Anyone know of any Paso Finos that are endurance horses. I do understand that “almost” any breed can be an endurance horse based on length of ride, condition of horse, etc. I was just curious as to Pasos and endurance riding. With their brio and their hooves…I think they’d be pretty good. (Not speaking of Paso Finos that are strictly shown, but more of mom and pop’s backyard trail riding Paso).
If you look at the breeds that have shown consistent success in sanctioned endurance riding the Arabian and Anglo-Arab are head and shoulders above all others.
If you want to do endurance for fun then you can ride anything, maybe even a drafter. If you want to win then you need an Arabian or Anglo-Arab.
G.
My paso has the heart to go all day. He is not in shape for endurance, but I am absolutely certain he could do it. He is not a fino boy. He is a backyard performance trail horse. He wants to…just waiting for the weather to cooperate with us…LOL. It is cold.
[QUOTE=Guilherme;3808953]
If you look at the breeds that have shown consistent success in sanctioned endurance riding the Arabian and Anglo-Arab are head and shoulders above all others.
If you want to do endurance for fun then you can ride anything, maybe even a drafter. If you want to win then you need an Arabian or Anglo-Arab.
G.[/QUOTE]
Yes, I know that Arabs and Anglo-Arabs are far above the rest, but I’m also not looking to go ride in a 50-miler anytime soon and definitely not looking to go into riding/competing at any huge level. I’m thinking more along the lines of 10-mile rides, etc.
I think referring to a 10 mile ride as “endurance” is a bit of a stretch. 
Pretty much any sound horse should be able to do that.
There’s several paso finos out there doing REAL endurance, 50, 75 and 100 mile rides. One even did the Tevis 2 yrs ago. Most Paso Fino riders cover quite a bit of ground even on their casual trail rides, the horses love to go go go, and it’s a great sport for them.
Breeds competing in AERC rides
http://aerc.org/2006_Breeds_Competing.pdf
(we were the Hanoverian 
- did three fifties that year)
I can’t remember her name… sigh. I’ll have to ask my mom.
Was a lady who used to come up from the U.S to do our B.C rides, had a lovely Fino, that she rode for years, and always did quite well and had a pile of fun.
She did 50s if I recall.
[QUOTE=citydog;3809240]
I think referring to a 10 mile ride as “endurance” is a bit of a stretch. Pretty much any sound horse should be able to do that.[/QUOTE]
I think so as well, but the endurance sites I have been reading (referred to me from here on COTH) say “short endurance rides like 10 miles up to longer rides like 100 miles.”
I used to ride 10+ miles a day. I called it…“trail riding”
[QUOTE=prudence;3809308]http://aerc.org/2006_Breeds_Competing.pdf
(we were the Hanoverian - did three fifties that year)[/QUOTE]
That’s a neat breakdown!
[QUOTE=Guilherme;3808953]
If you look at the breeds that have shown consistent success in sanctioned endurance riding the Arabian and Anglo-Arab are head and shoulders above all others.
If you want to do endurance for fun then you can ride anything, maybe even a drafter. If you want to win then you need an Arabian or Anglo-Arab.
G.[/QUOTE]
I would have to add a standardbred arab cross to that. The standarbred cross adds speed to the trot. A arab cruises comfortablly at about 8 mph and if pushed can do about 12 but not for long. The standardbred cross can hit about 19 maximum so a 12 mph cruise for him is not pushing it.
I had a standbredbred cross and she could really walk away from an arab at a trot. That cross is very poplular here. Standardbred are also frearless so they add stability to the arab.
To me a paso fino’s running walk is too slow. I rode one for a few months and it either racked or loped but it didn’t trot. I now ride with a TW and it too is too slow. It doesn’t trot so again it’s running walk is too slow so it needs to lope to keep up. The paso fino’s can also be a little hot and the minute you hit the saddle it is off or dancing in place. A very energetic horse, one that burns up too much energy being energetic:lol::lol:
Most soft gaited horses are distance horses, not speed horses. So if it’s a “race” involved they will not do as well as a trotter.
A “speed racker” will go fast, but racking is a very demanding gait and will likely not keep up for extended periods.
As a general rule, diagonal gaits are less energy intensive than lateral gaits.
The soft gait might not get you someplace as fast as a high trot, but you’ll feel better when you get there. 
G.
I’ve been finding it quite interesting what a lot of serious endurance breeders out in Aus are doing. They’ve been adding various touches of breeds to the Arabian horse. These are the farms that breed/raise specifically for the Middle East competitors. Adding TB, appy, stb, and a few others I can’t recall to the main line Arabian’s that they use as breedstock.
One of the best endurance horse I had was a homebred, that I bred specifically for endurance.
1/2 Arab, 1/4 TB and 1/4 QH. Came out about 15,2 and was just an awesome horse to run.
My current is 1/2 Arab 1/2 Appy gelding. My upcoming will be 1/2 Arab 1/4Appy 1/4 TB, well once he/ she hits the ground in 2010, another homebred in the plotting.
My horse’s breeder has done some endurance/LD rides with her Pasos.
I think she said that the one thing you run into is them not being able to get their heart rate down quickly at checks. Also because of their heart/personalities they will run themselves into the ground before they let you know they are tired.
She did say that one benefit of the Pasos though is that you can devote your break time to taking care of them–you can just eat your lunch while on the move on the trail becuase they are so smooth! :lol:
I just got my girl this past fall and she was too out of shape to accurately largo, so I haven’t yet discovered how fast she can go. But once the snow melts and we can do some serious conditioning work I can’t wait to see what she can do!
If I was looking for a Paso endurance horse I’d get one bred by Isaac Wyler in Utah. He’s got horses that can accurately largo close to 20 mph, and are also bred for stamina.
I rode a couple of LD’s with a lady who had a hot little Paso. Frankly, he really expended quite a bit of energy gaiting,it was more up and down than long and out, and had trouble getting his heart rate down at the finish. I think he was pulled twice at the end for metabolics.
He may have done better if he had gone slower than we were but he was always so hyped that maybe it was his personality and not breed that made him unsuitable.
Yeah I’d say the success of a PF in a ride would depend on their range of gait. PFs have three speeds of their gait–Fino, Corto and Largo. The Fino is what you see the show horses doing–lots of steps with little forward motion.
Corto would be the equivalent to most horse’s trot, and the Largo a canter/gallop.
Their conformation/shoulder slope helps dictate which range they fall into.
For example, my mare will never be a Fino horse. Her shoulder has too much slope. But that slope also means she can get the extension necessary to Corto and Largo. And she is also very smooth when she does so.
I rode a retired Fino show horse once. Definitely not as smooth as my mare, and not something I’d want to ride for a long distance! But he was a neat horse–hotter than a pistol but extremely responsive. You just thought where you wanted him to go and he would.
A well built semi conditioned horse should be able to do a 25…
the problem w/ any gaited horse a lot of time it is a lot of energy but in the wrong direction so they spend it but it isn’t as effective, but I know several people who have done it for fun, you should be fine.
[QUOTE=Shadow14;3810137]
The paso fino’s can also be a little hot and the minute you hit the saddle it is off or dancing in place. A very energetic horse, one that burns up too much energy being energetic:lol::lol:[/QUOTE]
They aren’t all like that ya know My mare is fantastic and can go all day, but is never hot or difficult to ride. She’s energetic, but not to the point where she wears herself out for no good reason. Plus, I don’t like trotting
Note: I am NOT an endurance rider!
uh … there aren’t any 10-mile endurance rides. Any horse should be able to do a 10-mile trail ride. As for endurance, I’ve done both endurance and LD’s on my Paso Fino. My Paso is 14h, very dark bay, stocky (often mistaken for a Morgan) and more of a fino type, but he manages quite well. We mostly corto, canter and recently he’s learned to sort of trot up hills. He doesn’t require any special management. He doesn’t handle heat and humidity very well (neither do I), so we mostly do spring and fall rides. After years of riding trotting horses, I love riding my Paso whether its for 5 miles or 50 miles. If you are interested in endurance, you might want to join one of the gaited endurance groups on yahoo.
I used to train P. paso’s, a lot of lines in the USA break down fast. from what I hear the paso fino is not as smooth but holds up better.
I have heard tons of stories about P. pasos breaking down in the show ring from people who used to own them and show them and are now into other gaited breeds.
Of course I worked for a breeder who had 90 head, bad backs and crooked legs the whole bunch:no:
I like to say riding one was like going no where, really fast, Very smoothly:lol:
Like some one else said too much wasted energy going up and down and not ground covering, not a breed I would pick unless it’s a cross.
My friend took her good enrurance arab and breed it to a paso fino. the baby has done a few 50 milers but his back gets sore so she don’t use him a lot.
Good luck!
