Many visitors and even some guidebooks talk about the wild horses of Vieques. In fact, these horses are not wild. They all have owners. Well, sort of.

The way it was explained to me was that if a horse upsets your garden or damages your car, that horse may very well not have an owner. On the other hand, if instead you were to take that same horse home, you can bet that its rightful owners would show up at your door demanding that you give them back their horse.

Paso Fino

Juan Ponce de Leon brought the first horses to the New World from Spain in 1509. The horses were used for conquest and colonization. Ponce de Leon took 50 horses from Puerto Rico on his search for the fountain of youth. Francisco Pizarro used horses that he bought in Puerto Rico for the conquest in South America. Gasper Troche imported horses from Puerto Rico selling them in Mexico. After a brief flirtation with gold mining, horses became the most important export in Puerto Rico.

Carlos Conde III on Diosa

The horses that were brought to Puerto Rico were a blend of Berber and Spanish breeds. Later they were mixed with other pure breeds to produce a horse well adapted to the conditions in Puerto Rico. In short, The Paso Fino is the result of 500 years of selective breeding.

In addition to their uses by the military, Paso Finos were a primary means of transportation and were also employed for working cattle. Today they are used for shows, competitions and trail riding.

Tomas on Reportera

The Paso Fino is noted for its lateral gait and its smooth ride. The rider does not bounce up and down like on most horses; the Paso Fino’s back stays level, three hooves on the ground and one in the air. The gait is instinctual, not trained. The footfall of the Paso Fino is right hind, right front, left hind, left front in a perfect four beat gait with uniform timing (isochronal) and equal strides (isometric), the hooves making the classic sound taca taca taca taca.

Paso Finos are beautiful powerful horses. They have long full forelocks and manes (melena) and their tails flow to the ground ending in a tuft called a rabo. Their hooves are extremely tough so that it is usually not necessary to shoe them.

Here on Vieques as well as in Puerto Rico, Colombia, Venezuela and the United States Paso Finos are entered into exciting competitions where they are judged for Bella Forma (Good Form), Elegance and Comfort, Good Size and Solid Color, and Andadura (speed without breaking the pure four beat taca taca taca taca gait)

Paso Finos can be very valuable. It is told that in the 1930s, President Trujillo of the Dominican Republic sent a blank check to Señor Genaro Cautiño to buy the famous Paso Fino horse called Dulce Sueño. The check was returned. Dulce Sueño was not for sale.

A Vieques Horse Story