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The Adventures & The Search Continue!
Part Five of A Series
By Dave Jones, Monticello, Florida
Credit: Paso Fino Horse World January 1996
At the Varques Finca (or "farm") where we found Hilachas and his fantastic harem, I noticed some really well built horses with "roached" manes. I whistled to myself and said, Holy Toledo! when I saw them run, slide and turn back as they were worked through the corrals. I asked about them ...
They are Criollos and are used for cattle work. The manes are roached so we can tell them from the Pasos at a glance. After looking them over, I told myself there wasn't a cowboy in the world who wouldn't be pleased as punch to have a string of such horses for daily use. If a horse could be called "cat like", these Criollos filled the bill! Yet we were after Pasos, not trotters, so I brought my thoughts back to the true objects of the trip. Eventually, we purchased just under 30 Pasos from Senior Vargas.
http://www.geocities.com/lynngallup/...mm_story5.html
http://www.geocities.com/lynngallup/classiclegacy/mm_story5.html
As we can all see, "criollo", "paseo", "penco", "chungo" are NOT pasos!
I've requested for years for those who like to repeat a romantic story about paso "cattle" horses in Colombia to point to the source from which they get their knowledge. First on pasofinos.com, then on pasopedigree.com and now here. Rather than acknowledge my request suddenly the post, thread, topic goes dead, completely static with absolutely no response for all of these folks who tell this story.
Well, I got tired of waiting and decided to do my own research. I don't like repeating stories about my breed and paso fino horses that may not be true. I don't like saying pasos on ranches in Colombia were not working cattle horses unless there's some substantiation. I don't like weaving tales about my breed that might be repeated and handed down as facts if they are not. It confuses people. It's confusing for new people trying to learn about the breed what is fiction and what is fact when opposing stories meet.
Not only are these articles available for review, the author is still alive to confirm his story and he may still have the movies of his trips to further substantiate his statements. The owner of the horses named above is also still alive and can be contacted as well. Also, there are many Colombian breeders who can verify what Dave Jones wrote is true.
Now I don't know how others go about seeking evidence, but I try to find as many independent sources as I can to develop an idea about what may be factual. So, I've got all of Dave's articles packed away, but fortunately someone else took the time to republish them. I've spoken to Dave myself about his thoughts on pasos and it hasn't changed a bit since he wrote this article. I hope to interview Phipps next year, I've spoken to many Colombian breeders and have searched as many articles written about the Colombian ranches as I can find. Another author, Jaime Jaramillo-Vallejo, Ph.D., has written an article (2001) about his boyhood days on a working ranch in Colombia. His farm is located in the NE USA. I also hope to contact him concerning some statements in his article as well. So far, not one piece of evidence deviates from the Dave Jones' statements above.
My dismay and embarrasment in this matter is not about whether the story was true or not but the unwillingness of the story tellers to be transparent about their sources of information. In all the years of me asking using various tactics from the most respectful to downright insulting, no one would ever come forward with their source of information. Not only were the stories tellers unwilling but then would begin personal attacks on anyone, not just me, who would dare question their story. The same story tellers would then fabricate accusations of prejudice against anyone who would not believe their stories. The same story tellers would conveniently pick up phrases completely out of context, reweave the same story to be used at their discretion. I suspect why this may be, but I'd rather quit speculating and just put an end to such practices.
Our breed suffers from the lack of transparency and the lack of legitmacy. As a result, any new members to our breed have no sound foundation on which to base their decisions. When history is purposefully altered to satisfy personal agendas rather than to educate, it also blemishes everything involved in the industry from the horse to the people to any related activities. Again, I suspect why this may be, but let's just leave it that after almost 10 years of trying to get just one story teller to reveal his original source of infomation, I've lost my tolerance for manufactured half-truths.
Since no one is willing to admit where they got their information from it leaves little choice but to assume they are the originators themselves. Again, I have doubts about this, but whatever or whomever is being protected I can only assume it's for misguided reasons. Rather than have an open dialogue in an atmosphere of learning, we have degraded to purposeful creations designed to keep our members divided weakening our ability to focus on larger matters at hand.
My goal, as uninvited as it is here, to systematically confront each and every one of these historical claims or convenient diversions and begin authenticating the honest character of the paso fino horse. Only in this way can we build a sound foundation to make good decisions in our breed.
As a postscript, it has not gone unnoticed the pattern of these stories or phrases were designed along certain cultural standards where it could be easily misinterpreted or miscommunicated or embellished when handed down to the next person. My suggestion for anyone new to the breed is to ask the story teller for their source of information when conflicting information is shared. I know I do and have always done so when it comes to an investment as important as this one is.
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