History of the Paso Fino Horse

From the Spanish provinces of Cordela and Andalusia, Columbus gathered twenty stallions and five brood mares for his second voyage to the New World. This was seven-hundred years after the Moors invaded Spain, bringing a few Arabs and many Barbs that were more than a little responsible for the history of their masters.

The conquering horses, crossed with the native stock of a rather course nature and with the remnants of the proud Andalusian breed that dated back to the Middle Ages, produced the excellent Spanish horse that influenced European breeds from the famed Lippizan to the English thoroughbred. One of the main strains to develop was the Spanish Jennet, which was noted for its comfortable saddle gait and the ability to pass this gait on to its offspring.

Surviving almost unbelievably difficult shipping conditions, the horses of Columbus; voyage of 1493 were taken to Santa Domingo, now the Dominican Republic, where they became the foundation stock of remount stations for the conquistadors. The progeny of these hardy animals spread through the Caribbean as the Spanish took more and more territory. Horses were taken to Puerto Rico by Martin de Salazar in 1509. Diego de Velasquez invaded Cuba with eight horses and mares in 1511: 1512 saw horses at the Isthmus and in 1517, Cortes took 17, including one foal born aboard ship, to Mexico. By 1550 many large horse raising centers were established throughout the Caribbean.


Different types of horses began to emerge. The blood of the Spanish Jennet proved strong indeed, and in several regions horses with smooth riding gaits began to be prized breeding animals. Particularly in Puerto Rico were these strains dominant, and even though through the years other breeds have been introduced to the island, mainly in attempts to increase the size, the influence has been negligible, and many modern individuals strongly resemble their ancient prototypes. They belong to a breed known by the name of its natural gait - Paso Fino!

                                                                                      The American Paso Fino

                                                                                          Standard of the Breed

For the information of the public and the guidance of the breeders, the following standards for conformation and description of the basic natural gait were prepared in 1967 by Rosalie MacWilliam after consulting with leading authorities on the Paso Fino horse.

GENERAL IMPRESSION - A light horse of great natural grace and style with definite, but controlled spirit. No extreme muscling.

HEAD - The ears should be short and generally curved inward at the top. Eyes, widely spaced and large, should have a soft expression and show white at edges. The profile is straight or slightly convex just above the nostrils - not between the eyes. This feature comes from the Andalusian blood. A concave or dish face is not typical and an extremely Roman nose is not desirable. The lips should be firm and well-formed and the nostrils should be large and dilatable. .

NECK - Medium in length, set on at an angle permitting rather high carriage, but neck is carried in an arch. Throat latch should be well defined, but not pronounced.

BACK - May vary from short to long and still be quite typical long backs should be penalized in halter classes.

Extremely short coupled or

CROUP - Sloping, but rump should be well-rounded. Tail is set low, but carried gaily when horse is in action. Extremely low set tails are undesirable.

LEGS - Straight, rather delicate in appearance, but have strong tendons well separated form the bone. Hooves are small and do not show much heel.

MANE & TAIL - As long and as full as possible. Forelocks also left long.

SIZE - 13 to 15 hands with 13.3 to 14.2 being the most typical. Weight from 700 to 1,100 Ibs. Full size may not be attained until the fifth year.

COLOR - Every color can be found, with or without white markings

DISPOSITION - Gentle at hand, but spirited under saddle.

GAIT - The Paso gait is essentially a broken pace; a lateral, not diagonal gait. The
sequence of the movements of the hooves is: right rear, right fore, left rear, left fore; the hind foot touching the ground a fraction of a second before the front foot. When performed on a hard surface a definite 1,2,3,4 beat can be heard. This serves to eliminate the jarring effect of true pace and causes the rider practically no up and down movement. The motion of the horse is absorbed in its back and loins, giving the rider unequalled comfort. This gait is performed at three speeds with the collection of carriage decreasing as the speed increases.


The three forms of gait are:

PASO FINO (sometimes called "Fino-Fino") - The classic show ring gait, demonstrates rapid, steady, unbroken rhythm of the hooves with a very slow forward speed, performed with the horse fully balanced and collected.
PASO CORTO - A more relaxed form of the gait that is commonly referred to as the natural Paso gait. Paso Corto is the ideal trail and pleasure gait, executed with only medium collection and light contact on the bit. Most Paso Fino horses prefer this gait to walking.
PASO LARGO - The speed form of the gait. The same 1, 2, 3, 4, rhythm must be maintained, and the rider should appear almost motionless in the saddle as he should be at all speed of the gait.

                                                                            Is The Training of These Horses Difficult?

Because the gait is natural, the training is very easy. It is more or less a matter of setting a young horse into moving steadily and quietly. Groundwork can be started early by working the foal in two long lines from behind. Longeing in the regular manner is not good as it tends to pull the foal into a pace. No special shoes are required and hoofs are kept trimmed to normal length.

                                                                            What Are The Uses Of Paso Horses?

These versatile horses can be used for almost any purpose or even where a trot is not a requirement. Their training in this country is along four general lines at present;' modified western, trail riding, pleasure and as traditional Caribbean show horses. They have been used in Gymkhanas, western times events such as; pole bending, keyhole races, and pick-up races, and for palmetto polo and mounted drill work. This last use has great potential as the regularity of the gait gives unmatched smoothness of the various figures of the drill team. They please the crowds at parades and in their own Paso classes at the shows. They probably make the most people happy as family pleasure horses. These horses give the comfort of a smooth ride and the safety of a good disposition combined with the pride that comes from riding a beautiful and stylish mount.

                                                                                 What Colors Are Paso Horses?

Paso horses come in every equine color from black to albino. Bay grey and chestnut are the most common. Some of the most famous have been black or a very dark bay that the Spanish call "zaino oscuro". Many breeders try for horses marked with four white socks, because this tends to show off the perfect four-beat rhythm of the gait. (Queen Isabella must have favored this marking because there is an old tale that she made a ruling that horses with four white feed could pass toll gates free). Palomino is popular color, as is an unusual shade of cream buckskin with jet black points often found in this breed. There are horses in various shades of roan. One man sent in an application for a horse he said was purple!
When the accompanying color photographs were checked it was seen that he wasn't that wrong. However, to keep the records a bit more conventional the horse was registered as a red roan.

                                                                                           What is Paso Fino?

Too many of you, this is the first Paso Fino Horse, let alone a Paso Fino Horse Show; you have had the opportunity to see. A Paso Fino horse is somewhat different than most of the breeds that you have seen. So it is natural that a Paso Fino Horse Show will be somewhat different too.


A Paso Fino Horse is a distinctive as its natural grace and style, its unique four-beat gait, its definite but controlled spirit.

The head is made up of a straight or slightly convex profile, large, widely spaced eyes showing no white at the edges; the throat latch is well defined. In body conformation, the Paso Fino is a light horse with no extreme muscling: shoulders are sloping with great depth through the heart area. The chest is moderate in width and the withers are defined, but not pronounced. Extremely long or short backs are to be penalized in the conformation classes. The croup is sloping but well rounded, and the tail is set relatively low, but carried gracefully when the horse is in action. The legs are straight, rather delicate in appearance with strong tendons well separated from the bone. Hoofs are small, showing little or no heel.

Every color can be found in the breed with or without white markings; sizes ranges from 13.1 hh to 15.2 hh with occasional entries under and over, weight ranges from 700 to 1100 pounds.

This is the book description of the Paso Fino Horse. Sometimes what the book .leaves out is more important to the owners or prospective owners than what it says. What owners have to say about their Paso Fino horses is that, Paso's are people horses, that they literally like people. This is a horse that has been people oriented for the past 450 years in confined spaces, backyards, small plots of land, stable-raised, otherwise continual alliance with man. The average "Islander", whether from Cuba, Puerto Rico or the Dominican Republic, that owns a horse, owns one Paso Fino that serves as an all-around horse, much the same as our light work horses did when we depended on the horse to plow our garden, pull our wagon, and round up our cattle. On the great Rancheros of Columbia, South America, the Paso Fino serves as a working cattle horse. To the banana, tobacco and coffee growers, he serves as a pack horse, carrying great loads down the mountain where one misstep could cause certain death. On the sugar cane fields, the "Jefe" (boss to us) rides his gelding or mare through the fields making out the daily time sheets as he rides. The "Don" rides the stallions to the village or town and shows off the proud carriage and smooth gait of his horse. Select stallions that pass on their gait are prized animals in Latin America, just as they are here.

                                                                                    Just what is Paso gait?

The Paso gait is a lateral gait in which the two, legs on the same side move together, but the hind hoof touches the ground a fraction of a second before the fore hoof. This produces a smooth four-beat gait that gives the rider great comfort. This gait is used at three speeds: Paso Fino - the very collected show ring gait, Paso Corto - the more relaxed, slightly faster pleasure gait. Paso Largo the speed form of the gait: All three have the same footfall.

                                                                                What Size Are These Horses?

They are closest to the Arabian size. Continued drought and poor nutrition have somewhat reduced the size of some strains, and breeders in the States are working to increase size. The ideal size is between 14 and 15 hands.