SOUTHERN BLOODLINES 
 
In essence there were two foundation bloodlines in the South, Cansino and De Gregory. The Casino family was from Palpa, near Nazca, and they had a breeding program of such excellence that it provided most of the basic bloodstock for the three most important breeders in the South, Pedro Cabrera, Gustavo de la Borda and - later- Alfredo Elias. The early National Championship shows in Peru were dominated by horses from the North. Horse breeding had been severely curtailed in the South when the highways were built and horse were no longer the most important means of transportation. Most of the land holding in the South were small and could be worked with few or no horses in sharp contrast to the giant sugar cane and cotton plantations in the North where many horses continued to be bred. When horse breeding in the South began to make a comeback, stimulated by the National Championship Shows, the first Southern breeder to enjoy renown was Pedro Cabrera. Cabrera started with a Cansino stallion named Elegante (not to be confused with the Cayalti horse of the same name). Elegante was a son of El Quemado and Rosa Elvira, and he sired Sol Brillante, the sire of Peschiera's Brillantina (Peru 180-M); Terciopelo, the sire of National Reserve Champion Acertijo (Peru 92-S); Iqueño; and Señoron, Peru's National Champion of Champions in 1956 and 1958. Señoron left few offspring, but at least two had careers at stud, Pensamiento (Peru 337-S) and Ilustre (Peru 48-S). the sire of Manuel Mazzi's Eminente (Peru 308-S).

A Cansino mare named La Cueto (Peru 144-M) - sometimes referred to as Faraona - was one of the most important foundation dams in the South., her offspring include Terciopelo; Sol Brillante; Picasol (Peru 85-S); Faraon (Peru 41-S), who was second to *Mantequilla in the national show in Lima in 1965; and Lancero (Peru 365-S) of Anibal Vasquez - not the Casa Grande horse of the same name.
Most of the great broodmares that established Gustavo de la Borda as one of if not the greatest breeders of all time were of the Cansino breeding. Among those was Centella, the dam of *Piloto (S721179), one of the all time great sires and a highly successful show horse in Peru; *Laurel (S741475), 1969 National Champion of Champions in Peru; *Destello (S71908); and Sol Y Luna. Sultana was another Cansino mare, and two of her produce are among the all time greats; Caramelo (Peru 22-S) and Regional (Peru 285-S). Sultana was also the dam of Saraja (Peru 147-M). Saraja in her turn produce Princesa, the dam of AEV Zingara (Peru 1301-M); *Parcona (M721027): *Diadema de Elias (M70817), the subject of the cover story in this issue and the dam of several important show horses such as 1976 US National Champion of Champions *Dante (S71966) and 1975 Peruvian National Champion stallion Cascabel (the chestnut horse of Alfredo Elias - not to be confused with the palomino horse owned by Fernando Grana which is registered as Cascabel de Huando - Peru 292-S).

Sultana was also the dam of *Gacela (M721033); Herodes (Peru 281-S); and Alteza, a full sister of Caramelo, owned by Alfredo Elias..... among others. There has been some confusion about the origins of Sultana, some of which was caused by my book, The blue book of Peruvian Paso Bloodlines. There were many, many mares named Sultana, which caused much of this confusion. The Sultana that is described in the preceding lines belong to Gustavo de la Borda and later to Alfredo Elias. She was not a daughter of Carnaval; as many people believe and as The Blue Book of Peruvian Paso Bloodlines mistakenly states. She was a Cansino mare of Southern Blood without North influence.

Gustavo de la Borda was to the South what Federico de la Torre Ugarte has been to the North, the creator of the breeding program which produced most of the basic foundation breeding animals in his region of Peru. You will not often see either of these men's names listed as the owners of Peru's National show winners, but they have provided the blood stock that produced an incredible number of major show winners. They were like generals in a great battle. They viewed the show ring wars from afar, leaving the actual struggle to the field commanders who had inherited their blood. Each one watched as the battle raged and as his empire increased in size until one controlled the North and one controlled the South. Then - as was historically inevitable - they clashed.

The Southern bloodlines of Gustavo de la Borda marched to Lima to do battle with the Northern bloodlines of Torre Ugarte, which had dominated national competition for nearly a decade and a half. It was a battle that - when waged on paper - figured to be a long, drawn-out struggle. But in reality, the end was swift and decisive. There had never been a bloodline such as had been established by Gustavo de la Borda, and the battle was a near rout. Northern mares continued to make invaluable contributions to the breed; but the important stallions have been basically Southern since the early 1960's. Within two years, an entire era of horse breeding was replaced by another. All of this was made possible by a single horse, Sol de Oro (V). So much has been written about Sol de Oro (V) that it scarcely seems necessary to say more. he is the most important Peruvian Paso sire in modern history. Every National Champion of Champions stallion in Peru since 1961 has carried his blood, and his blood flows in the veins of every US National Champion of Champions stallion since 1978. The names of Sol de Oro (V)'s famous offspring would fill the pages..... to name a few of the more outstanding: El Cid (Peru 75-S), *Piloto (S721179), Caramelo (Peru 22-S), *Cleopatra II de Pucala (M71897). *Sol de Oro CRR+ (S69735), *Su Señoria (S71905), Sol de Oro J (J) (Peru 82-S), Cascabel de Elias, Picasol (Peru 85-S), and *Estrellita del Sur+ (M69731). Regional (Peru 287-S) is also registered as his son. In a career at stud which is only just beginning, Regional has sired *Dante (S71966) and both of the 19076 National Reserve Champions in Peru, Amigo and Regina.

Essentially de la Borda began with a select collection of Cansino mares and with Sol de Oro (V), who was discovered in the network of Andean canyons known as the quebradas de Nazca. Until recent years, nothing whatever was known about the origins of Sol de Oro (V), but it now appears that Fito Matellini has discovered that his breeder was a man named De Gregory, who was a dominant breeder from one of the Nazca canyons known as the quebrada de Otoca. The mixture of the De Gregory and Cansino blood produced pure Southern horses of great quality and prepotency. One such horse was Caramelo (Peru 22-S), a three times National Champion of Champions in Peru, whose offspring include *Laurel (S741475), 1969 Peruvian Champion of Champions; *Destello (S71908); Cascabel de Huando (Peru 292-S), Peru's Champion of Champions in 1975 and 1976; *Hercules (S721122), 1972 US National Champion of Champions' *Lancero (Peru 365-S), who is not to be confused with the Casa Grande horse of the same name Gitana de Huando (Peru 572-M), three times National Champion of Champions in Peru; Alhaja (Peru 609-M), 1971 National Champion in Peru; Gama (Peru 632-M), 1970 National Champion in Peru; *Altivo (S68669), winner of several US National Champion of Champions awards; and Lider (Peru 145-S), the sire of three time Peruvian National Champions of Champions gelding, *Zabache (G761794).

Another such pure Southern horse was *Piloto (S721179), who can count among his offspring Chilco (Peru 99-S); Prestigio (Peru 295-S), the sire of Sol de Paijan; *Don Juan (S771866), Horse of the Year, Peru, 1968; *Mantequilla (S69784), 1965 National Champion of Champions in Peru; Pirigalla (Peru 261-M), National Reserve Champion mare in Peru, 1965; *Perfidia (M71895), US National Champion of Champions mare in 1975; *Piloto II (G71892), 1974 US National Champion Gelding; and both the US National and Reserve Champion Junior stallions as well as he US National Champion and Reserve Champions Junior mares in 1976.

The master field general representing the de la Borda line in the show ring competition was Alfredo Elias of Ica, who has been, during the past fifteen years, the most successful breeder in national competition. Elias' success was due in equal parts to the excellence of the horses he received from de la Borda and to his own canny breeding program. Much of Elias' blood spread to two of his neighbor's in Ica, Hugo Nieto and Hugo Gotuzzo, and it was Elias' show ring success and subsequent generosity in loaning his stallions that spread Southern blood - especially that of Sol de Oro (V) - throughout the length and breadth of Peru, resulting in the upgrading of the entire breed.

There is little need to say more about Southern bloodlines. They have been studied under a magnifying glass for several years by almost every serious breeder of Peruvian horses in both Peru and the United States. Fernando Peschiera is also considered a Southern breeder because of the great influence that Sol de Oro (V) and a few of the Cabrera stallions had on his breeding program, but his bloodlines were discussed under "Northern Bloodlines" because of the profound Northern contribution to his breeding program. Eduardo Rizzo Patron had a brief breeding career in Cañete in Southern Peru. he amassed some of the finest mares available and bought such stallions as Palomino Alazan. Oro y Plata (Peru 17-S), Coral (Peru 86-S), and Sol de Oro (J) (Peru 82-S). Sol de Oro (J) produced such horses as Flor de Oro (Peru 262-M) and Solidario (Peru 283-S). Solidario passed into the hands of Samuel Gleiser in Chepen and sired one of the finest show mares currently in Peru, Solidaria, who was recently sold to Jose Antonio Onrubia. After an all too brief time, economic reverses drove Rizo Patron from the breeding business, and Sol de Oro (J) passed into the hands of "Pepe" Risso of Lima where he continued to sire offspring that did well in national competition. 



This Third Edition has been Expanded to 432 Pages. Information has been added on bloodlines, training, famous horses and famous personalities in the breed. It contains a complete list (including 1993) of Champions and Champion of Champions at the National Shows in the U.S. and Peru. A beautiful 8 1/2 x 11" collector's quality book containing many outstanding color photographs. This classic book has been unavailable ever since the second edition sold out over a decade ago! Perfect for gift-giving - sure to become a collector's item! To place your order visit the Home Page If you have enjoyed reading these articles
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