Brilliantly marked pinto patterns adorn the coats of the Pinto Paso Horse. It conveys its Spanish heritage through the smooth gait, natural controlled spirit and presence, and willing responsive temperament. Modern care and breeding have enhanced its beauty, refinement and well-proportioned conformation to create a horse that is truly versatile and pleasurable to ride and own. The gait, is totally natural without the irregular or exaggerated leg action of man-made gaits; the movements are smooth, rhythmic, and balanced.
Head: The head should be refined and in relative proportion to the body, a straight profile is preferred. The eyes should be large and well- spaced, alert and expressive and should not show excessive white around the edges; brown, amber and either dark or light blue
(wahl) eyes are permitted.Ears are set close, curved inward slightly and the tips and are comparatively short. The nostrils are large and dilatable. The lips should be firm and. Jaws are defined but not extreme. The overall impression should be that of an intelligent noble appearance.
Neck: The neck is graceful and balanced, medium in length and set on at an angle to encourage high carriage, breaking at the poll. The throatlatch is refined and well-defined.
Forehand: The chest is moderate in width. Shoulders are sloping into the withers with great depth through the heart. Withers are defined but not pronounced and blend smoothly into the back.
Midsection: Moderate in length with a well-sprung rib cage. The back is strong and muscled with a defined top line generally
proportionately shorter than the underline. The midsection should join the forehand and the hindquarters so as to give the horse a
pleasing, balanced appearance. Muscling is not exaggerated.
Hindquarters: The croup is slightly sloping with rounded hips, broad loins, and
strong hocks. Muscling is not exaggerated. The tail is low set but carried gracefully when the horse is in motion.
Legs: The legs are straight with refined bones and strong, well defined tendons and
broad, long forearms with shorter cannons. The thigh and gaskin are strong and muscled but not exaggerated. Standing slightly under in the rear is acceptable. Pasterns slope slightly and are medium in length, weak, low slung or excessively long pasterns are undesirable. Bones are straight, sound, and flat, and joints are strong and well defined. Hooves are well rounded, proportionate in size and do not show excessive heel.
Mane, Tail and Forelock: Mane, tail, and forelock are as long and full as provided by nature and should not be altered other than to accommodate tack.
Size: Pinto Pasos range in height from 13 to 15.2 hands with 13.3 to 14.2 being the most typical size and range in weight from 700 to 1100 pounds. Full size may not be attained until the fifth year.
Color: All base colors, with patterns of tobiano, sabino and Sabiano pintos can be found.
Disposition: The Pinto Paso is an extremely intelligent and willing horse that enjoys
human companionship and strives to please. It is responsive, with controlled brio (spirited) under saddle, yet sensible and gentle at hand.
Gait: The gaits of the Pinto Paso Horse are totally natural and often exhibited from birth. Horses must demonstrate a natural (4) four beat gait. Regardless of sequence of footfall, the gait will be of equal, or near equal cadence, with each foot contacting the ground independently whereas one can count four distinct hoof beats in a rhythmic manner. Executed perfectly, the four hoof beats are exact in both cadence and impact. Imperfect timing include the andadura and Pasitrote, these gaits are further from square and may not have a fixed beat and cadence.
Two modalities define the sequence and cadence of footfall within the Pinto Paso breed.
a)
Paso Fino
aa) an equal four beat lateral gait.
b)Paso Trocha
bb) a four beat diagonal gait with a very slight dwell time between opposing bipeds.
Forward speeds and cadence vary according to the natural stride and individual abilities of each horse. In all forms and any speed of the gait, the rider should appear nearly motionless.
Neither natural collection nor extension will be penalized or rewarded.
In addition the Pinto Paso Horse can execute other gaits natural to all horses including;
Walk - Smooth, steady evenly-spaced four-beat gait.
Lope - True, three-beat gait, slow, cadenced, smooth, straight on both leads, with no
tendency to mix gaits.
Canter - True, three-beat gait, straight on both leads, smooth and unhurried with no tendency to mix gaits.
The perfect trot ( 2 beat diagonal gait with opposing limbs moving at the same time) and
The perfect pace (2 beat lateral gait with limbs on the same side moving together) are not accepted forms of riding gait with in the Pinto Paso breed.
