Peruvian Paso Horse Show in Washington, DC

A Peruvian Paso Horse Show celebrating Peru's Independence Day will be held at the Rancho Shaquil, Virginia, in the suburbs of Washington, DC. There will be live entertainment, Peruvian music, pony rides and delicious Peruvian food. This event is announced by the American-Peruvian Chamber of Commerce:

Peruvian Paso Horse Show

Celebrating Peru's Independence Day

Sunday July 27, 2008

Limited to only 200 guests

VIP Section: $35 per person (Front Row)
General Admission: $25 (2nd - 3rd. & 4th. Rows)
Chidren under 3: Free admission
Groups over 10: Call 202-318-1611

Get your tickets today at:
www.ticketlatino.com

Rancho Shaquil
909 Pageland Ln.
Gainesville, Virginia 20155

View map

Free Parking

The Peruvian Paso horse: a bit of history

The Peruvian Paso (step) horse or "Caballo de Paso Peruano" also know as Peruvian horse, has a beautiful and smooth walk. It is one of the few horse breeds in the world with an additional gait that occurs naturally called Paso Llano, which is a lateral four beat gait.

Chalan or Peruvian horseman riding a Peruvian horse. Unknown artist.

The Peruvian Paso descends from the horses brought from Castilla (Spain) which descend themselves from the Barb, Spanish and the Andalusian horses. Is a horse with a beautiful and smooth way of walking, which is said that resulted from the long trips through big deserts of the Peruvian Andean coast, where sandy hills and rocky creeks are briefly interrupted by vibrant, wide and prosperous valleys.

The first horse breeds were built in the Americas as soon as Columbus arrived in his 1493 trip to the Caribbean. When Francisco Pizarro invaded the Tawantinsuyu (Inca civilization) he brought along 62 horses from Jamaica and Panama. By 1542 and once the newcomers settled down in Lima and other towns of the new Viceroyalty of Peru, they imported horses directly from Central America and Spain.

Horses then were used for transportation mostly in rural areas. Especially in the northern and southern coast of Peru where enormous sugar, corn and cotton plantations flourished. In the Andes mountains, smaller horses were used for mining and cargo transportation, but llamas were used more commonly. The dry desert of the coast separates settlements and they required sturdy, strong horses. Peruvians didn't need to breed horses for the speed or agility and four centuries of breeding resulted in the modern Peruvian Paso.

In the early 1900s a decline in the use of the Peruvian Paso horse was seen in the south of Peru, after the building of highways allowed cars to replace horses, which remained in use only among poor peasants in small valleys. The haciendas of the northern coast kept using horses until the Agrarian Reform of late 1960s, when their rich owners abandoned the most important breeding operations, after the reform gave the land to poor farmers.

Around that time, Peruvian horse was introduced to the United States in the 1970s. Since then its fame has grown among American horse fanciers and people that raise horses. It is estimated that about 27.00o pure breed Peruvian Paso horses are raised here.

In Peru, the Peruvian Paso horse has made a come back in the last decades, and it's been declared a Patrimonio Cultural (Cultural Heritage) by the government of Peru, resulting in current laws that restrict the exportation of national champion horses overseas. An annual national show in Lima and other important cities have become important events in the coastal Peruvian cultural life, where Chalanes or horsemen ride the horses accompanied by local music bands that play genres as Marinera, Valse and Tondero, while people enjoy dishes of rich Peruvian food.

VIDEOS

PERUVIAN PASO HORSES IN THE US
Show in Glendale, California




PERUVIAN HORSES IN PERU
In Mamacona, Peru

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