Weekend contests posture Paso Finos as winning breed

Stefanie Frith

COSTA MESA -- Helen Wright prayed she would win Vicky, a 1

1/2-year-old Paso Fino filly, at the Fiesta de Paso Fino horse show and

competition that took place at the Orange County Fairgrounds this

weekend.

On Sunday, she did.

“Last night, Saturday, I prayed and wrote a note that said, ‘Oh please

let me win her,’ and I put it under my pillow,” said Helen, who

celebrated her 11th birthday Saturday. “I just love this horse.”

George Aguel, a Paso Fino horse trainer, owner and breeder who donated

Vicky, said he’s happy the horse went to a young rider, because he and

the association want to promote Paso Finos among the younger crowd.

“Those who have Paso Finos, well, we are a family,” said Aguel, who

lives in Acton. “The horses, they just have such a great temperament and

are so willing to work.”

Members of the California Paso Fino Horse Assn., which hosted the show

in which about 65 riders competed each day, said one of the main reasons

the association stages about six shows throughout the country each year

is because they want to promote the Paso Fino, which is a naturally

smooth gaited horse and one of the oldest horse breeds in the Western

Hemisphere, experts say. The name Paso Fino is Spanish for “fine step.”

Kim Ridley, 15, of Malibu said she had wanted a trail horse, but after

she rode Baronesa del Cardo, a 4-year-old Paso Fino from film director

Martha Coolidge’s ranch, she knew that she had to start competing.

“It was such a smooth ride,” said Kim, who won the High Point Youth

competition for the 13- to 18-year-old age group. “I have been riding for

years and never thought I would ride something other than the jumpers

that I used to have.”

Coolidge, though, knew she had always wanted a horse, she just didn’t

know when it would happen with her busy career, she said.

“It just happened that I asked someone to donate something to my son’s

preschool auction, and they donated a Paso Fino,” said Coolidge, who has

directed such films as “Angie,” “Out to Sea,” “Introducing Dorothy

Dandridge” and “If These Walls Could Talk II.” “So I decided to buy the

horse and when I got on, it was just amazing. After that, I bought a

ranch and now I have 26 Paso Finos. You couldn’t ask for a better horse.”