By Audrey Pavia

The air was dry and sweet as the chestnut stallion gaited freely along the trail. He had no rider and didn't need one. He knew exactly where he was going. Before long, the four-beat rhythm of his rapidly moving hooves clickity-clacked in the cobblestone courtyard of the hacienda. As he approached the house, with its adobe walls and Iberian archways, he slowed to a walk.

The large glass doors to the dining room were open, just as he knew they would be, left ajar to allow the soft summer breeze to fill the house. The stallion pushed the doors open all the way with a flick of his muzzle and confidently stepped inside. Nearly tiptoeing on the shiny terra cotta tile floor, he made his way to the huge mahogany table that stood in the center of the dining room. Once his chest touched the table's edge, he stopped, seeing what he had come for. Craning his neck out, he dipped his velvet muzzle into the sugar bowl and began chewing contentedly, his mission accomplished.

A scene from a Disney movie perhaps? Or a tale from one of Marguerite Henry's classic novels? Actually, it's a story from my childhood, one that I heard told many times about my great-grandfather's Peruvian Paso stallion, Melindres.

Melindres lived at the turn of the century in Tarma, a town nestled in a valley of the Peruvian Andes. The sole mount of my great-grandfather, Melindres carried his master on inspections of the hacienda, where crops grew and livestock was raised. More than just a riding horse, Melindres had volumes of personality, as was evidenced by the frequent escapes from his pasture and subsequent visits to the house, simply to rob the sugar bowl. While his antics were unique, his smooth gait, endurance and devout dedication to my great-grandfather were-and are-traits typical of the Peruvian Paso.

In the Beginning
The history of the Peruvian Paso begins with the Spanish conquest of Peru in 1532 by Francisco Pizarro. It was during this time that the first horses were brought to Peru by the Conquistadors. Trotting horses strictly used for battle and pack work, these horses paved the way for the more refined, higher quality mounts of Spanish nobility that would soon follow. When those wealthy Spaniards came to Peru to settle in the city of Lima, they brought with them horses of Andalusian, Spanish Jennet, Friesian and Barb breeding. The influence of the Spanish Jennet dictated that many of these horses possessed a four-beat gait instead of a trot, a characteristic treasured by riders who spent hours in the saddle, surveying their land and traveling on business from one part of the city to another.

During the 17th century, Spain's many conflicts resulted in a shortage of horses for the country's military pursuits. Consequently, the shipment of horses into Peru from Spain diminished. This allowed the horses that were already in Peru to become somewhat isolated and serve as the foundation stock for a breed that would become exclusively and uniquely Peruvian.

Through the decades that followed, the keepers of Peru's horses, mostly wealthy land owners, sought very specific characteristics in the animals they were breeding. First and foremost, they wanted a horse that was good to ride, since this was the animal's No. 1 function. For this reason, they focused on perfecting the Peruvian Paso's four-beat gait, emphasizing both smoothness and action.

Early Peruvian breeders also began cultivating something called brio, for which there is no singular word in English. Brio can best be described as a horse's vigor, energy, exuberance, courage and liveliness, according to Verne Albright, a historian, promoter and one-time importer of the Peruvian Paso. "Brio automatically implies that these qualities are willingly placed in the service of the rider."

A desire to please was also a trait that was bred into the Peruvian horse by its developers. Those who depended on the Peruvian Paso for their very existence wanted a horse that was easy to handle and dedicated to his rider.

By carefully attending to all these traits, Peruvian horsemen achieved their goal over time, creating a horse with an incredibly smooth gait, a kind disposition and a controlled fire seen only in the horse that would later become known the world over.

North America Bound
For centuries, the horse known as Caballo Peruano de Paso in its native land was somewhat of a Peruvian secret. The wealthy families who owned and bred the horse used it to travel from hacienda to hacienda, giving stud services away to friends as favors and quietly enjoying the breed's many qualities. It wasn't until the 1960s that Peru became ready to share its national treasure with the rest of the world—specifically, the United States.

A shift in the country's political climate inspired the change. For centuries, much of Peru's land was held by members of the upper class. But in the 1960s, an agrarian reform stripped these wealthy families of their land. The landowners lost their haciendas and the Peruvian Paso, which was once a treasure of the rich, became more widely available.

Around this time, Verne Albright, an American who had discovered the Peruvian breed during a trip to South America, convinced the owners that their breed had commercial potential in the United States. With the cooperation of Peruvian breeders, Albright was able to arrange the first large shipments of Peruvian Pasos to the United States in the mid-1960s.

"North Americans had never dreamed that there was a breed like this," Albright remembers. "Gaited breeds in this country had strayed far from their original Spanish roots, but the Peruvian Paso hadn't."

In 1962, Albright founded the American Association of Owners and Breeders of Peruvian Paso Horses (AAOBPPH), the first registry for the breed in the United States. The goal was to not only register and record the pedigrees of Peruvian Pasos in the United States, but also to promote the breed.

It wasn't long before the AAOBPPH was making serious headway in turning the Peruvian Paso into a well-known horse throughout the United States. In 1970, another registry formed, the Peruvian Paso Horse Registry of North America (PPHRNA), also with the goal of registering and promoting the breed. With two groups in its corner, the breed was on its way to recognition.

Unique Qualities
The Peruvian Paso is no ordinary horse. All it takes is one look at the breed to understand this. On the small size compared to many North American breeds, the Peruvian is compact, surprisingly well-balanced and has an exceptionally high head carriage.

The typical Peruvian Paso stands between 14.1 and 15 hands, and has well-angled hind legs, a short back and a substantial, medium-length neck, set high onto the shoulder. The head is small with a straight profile and fine, chiseled features.

One of the most distinctive physical attributes of the Peruvian Paso is its luxuriously long mane and tail. Many Peruvians have tails that drag on the ground and manes that hang well below the neck. The forelock serves as natural fly masks, frequently draping all the way down the horse's face.

However, the Peruvian Paso's notoriously smooth gait is its most famous feature. Every Peruvian Paso that comes into the world is born with the innate ability to perform the breed's spectacular gait. Categorized by the speed in which the gait is performed, the paso llano (the slower version) and the sobreandando (the more rapid movement), is so comfortable that people who are unable to ride "trotting" horses because of back and joint problems can reportedly ride the Peruvian Paso with ease.

Of the two gaits, the paso llano is said to be the most comfortable. A slow-stepping pace that consists of four beats, the paso llano occurs when the rear left foot strikes the ground first, then the front left foot, then the rear right foot, then the front right foot. Each foot fall is separated from another by equal time lapses, creating a consistent four-beat rhythm.

"The paso llano shows the natural way of moving," says Eusebio Rodriguez Baca, a Peruvian Paso breeder at ERB Ranch in Elk Grove, Calif. "It also shows the natural elegance and carriage of the neck and head, the natural overreach by the rear legs as the horse advances and the natural extension of the front legs."

With the sobreandando, the foot fall is the same, except that it happens in faster succession. This is also a four-beat gait, made up of two groups of two beats each, with a pause in between. "The sobreandando is like shifting into a faster speed," says Rodriguez Baca. "It causes the movement of the horse to be exaggerated, giving the horse a look of more vitality and flash."

The Peruvian Paso also possesses a truly unique characteristic to its gait known as termino. Termino is a sort of swimming action in which the horse's front legs swing out as the leg rolls from the shoulder outward, forward and then down. This action is sometimes mistaken by those unfamiliar with the breed for paddling or winging, which are signs of a conformation fault. However, this is not the case with the Peruvian's termino since the hooves return squarely to the ground rather than toeing in or out.

Peruvian Appeal
Those who own and ride the Peruvian Paso horse appreciate the breed's beauty and wonderfully smooth gait. But as much as they treasure the breed's physical characteristics, they seem to value its disposition all the more.

Brio, that unique characteristic bred into the Peruvian horse for centuries, is also an important part of the breed's personality today. "Brio encompasses many aspects of the horse," says Rodriguez Baca. "It means not only a willingness to work for its rider with a happy attitude, but also intelligence, alertness and speed of learning. A horse with brio takes on a business-like attitude while also enjoying his work."

It was brio that first attracted Janetta Michaels, executive director of the PPHRNA, to the Peruvian Paso many years ago. "At the time I discovered the Peruvian Paso, I was looking for a horse with a certain kind of temperament," she says. "I was tired of docile horses that weren't sensitive to the aids and were only quiet because they were lazy and sluggish. I wanted a horse with energy that wasn't hyper and flighty. When I discovered the Peruvian Paso, I knew I'd found the horse I was looking for. The breed was sensitive without being flighty. They had lots of energy, but were easy to handle in the saddle and on the ground."

Michaels also noticed that the Peruvians she rode were exceptionally tuned in to their rider. "They will take care of you," she says. "They have this power and energy that they willingly give over to you."

Diane Robinson, an owner of Peruvian Pasos in California, also fell in love with the Peruvian Paso after riding a number of other breeds. "I got into horses as an adult and tried all different kinds of riding, looking for what was right for me," she says. "Then one day, at a community equine event, a man brought out a Peruvian stallion and a group of mares. He exhibited them at halter and also under saddle. The second I saw them, I knew this was the horse for me. They had such presence, I couldn't take my eyes off them. They looked like my image of a fantasy horse, with their high heads and long manes and tails. They reminded me of unicorns."

After riding her first Peruvian, it was only a matter of months before Robinson purchased the first of what would become four Peruvian Pasos.

Robinson co-owns her horses with John Evangalista, a former motorcycle enthusiast who quickly switched his passion to horses after riding his first Peruvian Paso. "I wasn't able to ride regular horses because of a back and knee injury that I had," says Evangalista. "Whenever I rode, I would experience a lot of discomfort. So I figured riding horses just wasn't something I would be able to do."

Robinson then suggested he try riding one of her Peruvian Pasos. Evangalista was quickly hooked. "I rode Diane's mare, Megalena, on a trail ride one day," he says. "It was a completely different experience from what I'd had with other breeds. Besides the smooth ride, she had this calm, lap-dog attitude that I couldn't believe. Since then, I've discovered that Peruvian Pasos just love to be around people and crave affection. They are eager to please. And every time I ride one, I see that personality."

Robinson can't say enough good things about the Peruvian Paso, a breed to which she is now completely devoted. "Peruvians are incredibly giving," she says. "They have a nobility about them, and riding them is just amazing. There is so much going on underneath you, yet up on their backs you are perfectly still. It's like being in the eye of a hurricane. It's calm where you are, but there's a whole lot going on around you."

For more information on the Peruvian Paso, contact the American Association of Owners and Breeders of the Peruvian Paso Horses (AAOBPPH), www.aaobpph.org; and the Peruvian Paso Horse Registry of North America (PPHRNA), www.pphrna.org.

The author's first ride on a gaited horse was on a Peruvian Paso. She has long had an interest in the breed, in large part because her mother was born and raised in Lima, Peru.