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By José Risso Montes
Certain persons enjoy having one or more horses to ride
with the family and friends, taking advantage of the
pleasant and comfortable gait
Peruvian Paso Horses give
and transmit to the riders. Without doubt, it is a
reasonable expectation. Our breed of horses complies
with all that like no other one in the world can.
In this case, the chosen horse must have great
smoothness and ease when moving. God forbid this kind of
amateur to buy an uncomfortable animal, or rough or
inharmonic, which can be ridden only for a short time,
or that he hopelessly needs to get down once they are on
their way.
Gentleness is the quality that must distinguish it. That
is, good manners and docility so that it can be ridden
by experts and beginners as well. If the animal has bad
habits, complications, deficient 'enfrenadura' (basic
training in the saddle), it will probably give problems
during the ride. It must also have temperament, 'brío'.
That means, to be willing to walk for many hours,
without the possibility of abandoning half way. It is
like fuel for a car: it is necessary to know if there is
enough for the whole trail. Horses, the good ones, feel
ashamed when the rider expects more than they can give.
That is why, temperament must be accompanied by
strength, by a good structure and format of his legs,
which allows the animal to stay always in good health,
with a good disposition for daily work, and to live a
long life.
But strength is not only inherent; it can also be worked
out. So you can compare a horse's training with that of
a good athlete. Be careful if you think you can keep a
horse in a stall, without working, not well trained,
only taking him out from time to time, and then pretend
that he performs well during many hours. What happens
when a person, after leading a sedentary life, doing no
exercise at all, suddenly runs five or six kilometers?
Well, something similar happens to a horse that has no
physical training.
The observation of these advises, along with adequate
training, well kept, trimmed hooves and good sanitary
conditions, will lead this first type of amateurs to buy
an adequate horse. But, when looking for individuals, a
lot of patience is needed. It is convenient to observe
many horses, to be analytic, to try them, to ride them.
Do not rush. If you buy a quality horse, you will surely
find other attributes, such as grace, elegance in
moving, beauty in conformation, correction and
alignment, arrogance of the neck and head, which will
allow them to participate in shows and thus, to enlarge
the aficionados field.
A second group of aficionados is conformed by those who
wish to begin breeding. There are really two kinds of
breeders: those who want to become genetic improvers,
and those who simply dedicate themselves to the
multiplication of animals. Both have similar costs in
infrastructure, area, land, site, nourishment and manual
labor. Good, regular, or bad horses eat the same, and
demand identical expenses, even though some can transmit
better than others. The difference resides in the
genetic base chosen to start the breeding.
If you decide to be a breeder, you have to do it
seriously. If not, you loose your time. It is not
worthwhile to get into this important and expensive
task, if your are not in the disposition of investing
money, effort, tenacity and, above all, patience to be
able to suffer years of failures, and wait for success
to come. This activity is for methodical, orderly
persons, who are permanently thinking about the horse,
and whose greatest dreams come true when they achieve at
last a determined breed. Breeding is nor a sport nor a
hobby. Instead, it is a personal compromise.
I have met many persons, who, notwithstanding their
enthusiasm and good will, had no luck in this activity.
Almost all of them came from the first group of
amateurs. The truth is that it was not enough to enjoy
the pleasure of riding, the "criollo" ambience, or an
eventual participation in contests. Horse knowledge
implies much more. It starts with serious investigation
and reading about horses, and continues with permanent
and profound conversations with breeders, who represent
other breeders, with trainers, who understand horses
completely as they get to analyze them daily, and they
live for them. You can learn much more from them than
from many breeders. Without any doubt, the best teacher
is the horse itself. You have to spend a great deal of
time with them, as the best training lies in observing
them when they are born, growing up and when they dye.
When starting to breed, you also need to choose good
dams. They will be the genetic base of the breeders.
They must be chosen with a very good knowledge of the
kind of animal or characteristics sought for the
breeding. You have to look for the adequate ones; but,
if they have already proved to be good dams, it is much
better. In that case, it will be wise to see as many
offspring of those mares. Only then, you can make a good
base-selection. You have to add a good choice of the
stallions (they must be the adequate ones for them), and
a good management of the breeding place.
On the third group of aficionados are the true breeders,
those who are totally defined in this activity. As good
observers and connoisseurs, they are in a constant
search of excellence in the quality of their animals.
They are constantly seeking to improve them and to
introduce new bloodlines or different breeding. And
thus, they can add, be it with a stallion or a mare,
better quantity and quality in the characteristics they
already possess. Each year the objective is to introduce
new attributes in the breeding, as well as better horses
and better genetic material to continue working.
The real breeder is an eternal unsatisfied. Before
getting to know the virtues, he gets to know the faults
of his horses, and thus, he is always seeking to correct
them. When he does not achieve that, he rectifies with
other stallions. If nothing works, he just discharges
them, with decision and authority. As an artist, he is
the creator and the first and most severe critic of his
masterpiece.
For any of the three aficionados, preparation is vital.
Not one of them can have the satisfaction of only being
a newly arrived enthusiast. He will fail hopelessly. He
must be a professional in his own field. Knowledge, and
good manners, is always qualities one must cultivate in
the "afición" for the Peruvian Paso Horse.
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