Paso Finos: The Horses With The Fine Step.

We have the pleasure of having a guest post today by Cori Webb about the Paso Fino breed and what makes them special and interesting. We hope you enjoy this post and learn about another breed that you may not be so familiar. We hope you enjoy the post as much as we did!


They are all strength, pure power in your hands, yet responsive and smooth as glass – los caballos de paso fino, the horses with the fine step.

I was first introduced to the Paso Fino breed around the age of seven, when I visited a small ranch that belonged to family friends, where they trained, bred, and showed Paso Finos.  I began attending local shows to support my friends, but like most people, the concept of the breed and its unique gait surpassed me.  Coming from a hunter jumper background, I only understood walk, trot, and canter, not corto, largo, and fino.  The shows nearly bored me to tears - the horses only seemed to dance around the arena.  Where was the action?  What was the purpose?  But the more shows I attended, the more I began to understand the breed and why they enthralled so many people. 

The Paso Fino is a gaited horse of Spanish descent.  It is said that they derived from a combination of the Andalusion, English Barb, and Spanish Jennet breeds, which were brought to South America by Christopher Columbus. These horses eventually migrated north and populated North America, helping to mold today’s Mustang, Appaloosa, and Quarter Horse breeds.  The horses interbred and created a smooth-gaited, sure-footed horse with exceptional beauty and stamina.  The Paso Fino was selectively bred for riding in the steep, mountainous terrain of South America.  As the breed progressed, they were sought after for their intelligence and agility, and were often used as ranch horses.  Throughout the years of selective breeding, the horses’ unique gait has remained a predominant characteristic for the breed.

In addition to their famous gait, the Paso Fino’s willingness, strength, and energy captivate the hearts of anyone around them.  Until you have ridden one yourself, it can be hard to understand what makes these horses so unique, but I will do my best to explain it to you.  When you ride a Paso, you sit back as if you were in a Western saddle, while maintaining light contact with the bit like you would riding English.  As the horse gaits, your body is nearly motionless, rocking only slightly forward and back.  The power and energy the Paso exudes beneath you is intense, with the horse’s legs moving rapidly underneath, yet the Paso is responsive and controlled.  For first time Paso riders, this combination results in an immediate smile that spreads from ear-to-ear!

But what makes the Paso Fino any different from other gaited breeds?  Most people are familiar with the gait known as “pacing”, a two-beat gait where the lateral limbs (that is, the right front and hind, or the left front and hind) move simultaneously.  This is different from the well-known trot, which is a two-beat gait during which the diagonal limbs move in succession.  However, the Paso Fino performs a different gait entirely.  The Paso Fino performs a four-beat lateral gait, meaning all four limbs move independently.  The footfall is evenly distributed in time and distance, and there is no suspension, or a time when all four hooves are off the ground.  The same motion is produced in all three gaits: the corto, largo, and fino.  The gaits only differ in speed and extension/collection.  The even cadence and lack of suspension result in an unparalleled, smooth gait.  Riders will often demonstrate this by holding a glass of water as the horse performs.         

http://pasofinohorses.homestead.com/http://pasofinohorses.homestead.com/gait_animation.gif

The Paso executes the walk as any other horse would, although some will perform a more animated walk, as seen in the Performance division, while others have a flat walk, seen in the Pleasure division.  The corto is the slower, more collected gait.  For those individuals showing in the Pleasure division, the corto is more extended and less animated compared to those in the Performance division, where the gait is flashy and quick.  The largo is simply an extension of the corto, showing a notable increase in speed and length of stride.  Horses who are able to perform the fino, which is the tightest and quickest footfall, are shown in the Fino division.  Those who are exhibited in the Fino division do not perform the walk, corto, or largo, but only execute the fino gait.  Likewise, those in the Pleasure and Performance division do not perform the fino gait.  Beyond their natural gaits, the Paso Fino is capable of performing the trot and canter.  In fact, classes such as Western Pleasure and Versatility require the horse to perform the canter.

I have had the wonderful opportunity to be involved with both the Tennessee Valley Paso Fino Horse Association and the Deep South Paso Fino Horse Association for many years now.  These associations cover the Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee regions, but welcome members from any state.  We encourage anyone interested in the breed to contact a regional association in your area to see if there is a scheduled show near you.  Who knows?  You may even get to ride one of these spectacular horses while you’re there!


Cori Webb is an undergraduate at Mississippi State University as a senior studying Animal and Dairy Science. Cori has been riding horses since she was three and showing Paso Finos since she was 13. Cori is currently managing the websites for Tennessee Valley and Deep South Paso Fino Horse Associations.

Cori did a wonderful job writing an article about the Paso Fino breed. Leave some feedback in the comments and let her know what you thought! 
Thanks again, 
NotAnotherHorseBlog

Paso Fino Horse Association: www.pfha.org

Tennessee Valley Paso Fino Horse Association: www.tvpfha.org

Deep South Paso Fino Horse Association: www.deepsouthpasofino.com

Paso Largo Farm: www.pasofino.com

A Horse Box: Product Review

We LOVE horses, so when A Horse Box asked us if we were interested in writing a review for their box, we quickly said yes! If you are a horse owner, you need to check them out! If you are not a horse owner, but are looking for a present for a horse owner friend, we highly recommend A Horse Box!  A Horse Box is a subscription horse box service that sends a different box every month to their subscribers. You can choose to subscribe for one month only or six months and receive a discounted price. Subscriptions cost anywhere between $12-30. After checking out their website and seeing all the different products we could possibly be receiving in the August box, we were very excited! When our box arrived, we were more than happy with the products we received!

Here is a list of the amazing products from A Horse Box:

Silverquine Horse Wound and Summer Sore Dressing

Arnicure Equine Inflammation and Pain Relief Spray

UltraShield EX Fly Spray (For Face and Spot Treatment)

Majesty's Supplement Treats

Nicker Bait Horse Treats

15% Off Coupon to Just Dandy Beautique

40% Off Coupon to Arnicure Equine

Miniature Horse World Magazine and Equine Wellness Magazine

Brochure for Steel City Equine and Bead Works

We rate A Horse Box 5 Stars!!! We can't wait to try out these new products on our horses! We love these products, and we know our horses will love them too! Thank you A Horse Box! 

Contact Information:

• Website: http://www.ahorsebox.com/
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Written by: E and C
Photos by: C

Proper Bit Fit: Tom Thumb vs. Shanked Snaffle

To continue our series on bit fit, we will talk about the shanked snaffle. The shanked snaffle is used as a transition bit from a regular snaffle to the solid curb bit. This bit is a favorite for trainers and is used in a variety of western disciplines.
The shanked snaffle's effectiveness and ease of use is directly correlated to quality of the bit. A cheap variation of this bit is called the Tom Thumb bit.

Tom Thumb Bit
Picture from prochoice.com

As you can see from this bit is extremely straight from the purchase through to the shanks.
The purchase is the part of the bit that is above the copper mouth piece that attaches to the bridle. The shanks refers to the part of the bit that is below the copper mouth piece to end of the bit that attaches to the reins. The Tom Thumb bit often does not have a curved mouth piece that offers the horse tongue relief; because of this, the bit tends to sit awkwardly in the horse's mouth, often rendering the horse more pain or causing the bit not to be as effective. Due to its design with the broken mouth piece, this bit has a nutcracker effect on the mouth which is multiplied by the chin strap.

Now we will examine a higher quality form of the shanked snaffle.

View one

View two

What we notice about this bit that differs from the Tom Thumb is the mouth piece is slightly curved allowing for it to sit more naturally in the horse's mouth. The shanks of this bit are also slightly curved also to allow the bit to sit naturally while being more effective to cue the stop. This bit also has a better differentiation from the mouth piece to the shank. Being two separate pieces helps when the rider needs to go to two handed to help the horse learn neck reining. The TomThumb is one solid piece, which hurts the bit in its effectiveness. Because this bit is a transition bit from the snaffle, which is primarily used with two hands to a curb, that is used for neck reining, it is important that a trainer can switch between the two. You can see with this bit above that the mouth piece can slide up and down. This allows this bit to have a "gag" effect that signals to the horse that the chin strap is about to engage. The Tom Thumb does not have this feature.

Horses are taught by pressure and release. The higher quality the bit, the quicker the release of pressure should be. The bit in the second set of pictures slows the engagement of the chin strap allowing the horse to be signaled to stop before pressure is applied. This bit also allows for the quicker release of pressure rewarding the horse for the stop and for listening. Tom Thumb bits do not allow for a pre-signal nor do they allow for a quick release of pressure which deaden the horse's mouth to pressure.

Tom Thumb in a horse's mouth

In this picture you can see that although the reins are loose and relaxed the chin strap is still engaged causing pressure in the horse's mouth.

Better bit in horse's mouth. Relaxed

Chin Strap view. In relaxed position, chin strap is not engaged. 

With the higher quality bit, when sitting relaxed in the horse's mouth, the chin strap is not engaged, allowing the bit to sit comfortably in the horse's mouth. You want the purchase to align with the line of the horse's mouth and be a seamless transition from mouth, to bit, to bridle. As you can see with the higher quality bit. Look back up to the TomThumb, the bit is almost sitting perpendicular to the line of the bridle and mouth, this causes the chin strap to be engaged.

The quality of your bits are very important to the happiness and ease of training that horse encounters. Skipping out with a cheap bit can cause your horse pain leading to a variety of problems such as but not limited to: head tossing, holding head up to evade pressure, running through the bit, rearing, bucking, chewing the bit, putting tongue over bit, refusing to be bridled, and a variety of other problems. Cheap bits can lead to pinching of the lips of the horse, and/or rubbing the side of the mouth. By buying bits made with better materials or better design can change the way your horse rides or even how well they can be trained. It is important to transition to more severe bits slowly and when your horse is proficient with milder bits. Your training and transitioning bits are the most important bits to a training program, no matter the discipline. More important than quality of the bit is the fit. By remembering that two fingers between the headstall and cheeks, with one wrinkle in the corner of the mouth is the general rule for bridle fit. You should always be able to get two fingers between the chin strap and chin. Too tight and the more pressure the horse feels in the mouth. Too loose, the more you have to pull before chin strap is engaged. Remember to always check your tack for dry rotted parts or parts that has come loose. Nothing ruins a ride like your horse running away without a bit or way to stop them!

Happy Trails.






Written by: C 

Getting the Heart Going

Horses First; The Rest Later

Perfecting the Stop

There is only one other thing in riding that is important for a safe and enjoyable ride and that is to effectively stop your horse. Without an effective and reliable stop, you are often putting yourself and your horse in danger.

Before your horse should even be ridden, they must be easily flexed to either side and give to pressure on the ground. A horse should immediately give his nose to the pressure by lowering and bringing his head onto the vertical when pressure across the nose or from the bit is given. The horse must first master this on the ground before attempted under saddle. By teaching your horse to flex to either side will prepare the horse to disengage the hindquarters making an emergency one rein stop in the saddle much easier. From the ground, when asked, the horse should be easily backed with minimal pressure on the nose or in the mouth. 

Practice flexing the horse to either side and also ask them to give to backward pressure. When pulling back, they should drop their head and bring the nose onto the vertical. The lighter the cue for these to happen will help you when you are ready to stop the horse. 

The key to a good stop is a great back. One exercise I recommend when a horse is becoming difficult to stop, is to immediately back them up after every stop. This also works well for a horse that stops heavy on the forehand. The horse will begin to anticipate that after every stop they should immediately be ready to back. The outcome is that the horse will stop deeper with the power of the hindquarters rather than bracing on the forehand.

Collection is a major component of stopping. Without collection, a horse's stop can be bouncy and rough. One way to help them collect themselves and really use their hindend is to do roll backs into the fence. It teaches them to listen to your cues and lower their hips to turn and stop. By sitting deeper in the saddle before you cue for the roll back should be the first indication for the maneuver. The better the horse gets at listening and understanding the cues, the less you will use to cue him for the roll back. This will translate into stopping any where in the arena. When you sit deeper in the saddle, your horse should stop under neath himself, squarely. 

****A rollback on the fence does not involve you jerking the horse around into the fence.******

Other great ways to sharpen your horse's stop is to implement the half halt. By squeezing and releasing the reins to slow them before the cue to stop. Using this instead of one continuing pressure on the mouth can save your horse's mouth. 

***For experience riders**

You can use a martingale or training fork to help enforce the giving to pressure and rounding the frame of the horse. This helps teach them to collect themselves and stop more squarely and smoothly. 

Changing to a more severe bit should always be the last resort. A good thing is to gradually go up in severity. A great step up bit from the snaffle would be a Jr. Cowhorse bit or something similar.

Everyone should know the emergency one-rein stop. This is when all else fails and your horse is running away from you, pull your rein all the way around. This disengages the hindquarters (the engine of the horse) and makes them follow their nose. The one-rein stop is most effective if you have adequately taught them to flex and disengage their hindquarters. Don't think some horses can't run straight even with their head turned around the other way!

Blog requested by A Cowgirl's Ambition. Twitter: @CowgirlAmbition  

Written By: C

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