11/17/2025
The Puerto Rican Paso Fino is an endangered breed. That is a fact. It might not be at the levels of other species, where there are fewer than a hundred specimens alive. But the “threatened” and “critical” labels are warning calls to action. We must conserve the breed now, and this requires all Puerto Rican Paso Fino owners, breeders, trainers, and enthusiasts to become involved.
For several years, we have been under the assumption that there are about 2,400 horses left—2,000 on the island and 400 on the mainland. That was the consensus. But as we have been revising our estimates, we have found that the numbers might be much lower than we thought. For example, a recent count shows that we have fewer than 300 left on the mainland. That is about 25% less than our previous estimates. On the island, a recent count of the breeding farms shows that there are fewer than five “large” breeders (those that produced 8 or more foals annually); the others have stopped breeding or have reduced considerably. The breed is being kept alive by small breeders and people who own a couple of mares and breed them occasionally. The current estimate puts the number of horses on the island between 1,500 and 1,800.
When talking about conservation, the first thing that comes to mind is that we must increase the number of horses. It is true: we need more foals on the ground each year. But to do that, we need new people to buy them. The PPR Paso Fino community is too small. That is the reason the breeders have disappeared or have reduced; they don't have anyone to sell their horses to. And, if you have an inventory of foals and no one to buy them, you have to sell them cheaply. In most instances, it costs more to produce a foal than what you will sell it for. The value of the breed has gone down considerably. Our horses are worth less now than they were in the 1970s. This is Economy 101—supply and demand.
So, to produce more foals, we need to create a market for them. To my friends on the island, please wake up! Traditional competitions are not the way to bring new people in. There are too many shows, too many classes, and they are all the same. New people, when they get to a show, become bored. It is said that the grass always seems greener on the other side of the fence... Purists have been imitating what the other Paso people are doing “on the other side of the fence” for too long. It is time to be creative; you need to reinvent the sport and create new venues. You need to grow the breed beyond the sport.
Hence, the first goal is to increase the number of foals by creating new markets and new owners. What else could we do? The second goal is to increase the genetic diversification: we need to make open crosses to improve the genetic health of the breed.
It is a fact that the Puerto Rican Paso Fino is too in**ed. The first official registry began in 1943 with a limited group of horses, most of which were descendants of Dulce Sueño. Then, when one line became fashionable, we kept inbreeding to that line. We did it with Kofresí, Labriego, and Lord. Once in a while, a horse with open lines appears, and then we use him until that line is no longer “open.” That is what happened with Linaje. In the meantime, other lines disappeared because people only bred to the fad horses.
At this moment, on the island, almost all stallions come from one of four lines: Labriego, Lord, Linaje, and Réplica. The little diversity left is due to a few mares, but they are a cross away from disappearing because, for sure, they will be bred to a stallion of those four lines. The only available option for seeking genetic diversity on the island is to breed to the horses on the mainland, which carry lines that no longer exist in Puerto Rico.
On the mainland, the number of available lines has decreased considerably because, for many years, breeders did not breed. Older horses died without leaving younger stock to replace them. Besides, there is a new tendency among American breeders to get stock in Puerto Rico to open lines. This brings us to the third goal: the preservation of lines.
It is important to gain genetic diversity. The reason we are still able to do it is because we have a few small clusters where lines have been preserved in a relatively “pure” form. For example, the mainland could be considered a cluster of open lines to the breeders in Puerto Rico. Also, the horses in Oregon are open-line horses for the breeders on the East Coast, and vice versa. But beware: if we cross indiscriminately between the clusters, we will end up with just one big line spread across the entire continent.
How do we avoid or how do we deal with this? Breeders need to make open crosses to gain genetic diversity, but they also need to make crosses to conserve the important lines in their purest state. That way, in the future, other breeders will have those lines available to them.
Let me illustrate this with an example. My line is based in Réplica de Majestuoso, and I am planning crosses with other lines to get genetic diversity. But Toñita, one of my mares that is not from the Réplica line, is linebred to the Alicante line. I plan to breed Toñita to another stallion from the Alicante line to conserve that bloodline alive. By doing this, I ensure the little sprout I have from Alicante won’t get diluted and lost in my other crosses.
There are modern ways to preserve these limited lines, such as the preservation of semen or oocytes from important stallions and mares. But these are expensive ways to do it, and if the value of our horses doesn't increase to reasonable levels, then it won't be cost-effective.
There is another angle when we talk about preservation. We just said it is important to preserve rare or exceptional lines, but it is equally critical to preserve traits. Betty Finke, a recognized Arabian horse breeder, once said that “preservation shouldn’t be about preserving straight pedigrees, but about preserving those qualities the bloodlines were famous for.”
For example, to preserve the line of Réplica de Majestuoso, you need to do it with horses that exemplify Réplica’s beauty. If you are looking to preserve Brujo de Kofresí, Alicante, Cuentas Claras, or any other particular bloodline, you need to use horses that have the traits that line is known for. Otherwise, you will only be preserving names on a piece of paper.
We need to start talking about the endangered status of our breed and the things we are doing, as individual breeders and at the organizational level, to conserve it. Also, we need to acknowledge the things we have been doing wrong and the things we need to change or improve.
On the island, forget about breeding to win a ribbon. The breed needs horses with a larger size, good conformation, natural gait, and good temperament. Horses like these can win your ribbon, but will also be able to excel outside the show ring and will have gained in overall value. On the mainland, give more attention to the Fino gait. Fino horses can also go on the trail and do the Corto and Largo gaits if you train them to do so. You love versatility. I understand. I also do. But a versatile Puerto Rican Paso Fino without its trademark Fino gait is just another versatile horse.
We must make other people fall in love with our breed. We must increase the number of horses. We must breed to gain diversity, and we also need to breed to preserve bloodlines and traits that are important. If we don’t do this, then who will? We still have enough resources to act. But the window is closing, and the way we are breeding and acting, these resources won’t last for long.
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Batallita (Batalla x Mejorana), ridden by his breeder and owner, Francisco “Pancho” Gelpí. Photo of the Linda York collection, shared by Denisse Cancel.
