With the Paso Fino community always in its search for new heights, a meeting was held on Saturday, March 21^st to coordinate an event unlike any other preceding it. The event being coordinated is the first ever Paso Fino Americas Classic

Hosted by Mario Heinsen, the meeting took place at Hacienda Heinsen in Summerfield, Fla. Attending the meeting were some of the top Paso Fino breeders, trainers, and enthusiasts in the U.S. Among the attendees, Jorge Suarez, Javier Suarez, Edgar Ortiz, Alei Ortiz, Jimmy Espino, Roberto Bobonis, Armando Villar, Nelson Primus, and Alonso Betancourt, are included.

Heinsen, which ia also the president of ADOPASO, (the Paso Fino association dealing with coordinating the event) went on to explain that the purpose for this event is to create increased unity among all the Paso Fino communities at an international level.

The event will take place on July 3^rd through the 5^th, at Arena del Cibao in the city of Santiago of the Dominican Republic. The main difference in this event is that in order to compete, the competitors must be invited. 24 representatives from each North and South American country will be invited into the competition. An additional number of six horses will be invited as honored guest, though they may not compete. These representatives will have their travel expenses paid for. An additional 20 competitors from each country will also be chosen, however, these competitors must cover their own expenses. The total number of representatives for each country will be 50.

Additionally, during the March 21^st meeting, a committee was created to choose the 50 representatives from the United States. At the helm of this committee is Paso Fino Trainer, Javier Suarez, whose main task is to choose the 50 competitors.

A second meeting took place Sunday, March 29^th during the Florida PFHA Miami International at the Miami Tropical Park in Miami, Fla. During this meeting, the 50 U.S.A representatives were chosen. From this list, the 24 main competitors will be narrowed down.

For further updates on upcoming meetings coordinating the 2009 Paso Fino Americas Classic, stay posted on the Galopando TV News section.

Marcapasos, one of the top ten sires in the Paso Fino World has arrived in Miami, Fla. Currently residing at Hacienda La Sierra, this Champion of Champions will be at everyone’s disposal for visits, showings, and breeding. Marcapasos comes from an extraordinary lineage. He is the offspring of Rescate del Ocho and his dam is La Danesa.

Marcapasos has also put his bloodlines to work by reproducing exemplary progeny of his own. Among his arsenal of champions, Candela de la Sierra, Doña Petra de la Sierra, Picaflor de la Sierra, and Pizarra de la Sierra, are included.

As of today, Ruben Sierra, the renowned baseball player and owner of Marcapasos, has stated that the first 20 people to contact Hacienda La Sierra about a Marcapasos stud fee will receive the discounted fee of $2000. For more information, contact Ruben Sierra at (305) 798-3282.

On September 30^th, 2008, the Paso Fino Community lost one of its great champions with the passing of the magnificent Amadeus. However, his heritage made such an impact on the Paso Fino world that he left us, arguably, with an exact replica of the champion himself. His phenotype, his execution, his brio, and countless other attributes are reflected in his progeny, Teorema.

Not only is Teorema the most similar out of the offspring of Amadeus. He also happens to be one of the last remaining sons of the Amadeus heritage, which also includes bloodlines from Resorte IV.

The offspring of Teorema have also begun to show much ability with a wide variety of mares from different bloodlines. Teorema’s progeny can soon be seen in the show circuit this following year.

Located in The MGM Paso Fino farm, the people from the ever-growing Chicago area will have the chance to not only have a great Fino Stallion at their disposal, MGMPaso Finos also includes services such as riding lessons, training, educational tours, training clinics, and consulting among many other services.

For more information on Teorema and MGM Paso Finos, visit their website at www.mgmpasofinos.com. Manager of MGM Paso Finos, Matther Marks, can be contacted through his email, mgmpasos@hughes.net, through his phone, (815) 341-6230, or at the MGM Paso Fino address, 14135 Fennel Road Newark, IL 60541.

By: Jorge Mejia

I remember when I was seven years old and coming to horse shows in Ocala, FL. I don’t remember too much about the shows themselves. I do, however, remember the Ocala Equestrian Complex. I’m sure that any person who has been a Paso Fino enthusiast for many years reverts back to this venue when thinking about Paso Fino horse shows in Ocala.

Once again, the Ocala Equestrian Complex has been the location for yet another Ocala Classic Show. And although the venue and the show itself are well known, there have been a few changes in the way the show was carried out.

Why am I giving out my opinion on the Ocala Classic? Because the Galopando TV crew, including myself, was watching and recording every minute, of every day of the show. This gives us the ability to get a full perspective of the show in general.

Under a new leadership team, the Southern Regional Paso Fino Horse Association (SRPFHA) gave the 2009 Ocala Classic an overhaul, so to speak.

One of the more important characteristics that have been re-vamped is the judging system. The new system involves 5 non-conferring judges placing the horses from 1st to 5th place. The highest and lowest scores from each judge are eliminated, and the remaining scores are averaged out. In the event of a tie, the highest and lowest scores are then taken into account to place the horses. This method was first tested out by the International Paso Horse Federation in their National Championship.

This new system was introduced to prevent any misunderstandings between the audience and the judges. However, among other things, there were inconsistencies when about the judges conferring when they shouldn’t have. Also, the thing about any competition is that not everyone is going to be happy with all of the results. But overall, I found this to be an accurate and fair way of judging the competitions.

Another new aspect to the Ocala Classic is the competition ring layout. The layout of the ring consisted of incorporating two sounding boards, a serpentine track in the middle, and a “figure eight� track with plant life. It is a very clever design that was first displayed at the IPHF National Championships.

An impressive part of the ring’s layout was the inclusion of the jumbo-tron screen. This gave the audience an closer look at the horses and riders, and more importantly, it took the audience into account when it came to shedding light on the horses’ scores.

My one problem was that I didn’t see the serpentine track being used once. Granted, I am aware that a serpentine track is not required within PFHA guidelines. But it still seemed rather wasteful.

It was also a nice change to see a decent (although not very large) amount of horses in the ring. Many shows in Ocala have been suffering because of a poor quantity of horses. Also, even though the number of horses wasn’t very large, it compensated with the fact that the quality of horses was pretty outstanding. I imagine judging the competitions was no easy task.

The attendance of people was a different story. It has been a while since I’ve seen packed bleachers at an Ocala show. It great to see people taking an interest.

Another nice change to see was the entertainment value of this show. The show was capped off with an impressive exhibition of many of the great Paso Fino stallions, both national and international (although the male announcer repetitively saying “fasten your seatbelts!� in spanish was getting really annoying). Last but not least, my favorite part, the food. Though I like the usual burgers and fries at the equestrian complex, the Colombian barbecue, or “Asado Llanero,� was a welcome aspect.

Overall, the Ocala Classic was a pretty good show. There were facets of the show that do need to be worked on. But overall, this was a fine effort put forth by the SRPFHA. If this is a new beginning to the Ocala Classic, it is off to a good start.

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By: Jorge Mejia

Every sport has its favorite players. Some players have their 15 minutes of greatness for one season. Others go on to become legends. The sport that is the Paso Fino horse is no different from any other sport.

On February, 2009 the ASDESILLA Colombian National Championships took place in Medellin, Colombia.

After careful a review was conducted an interesting trend was found in which many of the favorite of today’s stallions in the U.S. are making a name for themselves internationally through their offspring.

Stallions including Tormento de la Virginia, Cortesano de la Vitrina, Bribon de San Isidro, Tartaro del Encuentro, Dulce Sueño de Lusitania, and Patrimonio del Ocho, among others, had not only one, but many winners and Grand Champions during these Colombian Nationals.

Out of all the former stallions, Tormento de la Virginia was the one to stand out the most by having one or more progeny in the top five places in the great majority of the Classic Fino classes. On top of that, Tormento was also the National Fino Stallion Grand Champion. Tormento de la Virginia is the son of Patrimonio del 8, another of the stallions whose offspring came home with blue ribbons.

Many of these magnificent steeds are stirring up quite a buzz. For now, only time will tell if these wins will keep them as favorites for following seasons. However,  speculation is in their favor.

Click here for the Colombian National Show Results