Friday, August 19, 2016

Friday, August 19, 2016

Friday, August 19, 2016

What the Beck???


Field of Dreams – “Iggy"


According to the Field of Dreams website:
https://www.fodonline.org/

     Ignacio, or "Iggy" as we like to call him, is a 17 year old, 14.2 hands high Paso Fino gelding (see below), with an incredible forelock and mane. He has a sweet temperament, loves attention and is adjusting well to life at FOD. Iggy came to FOD overweight and having experienced a slight case of founder this spring. As a result, his diet and insulin levels are being carefully monitored and our farrier and veterinarian are working together on the care of Iggy's hooves. Very soon, Iggy will begin working with our trainer to get back into shape and ready for a life of trail or pleasure riding with a new owner.


Iggy is so much more beautiful than this photo shows him to be. He is the sweetest horse in the barn. He is gentle and would be a great addition to any home.



     The Paso Fino’s journey to the Americas began more than 500 years ago with the importation of Andalusians, Spanish Barbs from North Africa, and smooth-gaited Spanish Jennets (now extinct) to the “New World” by Spanish Conquistadors. Bred for their stamina, smooth gait, and beauty, “Los Caballos de Paso Fino” – the horses with the fine walk – served as the foundation stock for remount stations of the Conquistadors. Centuries of selective breeding by those who colonized the Caribbean and Latin America produced variations of the “Caballo de Criollo,” among them the Paso Fino that flourished initially in Puerto Rico and Colombia, and later, in many other Latin American countries (primarily Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Aruba, and Venezuela).
     Descendants of the Conquistadors’ horses are believed to have spread into North America after the Spanish soldiers forayed for a brief time into this territory. The modern-day mustang has traces of his Spanish forbears. The Nez Perce Indian tribe, renowned for their expert horsemanship and sophisticated knowledge of breeding spotted horses, may have mixed some Spanish stock into their famous Appaloosas, whose name is derived from the Palouse River region of the Nez Perce’s tribal homeland in Oregon.
     Awareness of the Paso Fino as we know it today didn’t spread outside Latin America until after WWII, when American servicemen came into contact with the stun¬ning Paso Fino horse while stationed in Puerto Rico. Americans began importing Paso Finos from Puerto Rico in the mid-1940s. Two decades later, many Paso Fino horses began to be imported from Colombia. For a while, there was some contention as to which country produced the “true” Paso Fino. Though there are still some self-professed “purists” who advocate for one or the other country, the American Paso Fino - true to our “melting pot” tradition - is often a blend of the best of Puerto Rican and Colombian bloodlines.




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