Springfield, MA—June 25, 2001—The Paso Fino Summit, New England's first major Paso Fino Horse Show, successfully debuted at the Eastern States Exposition in Springfield, Massachusetts, June 14-17, 2001. The inaugural Summit, which was produced by La Tierra Paso Finos, one of the world’s pre-eminent breeding farms for the gaited Spanish horse, hosted 240 outstanding Paso Fino horses from across the nation competing for $35,000 in prize money.

“Our aim was to present the Paso Fino breed to the public in a fun and exciting way, and at the same time allow for quality competition among the nation’s top Paso Fino horses," said Betty Goldman, who, with her husband Stan, is the owner of La Tierra Paso Finos. "We were very pleased with the feedback we received and are already making plans to make next year's event even better."

Romantica De Altagracia took top honors at the Summit, winning the Best of Show class and the Performance Mares Champion of Champions. In other Champion of Champions competitions, Tobias Del Ocho won the Stallions category, Veronica De La Victoria won the Mares class, and Simbolo J.R. took top honors in the Performance Stallions and Amateur Owner Performance Stallions classes.

The Summit also hosted an auction of 40 Paso Fino horses. "The auction was the second most successful auction in the history of Paso Finos, second only to the Nationals," said Goldman after the event.

Paso Fino is a mixture of three European breeds – the Andalusian, the Barb and the now extinct Spanish Jennet. The ancestors of today’s Paso Fino were transported to the New World on the second voyage of Christopher Columbus. Today the Paso Fino reflects its Spanish heritage through its proud carriage, elegance and natural four-beat gait. Gait is paramount for a Paso Fino. Paso Finos can walk, canter and gallop like other horses, but their preferred way of going is their own natural four-beat lateral gait. The breed got its name from what the horse was commonly called, “Los Caballos de Paso Fino,” “the horse with the fine step.”

For more information on the Paso Fino Summit, please email info@pasofinosummit.com or visit www.pasofinosummit.com. La Tierra Paso Finos owns 85 horses that are stabled, trained and shown by Paso Fino del Fuego Farm in Middleboro, MA, which is owned by Robert Yunits and Michael Bruce. La Tierra has purchased world and national champions, as well as others with the potential to achieve the same recognition. Some of La Tierra’s mares have already produced offspring which have become National Champions. La Tierra has five mares at Colorado State University Equine Reproduction Center, for breeding. La Tierra’s goal is to produce direct sons and daughters from these mares, to perpetuate their valuable blood lines. La Tierra Paso Fino’s vision statement is to breed, compete, promote and sell Paso Finos with the finest quality, temperament, conformation and athleticism in the world. Betty and Stan want to push the quality of the breed to the level of its current standards, and beyond. They believe in preserving the best blood lines of the past and intelligently combining them with the champions of today. They are expecting 30 foals over the next several months.