My Aunt
Angie began breeding Peruvian Paso horses in 1965, a time when there
were less than fifty Peruvian Paso horse in the United States. She was
an internationally accredited judge of Peruvian Paso horses. She also
served as the President of the American Association of Owners and
Breeders of Peruvian Paso Horses and was the editor of the Peruvian
Horse World Magazine. As the owner of *Piloto, she was intimately
familiar with this now legendary stallion. Angie passed away in the
spring of 2006 after a long battle with cancer.
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My Ranch and this Web Site
are dedicated to Angie and her famous stallion, *Piloto
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*PILOTO: The
Legend
Written by Angie Schmidt
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Originally
appearing in the Jan./ Feb.1993 issue of:
Conquistador Magazine
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Sire:
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Sol de Oro V
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Birthdate:
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March 10, 1957
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Dam:
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Centella
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Deceased:
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October 1985
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Bred by:
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Alfredo Elias V
of Ica, Peru
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Color:
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Chestnut
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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.
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(This
photo of *Piloto with Eusebio Rodriguez Baca was taken at one of
the shows in Peru in the early 1960's)
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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 Bennett 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.
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(This
photo of *Piloto was taken shortly after his arrival at
Thunderbird Ranch.)
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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".
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(The
cover of the Peruvian Horse World Magazine, Volume 5, Number 4,
dated December-January-February, 1978-1979, featured *Piloto.)
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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.
In the living room of our retirement home in Idaho, prominently
displayed, we have a large painting of *Piloto. Every day it reminds
me of the universal dream of every horse enthusiast to own a truly
Great Horse. For me that dream has been fulfilled. |
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