Geldings > ERB Danzador

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ERB Danzadora aka "Danny" the Dancing Peruvian Paso

My first Peruvian Paso and I love him to death! Who would have known I would end up with such a fantastic horse? Danny performs the piaffe, passage, flying changes, and spins. He's become a successful AERC 50-mile endurance horse and is my wonderful trail horse.

Here are a few facts about Peruvian Pasos ...

About Speed

Thanks to don Antonio, most of the Peruvian horses one sees today have the high quality of gait which is the trademark of their breed and they transmit it genetically.

Before he considered his work done, Antonio had one last objective. He wanted to convince horsemen in Peru to avoid the problems which would come with riding their breed too fast in show competitions. Once when some riders passed him at too fast a rate of speed, he quietly said, "I believe that you gentlemen are in the wrong place. The race track is across town. This is a Peruvian Paso horse show." In reference to the subject of speed, Grana says, "One doesn't care if a draft horse can jump higher than other horses, and one shouldn't care if the Peruvian horse is faster than other horses. It has never been their purpose to be extremely fast. They weren't bred for that. When a Peruvian horse is made to go too fast, it is doing something that is unnatural. A good Peruvian horse can go all day long at his natural speed, but he will be worn out in less than an hour if he is pushed to an unnatural speed. Excessive speed is simply used to fool people. It will mask an inferior gait, lameness and lack of brio. Such speeds could never be used when a horse is working. He simply wouldn't last. Furthermore, if breeders begin to select crosses based on the speed of sires, the whole breed will change and not for the better. Extremely fast horses very often do not have a very good gait."

About Smoothness

"Horseback riding is a vigorous form of exercise except in Peru, where breeders have managed a triumph over nature. They have created a horse which moves by means of a very smooth amble. These horses are greatly sought-after, for to ride one is much the same as being seated in a chair." 

"After traveling over three continents and riding countless trails on every breed of horse, gaited and non-gaited, I found the end of the rainbow. The Peruvian is by far the smoothest riding horse. I’ve ridden them all and believe me this is it!"

About Presence

"There are times in life when one longs for the superfluous.  And in this world, dominated by statistics, efficiency and materialism, 

it's a joy to see [a Peruvian Paso] come dancing down the road, rhythmically tapping out his beat, glowing with good humor." 

Proof that JP is Nutts

In a private conversation with J.P. Giacomini, the internationally known Classical Dressage master and historian, he said, "if you breed any of your Peruvian Paso horses to an Andalusian you will still get a pure Andalusian horse without the Paso llano perhaps."

Further Reading: Excellent articles on breeding and the state of the Peruvian horse breed today