7611 Ledbetter Rd                               Arlington, TX 76001

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History of the Peruvian Paso Horse

                                                courtesy Carlos Enrique Paredes Gazís.

What makes the Peruvian Paso Horse different from other horse breeds throughout the world is its unique gait at an intermediate speed which in others is called trotting. This speed, which is called the paso llano, is the Peruvian's most typical rhythm, but   the horse is capable of varying rhythms and speeds.  This collection of  different speeds and rhythms are called pisos.

All the steps and gait of the Peruvian Paso Horse are derived from ambling:  a lateral gait which is trotting with the two legs on the same side at the same time. This gait rotates the legs in a four beat time, the back left first, then the front left, then the front right and back right and then back left, etc.

During this fine lateral gait, the horse’s center of gravity is not be displaced vertically, there being only a gentle horizontal swaying from side to side, making the ride much more comfortable for the rider. This gentle ride is one of the fundamental virtues and the most appreciated one of the Peruvian Paso Horse, apart from its great stamina, especially on very long trips.

Also typical of the breed is the elegance that accompanies its steps and gait. The elegant and graceful raising of the front leg, at the same time kicking and turning it outwards and then setting it down all in one movement, to be repeated by the other front leg. This is called the término.

The geographical origin of the gender Equis is the American continent, the oldest example being the Eohippus, an equine some sixty centimeters high with four toes on each extremity. Over millions of years these equines grew larger and their toes atrophied into a hoof on each member. Then they migrated to Eurasia, probably via the then frozen Bering Straits, and at that moment this zoological gender died out in America.

In ancient times the horse was a determinant factor in the history of man from the time it was domesticated, first to pull carts and then to be ridden. In Europe the cavalry was developed where the invention of the stirrup towards the end of the Roman Empire was very important.

According to some authors, horses reached Europe with Iberians and Celts. The Iberians came from Northern Africa and apparently brought to the Iberian Peninsula Numid horses, of the same origin as the present Berbers. The Iberian people centered mainly in the south of the peninsula while the Celts, an Indo-Germanic people, with their small horses, settled in the north.

In the twelfth century the Moors invaded Spain. With this conquest came the Berber horses which, when required by Christian and Islamic cavalry, became the most typical equine ethnic group in Spain and Portugal.

Some Spanish kings imported stallions from the Netherlands in order to improve the height, strength and greater jumping ability of their horses. A small proportion of this blood has given the Andalusian and Lusitanian horses a greater height in hands, jumping ability and strength than the Berbers.

Horses began to reach America with Columbus’ second trip. Peru received dams and sires from Central American mares who came with Francisco Pizarro and his comrades in arms. The ancestors of these horses had been shipped from Seville, in Sanlúcar de Barrameda and from Cádiz, so naturally they were most probably Andalusian.

Since their arrival in Peru, these Andalusian horses followed a severe process of natural selection which, with time,   has increased their resistance, as they had to travel enormous distances through the freezing Andes mountain ranges  at heights where oxygen was scarce.

The Spaniards brought to America Andalusian horses descended from Berbers. In Peru these were preserved and selected through a functional process caused by the geographical formation of the Peruvian coast: a desert crossed by valleys. The distances between these valleys and sea ports had to be covered in just one day on horseback and therefore needed strong, resistant, speedy and gentle horses. The   ambler gait and its evolution - the present paso gait - is the result  of this selective breeding of horses on the Peruvian coast for   hundreds of years.

Until the end of the nineteenth century, the horse’s function for travel  continued to require this already established selective breeding. Modernization of transportation caused   abandonment of the horses and large haciendas (ranches) became a sort of refuge or reserve for the breed, where the horses were kept for agricultural tasks.

At the beginning, as has been mentioned, the forging of the breed of the Peruvian Horse, so appreciated and so unique, was by its use, a means for traveling, especially on the coast. But our horses have also been excellent war horses. The descendants of the animals ridden by Spanish Conquistadors helped to achieve the independence of Peru. Their use in agriculture is invaluable, since they can work with someone in the saddle for many hours, on fields of crops and on irrigated lands with equal facility. They also adapt well to cowboy tasks.

Mention should be also be made of the only Peruvian move in bullfighting, called La Suerte Nacional, that is no longer customary today, and which is carried out on a paso horse, which begins by teasing the bull with the cape in the left hand while the horse stands still diagonally across from the bull. When the bull finally stops to consider, the cape is dropped from the left hand which is handling the reigns and the right hand now holds the cape and waves it in front of the bull, at the height of the horse’s rump, over the horse’s right leg, making the rump move around to the left, the back legs overstepping the front ones to let the bull pass by.

Finally, there are many places, especially in the mountains and high jungle, and even on the coast, where horses are required, since to this day they are still the main means of transportation as there are no roads. In this case, paso mules are extremely safe, efficient, gentle and strong.

Since the Conquest, the image of Santiago, Patron Saint of Spain, horseback on a beautiful white steed, has been linked to hundreds of festivals in the New World. Tradition has it that Francisco Pizarro lanced a bull in the Main Square of Lima five years after his arrival, which of course is all part of some celebration.

At many fiestas, especially on the coast and the highlands, the people wait with devotion and enthusiasm for the parade of the spectacular horsemen on spirited and spectacular paso horses, their heads ringing to the rhythm of the full paso parade in the main street and village square.

The future of the breed, a gentle horse that has speed, elegance and rhythm, is as a symbol of Peru and of a feeling of belonging to the country that is called criollismo. Its future is also assured because of its strength, usefulness, comfort and beauty,  and by the growing numbers of admirers who have passed the tradition and love for these horses from father to son.

Since 1946, the National Association of Breeders and Owners of Peruvian Paso Horses has coordinated the work of selection, breeding and improving the breed with spectacular success that can easily be seen in the competitions and events carried out throughout the country and abroad. The breed has won in beauty,  elegance and gentleness while preserving its strength and resistance.

For more information, please contact

Aurelio and Judy Gallegos at

817 563-0367

7611 Ledbetter Road             Arlington, Texas    76001

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Last modified: 10/21/07