We have Peruvian Paso horses on our little farm here in
Western Washington.The Peruvian Paso is a truly unique
breed of horse. A non-trotting breed that can guarantee
its natural gait to each and every offspring.A foal
will always inherit the lateral four-beat gait from
which the breed gets its name. Whenever a horseman sees
a Peruvian Paso for the first time,he is momentarily
startled. The front legs arch high,to the side,and far
forward,similar to the arm motion of a swimmer.This
natural, spectacularly beautiful action of the forelegs
is known as "Termino".The hind legs move low and
easily,with great economy of motion.The Peruvian's
natural gait eliminates virtually all motion for the
rider and allows the horse to glide forward without
moving the back.The best of these horses are motionless
in the saddle area even at speeds up to 20 M.P.H.
The origins of the Peruvian Horse are traced back
to the Andalusian, the Barb and the Fresian, all
sturdy, dependable horses. In the 16th century, the
Spanish conquistadors brought their warhorses to Peru
and proceeded to sweep the continent in conquest of the
Inca empire. From its origin,the Peruvian Horse has
been breed for luxury and endurance. The capability of
the horses to endure long forced marches gave the
conquistadors unbelievable mobility and tremendous
advantage over their slower,surprised enemies.As the
Peruvian horse evolved over the next 400 years,careful
attention was paid to breeding a sturdy,horse with an
extremely comfortable gait.The congenial nature of the
Peruvian horse is no accident. With a living to make
landowners had little time for a contrary horse. A
horse with a bad disposition was removed from the
breeding program.
Brio is a word one will hear often when discussing
Peruvian horses and it is a word with a definition all
its own. It means intelligent; spirited yet docile with
great dignity and presence, almost an arrogance,not
found in many breeds. The Peruvian horse is extremely
gentle and loves people. They become very devoted to
their owners and will go past endurance when
asked,never knowing when to stop. Brio encompasses all
of this. Today there are only 16,000 Peruvian horses in
existence in the world,and about three-fourths of them
are currently in the United States.
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