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Piloto
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LEGEND IN THE HISTORY
OF THE Peruvian Paso bREED
"His name is prominent in the
bloodlines of almost every US National Champion horse since
1973."
PILOTO: The Legend
Written by Angie Schmidt
Originally appearing in the
Jan./ Feb.1993 issue of Conquistador Magazine
 In the world of Peruvian Paso horses,
wherever breeders or aficionados gather to discuss famous stallions/
there is always agreement on one special horse - *Piloto. He is
truly a legend in the recent history of the breed. For over thirty
years *Piloto and his line have been an important part of modern
foundation stock for successful breeders here in the United States
and in Peru.
Piloto was born in Ica, Peru in 1957.
Piloto's future as a prepotent sire was no accident of nature. He
was royally bred. His sire, Sol de Oro (V) is the most important
stallion in the modern history of the Peruvian Paso horse. Every
National Champion of Champions Stallion in Peru since 1961 has
carried his blood and his name is prominent in the bloodlines of
almost every US National Champion horse since 1973.
Centella, the dam of Piloto also has a record of having produced top
prize winners. Her famous son Laurel was the 1969 Champion of
Champions stallion in Peru. Other Champion offspring from Centella
include Sol y Luna and *Destello to name a few.
Until he was one year old, *Piloto was owned by the pilot Javier
Elias, thus his name. He was given to Javier's brother Alfredo Elias
who kept the horse for the next five years. Sr. Elias eventually
sold *Piloto to Sr. Jose Antonio Onrubia who took him to Piura in
the extreme north of Peru. During his years with Sr. Elias, *Piloto
had accumulated a very respectable show record. He had won a first
place in the National halter competition in 1959 and the first place
in bozal at the National Show in 1960. He was the Southern Regional
Champion Stallion in 1960 and the National Reserve Champion Stallion
in 1961.
When Sr. Onrubia purchased the horse, *Piloto had gained the
reputation of being very difficult to handle. The difficult task of
re-training the stallion was given to Eusebio Rodriguez, then
Maestro Trainer at Sr. Onrubia's ranch. Eusebio's patient efforts
and persistence were rewarded in 1965 with *Piloto winning the
Champion of Champions title at the Northern Regional Show and in
1967 when he was crowned the Best Gaited Horse at the National Show
in Lima. That same year, *Piloto's get won the much coveted Get of
Sire award, an early manifestation of things yet to come.
It is *Piloto's impressive record as a sire of Champion horses that
has made him a true legend. It all began in Peru in 1965 when his
first son, *Mantequilla, was crowned National Champion of Champions
.Stallion and his daughter Pirigalla became the National Reserve
Champion Mare. In 1968 one of his son's, JOR Don Juan, was honored
as the horse of the year.
For twenty seven years his sons and daughters and their offspring
have been and still are continuing their winning ways in the show
ring. This year his son Co-Piloto TB won the coveted Harry Bennet
Award of the American Association of Owners and Breeders of Peruvian
Paso Horses, honoring the horse that accumulates the most points
during the whole, show season. The prizes won by *Piloto's progeny
are far too many to list. Therefore, we will devote this writing to
his story.
In 1969, while *Piloto's reputation was spreading throughout Peru,
the breed was becoming very popular in the United States. At
Thunderbird ranch, after five years of breeding Peruvian horses, we
realized that it was imperative to obtain a superior breeding
stallion. The search began. With the advice and help of two good
friends, Eusebio Rodriguez and Verne Albright, we decided to start
at the top with the best known stallions in Peru. Our first choice
was Sol de Oro I (V), and second on the list was his best known son,
*Piloto. Our offer to purchase Sol de Oro (V) was graciously refused
by his owner, Alfredo Elias who was concerned that the old
horse could not take the strain of export and that,at the age of 25,
he might no longer be a sound breeder.
The offer was then made for *Piloto. Due to the serious political
situation in Peru at the time, along with the Agrarian Reform in
progress, the offer was accepted by his owner, Sr. Jose Antonio
Onrubia.
The negotiations to get *Piloto out of Peru continued for two long
years. The Peruvian Horse breeders had heard rumors that the great
stallion might be leaving for the United States. Understandably,
they considered this bad news for their beloved National Horse and
attempts were made to try to prevent the exportation. I was told
many years later by my good friend Ernesto "Tito" Carozzi that Mr.
Onrubia was under tremendous pressure from his peers to cancel the
sale. But Sr. Onrubia, being a man of utmost integrity, told them "I
gave my word," and he honored the agreement. Frustrated, the
Peruvian Breeders Association tried another avenue to prevent *Piloto
from leaving Peru. They determined that the export of any Champion
Horse must have prior approval since they considered their horses to
be "National Treasures".
Knowing that it would be impossible for *Piloto to leave Peru via
the conventional route through the airport in Lima, it was necessary
to make other arrangements to get him out of the country. In April
of 1972, while most of the Peruvian breeders were enjoying the
competition at their National Show in Lima, *Piloto was loaded into
a truck heading North from Piura towards Ecuador. It was a long
overland trek and at one particular border check point it appeared
that the plan was doomed. Would the horse have to be returned to
Peru? A military guard at the checkpoint had recognized that *Piloto
was, in the guards own words, "a very good Peruvian Paso horse" and
thought he might have been stolen. After some anxious moments the
guard was convinced otherwise and he allowed the truck to pass
through.
Finally, three weeks after leaving Peru, *Piloto was loaded onto an
airplane in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and was on his way to his new home
in the United States. He was now 15 years old. Many years later my
Peruvian friends told me about the considerable ill feelings towards
us and the manner in which *Piloto had been taken out of Peru.
However, many of them later agreed that the decision to sell and
ship *Piloto to the United States had been the right one as it would
certainly help establish the Peruvian horse in the United States,
creating a market that presented the future of the breed.
Six years after his arrival in the United States, *Piloto
established a show record that many believe will never be
duplicated. In October 1978 I was in Lima, Peru, attending the
XXXIII National Show. The competition had lasted four full days and
more than 3000 people attended the official presentation of the
trophies and a special showing of all the winning horses. A very
prestigious award was presented to the stallion who had sired the
horses that together had accumulated the most prize winning points.
One of these horses was the *Piloto son, and National Champion
stallion, JOR Maximiliano. I will never forget my excitement and
feeling of great pride when the trophy was awarded to *Piloto and
presented to me.
Back in the United States *Piloto was building up an unbelievable
record of success. During that show season, he won every Get of Sire
class in all the American Association approved shows. At the U.S.
National Show his sons and daughters, riding as four entries of
three horses each, won the first, second, third and fifth places in
the Get of Sire Class. All these awards in one year. He was now 21
years old and his progeny had won over thirty Champion and Reserve
Championships. He also was the sire of eleven horses out of the top
thirty Hall of Fame Award winners. Among them were the great mares
Andina, Perfidia, Esterlina de Oro, Victoriosa MSR and Cleopatra
III. He was considered by most to be the leading Peruvian Paso sire
in the world.
*Piloto's reputation as a breeding stallion is a matter of record
but his personality was often misjudged and not understood well. He
was extremely aloof even after many years of close association with
people round him. He was easy to handle and would not pull, shy or
show any vices. He never seemed to enjoy human contact and did not
like to be touched although he accepted to be groomed. He was a
gentle breeder and very calm with his mares. Standing carriage gave
the impression that he was much taller. His conformation was
outstanding and met all the criteria of the breed standard. But his
most famous, and I might add, most misunderstood characteristic, was
his tremendous brio. Even today, people who never saw him talk of
this trait with admiration. Brio has become the trademark of horses
with *Piloto blood. Verne Albright best describes *Piloto's brio in
his article which was published in the Peruvian Horse World Review
in 1973. During the photo session *Piloto was saddled and Verne was
holding him by the lead line, while our trainer at the time, Nicanor
"Nicky" Juarez swung himself into the saddle. "I will never for get
it as long as I live", Verne said. "When Nicky hit that saddle, his
smile disappeared and a look of concern came over him. *Piloto began
to tremble in anticipation - he had not been Ridden for over four
years - and Nicky looked at me and said: "Don't let go of him!" The
horse had not done anything except tremble, and I have seen Nicky
ride horses that did much worse than that. But when he felt that
great, powerful body beneath him and when he felt the pure energy in
the horse, his confidence left him for a moment. *Piloto,
incidentally, minded his manners perfectly and after Nicky had
ridden him for a while nobody could talk him off the horse". "I have
never ridden a horse like him," Nicky said. "He really deserves to
be called a Great Horse".
In 1983, at the age of 26,
*Piloto serviced his last mare. The final chapter in a long
career came to a close. The following year his last son was
born. I named him appropriately "Legado de *Piloto" - the
legacy of *Piloto. *Piloto died in Texas in 1985 at the age
of 28 but he surely continues to roam among the best.
More
about the Peruvian Pasos - history, bloodlines, their
gait, termino and brio
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