Horseback Riding Peruvian Paso Horse Activities     Peruvian Paso Horses Isolated for over 400 years, the Peruvian Paso horse has evolved as one of the purest breeds in the world and as a unique member of the horse kingdom. The sheer existence of this breed has been called 'the greatest triumph of genetic selection ever achieved by a group of breeders'. The modern day Paso descended from the Spanish Jennet and Andalucian, horses introduced into Peru by the Spanish. Selective breeding coupled with such factors as climate and forage, served to modify succeeding generations and create a new breed which possesses characteristics different from those of any other horse in the world. The trademark of the Paso is a special, inherited, and completely natural four-beat lateral gait called paso llano. The paso llano is said to be a broken gait. It consists of a permanent, harmonic, and rhythmic tapping in which the animal makes a gentle and pleasant alternating movement. It is a quick advance in which the center of the horse's gravity stays almost immobile, making the Peruvian Paso horse the smoothest riding horse in the world. The paso llano is executed with a distinctive action in the front legs, called termino, a graceful, flowing movement in which the forelegs are rolled towards the outside as the horse strides forward, much like the arm motion of a swimmer. Both the gait and the flashy leg action are inherited by all the horse's offspring. Many of the Peruvian Paso's qualities may be considered 'contradictory.' He is very high spirited - yet easy to handle and loose and relaxed in his movements. He has sparkling, brilliant action in the forelegs - yet he is extremely smooth and sure-footed. He has a fineness of build - yet he is powerful. This has been accomplished due to the intelligence, love, and devotion of innumerable breeders. Their arduous and uncelebrated work has made the Peruvian Paso horse one of the country's greatest treasures and a source of pride for its people.