......Present and Vital Challenges
Over the present "chat lines" on the Internet, we find opinions of long established and knowledgeable breeders coinciding that until and IF we find a genetic marker for the detection of DSLD, conformational defects and/or weaknesses are the only lead that we have to recognize susceptibility to future soundness problems. Other people have responded that some horses break down even though, they claim; the horse had correct conformation. It is my experience that defects show up soon after birth (a good reason to cull them) and then, as the individuals grow and until they reach adulthood at 6 or 7 years of age; their weaknesses are "hidden" or "covered" to the eye of most viewers.
Such is the case especially with the post legged horse. We need to breed for improved angulations (not too much not too little), more bone that generally speaks of stronger well wrapped joints; and well proportioned hoofs.
We need horses that are able to stand plumb and decisively under their body mass. They must have a rather short muscular loin area, a long inclined croup and proper correlative ANGULATIONS beginning at the stifle, to the hock, (slightly sickled), continuing at the pastern, (medium to short and not too flexible or squishy) with the hoof following the axis of the angle of the pastern *not coon footed).
When viewed from the rear or the front, the horse's limbs should be perpendicular to the ground. Whether standing or in movement, the hoofs in the rear should touch the ground closer together than the hoofs in the front, with the footprints forming the figure of a trapezoid. This last quality provides our breed with more IMPULSION from behind. PPH that are rectangular in their footfall have less power and, when in motion; "waddle like a duck". Such horses, generally speaking, reach far under their body mass while in gait but lack the DRIVE that the rear end described above provides. When viewed from the side, a horse's profile must show a front end with rather sloped shoulder blades (allowing looseness) with legs that are VERTICAL to the ground.
Individuals that stay "close to the ground" with deep bodies that provide a lower center of gravity give our breed of horse the ability to move in a GLIDING MODE.
Long, lean, elevated, firm necks (avoiding fallen crests) with correct insertions of the head and neck into the withers permit NATURAL COLLECTION. This last trait makes training much easier as the horse requires little assistance from tack devices or the rider-s ability in order to travel elegantly with the head up. Proper angulations, deep bodies, and elevated necks as described above are conformation traits that allow the Peruvian Paso Horse to propel itself elegantly in a natural manner.
The basic requirements of a good Peruvian Horse along with CONFORMATION (the main subject I wanted to deal with at this time) are PISOS (*) and BRIO with GENTLE DISPOSITION. As with other traits, brio is inheritable. An unruly horse does not have brio, is not a desirable individual and CULLING should be considered out of kindness to the animal as well as the human. Not all people are kind people. It is not different with horses and dangerous individuals should be eliminated.
In as far as gait, there is one "rule of thumb" that I learned from the old master breeder Jorge Juan Pinillos. He used to say and repeat: "Pisos mas Pisos = Pisos". This is very true as Pisos are recessive to Paso, a Paso is recessive to an Ambler, and an Ambler is recessive to a Trotter.
I have written before sustaining that "Pisos" is the most important characteristic in the breeding of the PPH. I have not changed that a bit, because Pisos IDENTIFY our breed and make a Peruvian different than any other gaited breeds, be it the ancestrally related Paso Fino or the Walker, the Islandic or others.
Conformation, brio and pisos all complement each other. I am quoting from an article I wrote back in 1984 "no horse has an excellent gait if it is not strong enough, or lacks the temperament or character to sustain the paso llano over a lengthy distance".
Finally, I suggest that the "Standard of the Breed" should be re/examined in order to portray an Ideal Type for the future and not merely a carbon copy of our present PPH. It needs to reflect a vision, through its conformational&functional requirements of, first and foremost, A HORSE, capable of carrying us for many miles over many years. Many years ago, Fito Matellini proposed that in order to obtain an ideal type we should outcross individuals of prominent bloodlines. In those days inbreeding and line breeding were in swing and some of us, with disdain, referred to his suggestion as "Fito's Cocktail Horse". Eventually, I followed that path. Fito was right!
Pisos (*):
An expression used in Peru referring to the original and natural ability in which the PPH travels by breaking it's predominantly lateral gait into four beat once, showing a wide thread of "Aires" within that motion. With smoothness and advance, they identify themselves by the gliding-driving long and energetic stride of their rear legs while showing body collection and adornments in the front limbs with what is referred to as "Termino", elevating, extending and laterally rotating the forearms with the forefeet returning to land squarely under the body mass.
...About the Author
Raúl Risso is a long time breeder and International Judge of Peruvian Pasos. He moved from Peru to the USA with his herd of horses in 1989. Raúl, has also been a successful breeder and judge of Registered Holstein dairy cows, having had more than 40 years of involvement in the livestock business. He has judged Peruvian Pasos all over the world including the National Shows in Peru (twice), the USA, Canada, Germany, Argentina, Ecuador, Panama, Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador.
Raúl and his wife Lauren, an accomplished breeder and trainer herself; have produced outstanding horses at their ranch in Louisiana, amongst them the 2X (2000, 2001) National Champion Breeding Stallion WFP El Joven Peru and the 2X (2001) Reserve National Champion Breeding Mare RyR Mi Lady, a daughter of the legendary RyR Fantasia+ National Laureada Breeding Mare at the age of 16.
They can be reached through their web site at: www.ryrusa.com.
