Breed Welfare and Adoption

The Mission of your Paso Fino Horse Association includes the duty of its members to “protect and promote the best interests and welfare of the Paso Fino horse”.  The Ethics and Breed Welfare Committee was formed to help members honor and fulfill that duty.  

Your committee has been working hard to translate those words into actions and programs. To guide us, we created a Mission Statement for this committee: 

Guardianship through individual responsibility
Responsible ownership – responsible breeding – responsible sales –
responsible rescue – responsible adoptions

What does this mean to you? Where do you fit in as a member of PFHA and as a Paso Fino horse owner? How can you support the Mission of PFHA and the Mission of the Ethics and Breed Welfare Committee?

Let’s break it down:

• Guardianship = a position of protecting and defending something or someone.
• Individual = a single human being as distinct from a group or class.
• Responsibility = the state or fact of being responsible, answerable, or accountable for something within one’s power, control, or management.
• Guardianship + Individual + Responsibility = Each one of us holding ourselves accountable for protecting and defending our Paso Fino horses and the breed.

If you are a Paso Fino horse owner, how will you assure your horses are protected and not made to suffer? Have you thought about the future of your horse if you no longer own him or her? If you are a competitive rider or horse show exhibitor, do you have a plan for your horse when he is no longer competitive?

If you are a Paso Fino horse breeder, does your breeding program reflect and promote the best interests of the breed? Are you willing to be a guardian of your horses and the breed and be accountable for your breeding practices? How will you accomplish this?

If you are a Paso Fino horse trainer or involved in horse sales, how will you take responsibility for the guardianship of a horse you trained or sold? How will you help to protect the welfare of Paso Finos? How can you help clients understand the importance of guardianship through individual responsibility?

If you are a Paso Fino horse rescuer, what steps will you take to make sure the horses you save are saved ‘for good’ and not merely saved ‘for now’?

If you are facilitating Paso Fino horse adoptions, how do you view your role as a guardian of the horse? What steps are you taking to fulfill this role?

And, finally, what else are you able to do to demonstrate guardianship through individual responsibility? Are you aware of the charitable work of the Paso Fino Foundation, a 501 (c) 3, to support Paso Fino horse rescue and owners in need? Have you considered making a monetary donation or another type of gift to the Foundation, such as gifts of stocks and bonds, real estate, services, or an estate gift?

Guardianship through individual responsibility
Responsible ownership – responsible breeding – responsible sales –
responsible rescue – responsible adoptions