Megan Weiss Equestrian

I recently traveled to Peru to explore one of the wonders of the world, Machu Picchu. On the fourth night of my trek, I stayed at the lodge Sol y Luna, located in the city of Urubamba in the Sacred Valley. The hotel just so happened to have one of the top equestrian facilities in Peru. Instead of continuing on the trek the next day, I decided to go explore the beauty and culture of the Peruvian Paso Horse.

Until then, I did not know much about the Peruvian Paso breed. Like many things in South America, the horse arrived in Peru during the Spanish Conquest, tracing their ancestry back to the famous Spanish Andalusian war horses. Originally the breed was used in Peru as a working horse to transport crops from plantations. The Peruvian Paso has a smooth gait and good endurance, making them ideal for long journeys. Over time, breeders in Peru started selectively breeding the horses for their gait, conformation, and temperament, to produce a strong sturdy horse for comfort. A unique trait of the Peruvian Paso gait is “termino” - an outward swinging leg action, originating from the shoulder, in which the front lower legs roll to the outside during the stride forward. Today the horses are shown in performances, demonstrating the elegance of their lifting and gentle gait to the rhythm of the Marinera, an emblematic Peruvian Dance.

Everyday the Sol y Luna has a 35 minute show on the greens outside of their restaurant, demonstrating the Marinera on four of their top Peruvian Paso stallions. The show is led by their star rider Felix, and three of his brothers. During the show the horses dance in formation to Peruvian music. I arrived at the show early, to get a front row seat to the incredible display of the horse's ability to preform, and showoff their gaits.

**Felix and his brothers preforming the Marinera dance**

After the show, I visited the barn to introduce myself to Felix, and meet his beautiful stallions. Felix's English consisted of saying "hello", and my Spanish consisted of saying "buenos dias". Even with our language barrier, Felix and I hit it off, and he offered me to ride his prized stallion. Right from the start I could feel the difference in the gait of the Paso. They are not tall horses, but have a lot of spring to their stride. The Paso's trot was easy to sit, and their canter felt like I was floating. After about 5 minutes of riding the horse around in the field, Felix galloped up to me on one of the other stallions, halted, and had his horse rear straight up in the air. The rearing position is called a Pesade, a classical dressage movement where the horse stands on the hind legs with the forelegs in the air. Through demonstration, Felix showed me how to balance my horse with no resistance, and ask the horse to levitate off the ground. Within minutes I was preforming a Pesade. Although my Pesade was not quit at the caliber of a classical dressage movement, it was an amazing experience, and such an unexpected surprise to be able to ride the horse and preform a highlevel movement. Felix and I ended the day with a peaceful trail ride around the beautiful Urubana River.