About

ABOUT RINGSTEAD RANCHour philosophy

Breeding, Training and Showing the Peruvian Horse Is Our Passion since 1991

As one of Canada’s largest and long standing breeders of Peruvian Paso Horses, our main focus is to breed strong, well gaited horses with brio and good minds. Our Number 1 Priority and our promise to you, is to do our best to place with right horse with the right rider for a truly “Win Win” situation.

We believe it is vital to employ good people, people who not only bring with them pertinent knowledge and years of experience in the equine industry but those who share our passion for the horse. We are fortunate to have exceptional employees who take pride and ownership in the ranch and the horses we produce.

Ringstead Ranch has been Canadian High Point Breeder for
2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019

Ringstead's Breeding Programinternational bloodlines

We started by using stallions carrying the bloodlines from Peru’s top breeders, *FC Veranero bred by Fernando Ceruti and sire of National Champion of Champions in Peru. Espejo De Peru bred by Jose Risso Matellini, one of the most famous breeders of all time in Peru, MLM Magico ET++ carrying the blood of Eduardo Risso and Lucho Vasquez, RSTD Gustavio++, a son of Eduardo Risso’s famous sire ERM Espontaneo, and our newest stallion *MAA Valiente (PA) who carries the bloodlines of both Anibal and Lucho Vasquez. By combining the best bloodlines from some of the best breeders, we hope to, in turn, breed the best!

See more of our foundation breeding horses

Ringstead Maresliving & breeding as nature intended

Our brood mares are kept at our Alberta ranch on over 600 acres where they can have their foals and all run together in a herd environment. The mares we breed are either older mares retired from the show ring as champions or younger mares taken out of training and showing for a year. In Canada it is very difficult to show and have a foal from that same mare in the same season, and the cost of Embryo work is prohibitive.

The foals are imprinted at birth and are brought in from the pasture on a regular basis for trimming and halter training.

The babies grow up on the Alberta ranch until they are 2-3 years old. We continue to bring them in from the pasture on a regular basis for handling, trimming etc. At 2 years old we start working with them in the round pen teaching them to join up and learn to trust us.

Between 2 and 3 years old we move the young horses to the ranch in Chase. There the level of interaction with us is higher and we continue to do round pen work with them, handle them on a regular basis and start to put on the saddle and bozal.

At 3-4 years old we start to ride them. We try to teach the horses as much as we can in Bozal so that is usually a year long process. They should learn to bend properly, back – learn everything necessary for a good foundation of training while they are still in Bozal.

Between 4 and 5 years old we put the horses into the bit. We usually wont show horses in Bozal until they are 4, and in the bit until they are 5. Once they are settled in the bit we will start their more advanced performance training, teaching side passing, turns on the haunches etc.

DEDICATED TRAINING PROGRAMSfinding the horses best potential

If a horse is going to be doing a lot of trail work it goes back to Cayley for more training. There we have a trainer dedicated to working with the trail horses. They are exposed to traffic, crossing water, working with cows, and many other items that they could run across in a future life as a trail horse. When someone buys a horse from Ringstead, we want it to be as well suited to its future career as possible.

We believe that we are one of the only Peruvian Paso breeders in North America that sells Peruvian Pasos specifically trained for trail work, that have been worked within a dedicated trail training program.

On the west side of our ranch at Cayley we have some large grass pastures. These are dedicated to our retirement herd. These are old show horses such as the 20 yr old National Laureada mare RSTD Valencia+, or the odd horse that has sustained a career ending injury. These horses live out their lives at pasture in a herd environment and are probably the healthiest bunch of horses that you will see. At Ringstead we firmly believe that if we breed a horse we have a responsibility to try to make sure it is always cared for properly.

Learn More about Ringstead Horses for Sale

RINGSTEAD TRAINERSwe have an excellent team who trains our horses to their full potential

Pedro Cantaro has more than 30 years experience training the Peruvian Horse. Pedro starts all our horses in bozal and does the finishing in bit. Aside from being a highly skilled and experienced trainer, he is also a successful showman, having ridden many horses to National Champion of Champions in both Canada and the U.S.

Pedro Cantaro

Juan Jose Vasquez has been training horses for over 40 years. He works for the ranch part time at our Cayley AB location training Ringstead’s trail horses. He gets them used to roads and crossing water and working alone on the trail. He often uses them to check fencing and for moving our herd of cattle.

Juan Vasquez

Ringstead's Winner Circle

We attend all the Canadian shows, as well as major shows in North America, including the US Nationals. Here is a little bit more about the horses our past and present show horses.

RSTD Tobiano

geldings
Show Horses

RSTD Portia

Mares
Mares
Show Horses

RSTD Brilloso

geldings
Show Horses

RSTD Charo

Mares
Show Horses

RSTD Alelita++

Mares
Show Horses

RSTD Veranera+

Foundation
foundation mares

RSTD Madeira

Mares
Show Horses

RSTD Manolo

Horses for Sale
Show Horses

RSTD Sucesor

geldings
Show Horses

RSTD Lucero+

geldings
Show Horses

JWF Aleli+

Foundation
foundation mares

RSTD Valencia++

Foundation
foundation mares

RSTD Madonna++

Foundation
foundation mares

RDLF Don Alberto

*Foundation Stallions
Foundation

Domingo Real RM

*Foundation Stallions
Foundation

*FC Veranero

*Foundation Stallions
Foundation

Ringstead Ranch Retired Horses

At Ringstead, we feel that when we breed a horse, we have a commitment to that horse to do our best to make sure he or she lives the best and longest life possible. That is why we are so careful when we sell horses to make sure they go to the right home. Along the way though, our show and trail horses grow older, brood mares stop producing and the occasional young horse is born with some kind of problem. We feel that all of those horses are entitled to live out their lives with us and thus we have our retirement herd.

They range in age from RSTD Atlantis,who is 4 years old and was born with a club foot, to RSTD Cortez, who at 28, is a retired trail horse. After 30 years of breeding Peruvian Pasos, we presently have about 20 horses in the herd, and they live on a pasture environment at our ranch in Cayley Alberta. They graze year round, with usually just a small amount of supplemental hay in the winter. Regular worming and farrier programs are in place and we would have to say that they are probably the healthiest bunch of horses you might come across.

These horses will live out their lives with us, happy and healthy until they are ready to move on to that big green pasture in the sky.