Paso Fino Horse Articles

2010-05 OCTRA Sanctioned Mileage Ride

It was a windy, snowy, wet, cold day and my first mileage ride with my Paso Fino gelding.

Hello, my name is Pat Kuffner and I am blessed to own a brave Paso Fino named Canadian Mistico de Adina (aka, Lovey). Mistico and I have been on the busy roads, in lakes, through the heavily wooded trails and encountered our fair share of wildlife including a bear in a cherry tree. I decided it was time to step outside our comfort zone and try CTR. I attended a 4 hour Distance Riding 101 Clinic and learned the basics about "Fit To Continue" and "Horsemanship" and our adventure began.

The ride started at noon on May 9th, 2010 at Warwick Forest in Berwick, Ontario. Upon arrival, I presented Mistico to the volunteers and vets. Dr. Art King, DVM (30+ years experience with AERC, OCTRA, FEI) and Dr. Kathy Kivi, DVM (AERC, OCTRA, FEI). The health of the horse is paramount and the vets check and score your horse on lameness, cardiac recovery index, metabolics, lesions and manners.

Mistico passed and soon all eyes were on us as the sound of the beautiful four beat gait echoed down the dirt road. I giggled to myself and smiled proudly because the expression on many faces was priceless and lead me to believe that they had never witnessed the fine stepping horse or had the pleasure of riding a Paso Fino. We entered the grassy trail and moved up into another gear. The trails were a combination of grass, rocky areas, deep water holes, wooden bridges, paved road crossings and a gravel road. Mistico mastered them all.

As we continued, I was asked repeatedly what breed of horse I was riding. One lady we passed called him the dancing horse. Another group of ladies told me after the ride that they tried to follow Mistico and I but couldn't keep up. I was riding effortlessly and they were bouncing steadily.

As we returned to the check-in, time score area, the vets and volunteers snapped pictures, waved and called out to me "looking good and she's still smiling"! Mistico passed the final vet check "Fit To Continue". Yippee, he was a good boy and took everything in stride. "To finish is to win!" At the end of the day I received lots of friendly compliments and the best compliment is how well my Paso Fino excels at Competitive Trail Riding.

Happy trails, Pat Kuffner

Adversity Becomes Opportunity - written by Jo Seggie (PDF - large file 4 MB)

Paso Finos in Canada - written by Camilla Willings for a Paso Fino Magazine in Columbia