California Region

CALIFORNIA PASO FINO HORSE ASSOCIATION

It was during a visit to see their friends, Ray & Winona Walton, that Herb & Suzy Sutton became captivated with the Paso Finos at the Walton’s Flint Oak Ranch. With the help of the Waltons, Charles Minter Sr., Rosalie MacWilliam, and George LaHood, the Suttons acquired a fine collection of Paso Fino champions including PFHA Foundation Sires Mar de Plata LaCE (PFHA registration #1) and Bolero LaCE (PFHA registration #2) and moved them to 230 acre Rancho Paso Bravo. It was here, in 1982, that founding members Herb & Suzy Sutton, Charles, Bonnie & Michael Minter, Rosalie MacWilliam, Vickie McQuinn and Johnny Lanier, Karen Kline and Joe Neri sparked by their passion for this breed, charted the course for our association, the California PFOBA.

Through the years the California Region has promoted the Paso Fino breed through trail rides, fun shows, clinics, competition at our regional shows and of course here at our Grand National Show. We’ve shown our Pasos in many exciting California cities-Palm Springs (Indio), Monterey, Del Mar, Santa Barbara and Ventura. We’ve held exhibitions and demo rides during Fiesta Days in old Santa Barbara, at the State Fair in Sacramento, at world-famous Santa Anita racetrack, and have shown our proud Pasos to "sell-out" crowds at the "Night of the Horse" exhibition-the kickoff to the two-week National Horse Show in Del Mar. We also have a great tradition of showing off our wonderful horses in parades. The Hollywood Christmas Parade and The Tournament of Roses Parade have given our members an unbelievable opportunity to reach a world-wide audience. CPFHA members have participated in the Rose Parade in 1987, in 1993, and 1996. Each year, one million spectators crowd Colorado Blvd. In Pasadena to see the parade-90 million viewers domestically view the parade from their homes and 350 million people world-wide have seen the Paso Fino horse in 100 countries! In the 1996 Rose Parade, Hollywood director Martha Coolidge ("Out to Sea", "Rambling Rose", "Valley Girls") put her creative skills to work and showed the world a 400 year history of the Paso Fino! From Queen Isabella and Christopher Columbus, to the Conquistadors, to a Sunday morning-going to church Puerto Rican couple.

CPFHA will continue to promote our wonderful Paso Finos whether it’s in the show ring, in parades, on competitive trail rides, or in the movies. As each of us already knows, the Paso Fino has star quality. Come visit our website at www.CPFHA.com

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