His name was a composition of both countries: “Cana” for Canada and “rico” for Puerto Rico.  To date, two breeding farms remain active in Canada.

CROSSBREEDING DEBATE AND THE “PURE” IDENTITY

In the 1970s, a group of Puerto Rican breeders imported Colombian Paso horses to the island and began to cross them with Puerto Rican Paso Fino.  Puerto Rican breeders were divided between those who wanted to maintain the Puerto Rican breed pure and those who encouraged crossbreeding.  Hence, the term “Pure Puerto Rican Paso Fino” was coined to certify bloodlines free of other breed influence.

The crossbreeding between Puerto Rican and Colombian breeds caused an irremediable rupture among Puerto Rican breeders and started a battle for the legal use of the name “Paso Fino” that still continues today.

The history of the Paso Fino in the United States began with—and was intimately related to—the Puerto Rican Paso Fino.  So much so that the description of the Paso Fino breed and gait, the show rules, and the entire concept of what the Paso Fino should be were taken from the Puerto Rican organizations.  Even today, when its horse population has been largely migrated to Colombian stock, the PFHA is still clearly influenced by the Puerto Rican definition of Paso Fino.

PRESERVING A LEGACY

Once “the most admired breed in the Antilles,” today the Pure Puerto Rican Paso Fino is considered endangered.  The Livestock Conservancy recognized it as a threatened breed in 2020, and the Equus Survival Trust included the breed in their Equine Conservation List under Critical status in 2022.  The latest assessment estimates that there are fewer than 2,100 horses left worldwide—about 1,800 horses on the island and nearly 300 on the mainland.

Efforts are being made to conserve this unique breed.  Organizations are working together to promote it, and breeders are working to preserve bloodlines and characteristics while increasing the quantity of foals produced annually.

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Bibliography and Resources

• “Breeding Better Paso Fino Horses,” by Carlos Gaztambide Arrillaga.
• “Conquerors, The Roots of New World Horsemanship,” by Deb Bennett.
• “El Caballo de Paso Fino de Puerto Rico,” by Gustavo Ramírez de Arellano.
• “Historia Cronológica del Caballo Puertorriqueño,” by José Laracuente.
• “Paso Fino, Raza que Distingue un Pueblo,” by Eduardo Quijano.
• “Puerto Rico’s Paso Fino Horse: The Epitome of Elegance in World Horsemanship,” by Carlos Romero Barcelo, Delegate at Large, and the Government of PR, archived at the Library of Congress.
• “The Horses of the Conquest,” by Robert Cunninghame Graham.

Photo of the Puerto Rican Paso Fino horses that accompanied the float from Puerto Rico during the 1979 Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California.  Photo downloaded from the Tournament’s web page.