Paso Finos

[Lynn-Marie Kara & Luther Sturtevant <karakat@SpiritOne.com>]

Heidi Smith said:

We have had half a dozen or so compete here in the
NW at rides that I have vetted, and although they have completed for the
most
part, most have been about at the end of their rope, so to speak, after
limited distance rides.  Their recoveries were sufficient but nothing to
write
home about.  I would have to concur, also, that their gaits are smooth
and
comfortable to the rider, but not especially efficient for covering
terrain
over long distances.  I saw one exception to this at a ride in northern
Idaho,
where a lady had a Paso that neither looked nor moved like a Paso, and
did
reasonably well.  This is not meant to discourage you from riding your
Paso on
endurance rides, as almost all horses benefit from distance conditioning
and
can be gotten to a level sufficient for completion--if it is your goal
to
complete rides on Pasos, by all means go for it.  But if your goal is to

advance as an endurance rider, I would advise picking another breed.

Heidi Smith, DVM--Sagehill Arabians (Oregon)

Excuse me, on *six*  horses, you make these kinds of conclusions?  I
doubt that there's enough of a database of this breed in your experience
to make any kind of accurate judgments and at the very least it isn't
very scientific!  Too many variables left unconsidered here,
(conditioning for one)  plus a few personal prejudices injected.  Is the
walk an "especially efficient gait for covering terrain over long
distances?"  If this is true, then a Paso Fino's medium and fast gaits
(Corto and Largo) certainly are, since the footfall is the very same as
a walk...a four beat even gait. It seems to me you are making statements
about a whole breed based on what you perceived in a half dozen horses.
Anyone could do the same about any other breed and come out with the
same results if they were in the mood to bash a particular breed of
horse. Susan emphasized ONE Paso she didn't consider adequate for
endurance work...she didn't condemn the whole range of horses in the
Paso Fino breed! Your post was simply an opinion, not fact!

Lynn-Marie Kara &
"Mama Marucha"