His name is Nicholas Antonio Burgos, age 54 who currently lives in Kempton Pennsylvania but was born in Reading Pa. We are featuring him this month due to his love for a Spanish special horse called Paso Fino.
What does Paso Fino mean? It means it’s a horse with a fine step. Everyone likes to claim the Paso Fino horse as originating from their country or island but that’s not relevant. These horses shine wherever they go. Everyone used them many times to work on farms. But what makes this breed so unique is their gait which is totally natural and exhibited right from birth. It is an evenly spaced four-beat lateral gait with each foot contacting the ground independently in a regular sequence at precise intervals creating a rapid, unbroken rhythm. Their height is range from 13-15.2 hands height and weight between 650-900 pounds.
When 9 years old, he went to a camp called Conrad Weiser it is there where he first fell in love with horses. At the age of 14, he started working on a horse farm learning how to ride and take of horses. It was a few years later he went to visit a Paso Fino farm called Fieldstone Meadows in Red Lion, Pennsylvania when he purchased his first Paso Fino horse. It was a baby but with the guidance of the trainer James Laird and attending many clinics, he learned how to train the Paso Fino horse.
He has been named trainer many times for Mason Dixon Paso Fino Horse Association. He has won many national and grand national championships. He is also a certified judge with the Paso Fino Horse Association and the United States Equestrian Federation. He helps others achieve their goals by training their horses and them to be the best team they can be. One of his biggest joys was to watch a youth he taught how to ride win 3 nationals, 2 reserve championships, and 1 grand national championship on three different horses he trained.
He tells us that “When you feel love and passion for what you do, you don’t feel that it’s a full or part-time job, it’s more like a hobby or lifestyle.” If you like to find more information on the Paso Fino horse, you can visit PFHA.ORG.
Rosa Julia Parra
Palo Magazine
