As a horse lover, I appreciate riding horses that have a naturally smooth gait. When I first came across the Paso Fino horse, it was one of the things that really was appealing to me. They are naturally gifted riding with a beautifully smooth gait.

A horse’s gait is the way that it moves. When you determine a horses gait, you look at a number of factors including speed, foot pattern, and foot sequencing during the movement. This can vary from the walk to the full gallop, but what we are interested in when determining a good horse for trail riding is one that goes at an intermediate speed. The Paso’s unique pattern of foot movements makes the ride very smooth and there is not a lot of up and down motion for the rider.

The cadence of the Paso’s 1-2-3-4 gait is distinctive as the horse effortlessly glides to its destination. It is almost like military precision when it takes its strides. I liken it to the riderless horse of presidential funerals. To be riding a horse that moves like this is akin to feeling like royalty.

The Paso Fino gait is known as an “ambling” gait. The term “ambling” gait refers to an intermediate gait of a horse. Ambling gaits are faster than a walk slower than a canter. This movement in the Paso Fino is lateral. Lateral movement is where the front and hind feet on the same side of the horse moves in sequence.

In the Paso Fino gait, there are names for the 3 speeds to its ambling gait. Listed from slowest to fastest, there is the paso fino, paso corto, and paso largo. There is also another one referred to as the Paso Llano and is unique to the Peruvian Paso.

There are many Paso Fino completitions that display the excellence in performance Paso Fino horse training. If you’ve never seen it before, be sure to get on Youtube and search for “Paso Fino.” You will see many examples of the championship quality gaits of these horses. To many, the gait looks like a well orchestrated hat dance by the horse… all I can say is simply amazing.

Even if you’re not looking to get started in Paso Fino competitions and just need a good riding horse, the Paso Fino makes an excellent horse to own. If you like to go on trial rides, you can’t beat the beautifully smooth and steady horse gait of this horse breed. Have fun and go ride a Paso!