Carlos Ochoa
A very close relative of don Fabio Ochoa, don Carlos Ochoa, was one of the most important breeders of the first half of the past century. He was born in Salgar, Antioquia, in the midst of a very poor family. His working life began at don Abelardo, don Fabio’s grandfather, Ochoa’s farm, where he performed humble tasks such as milking cows and selling their milk from farm to farm. He learned how to tame mules very soon and when they saw his potential as a horse tamer and trainer the Ochoa’s gave him his very first horses, with which he began his career. After getting married, he moved to live in Popayan, where he built up a good business trading livestock, mules, horses and farms.
It’s in this city where he establishes his breeding farm, taking there selected stallions and mares bought in Antioquia. Among these was Gaucho, who along with La Cabinera and La Oka, produced extraordinary horses that we can find in the bloodlines of the great ones of today. Some of them were Guala, Resorte III’s dam; Desvelo, Castalia I, La Divina, La Celosa, La Sombra, La Tuerta; Caribe, Chucuano’s sire and Plebeyo’s grandsire, Soberano, El Conde and El Negro. He took Plumaje, Bochica’s grandsire and Patrimonio del 8’s great grandsire, to El Cauca.
Carlos Ochoa was one of the breeders who better knew horses and the techniques on how to select, cross, breed and train them and his contribution to the formation of the Paso Fino Colombiano breed is a very important one. As a curious fact, when he saw the genetical compatibility of Gaucho and Cabinera he crossed them several times, producing excellent offspring.
Don Carlos Ochoa died in Popayan in 1970.
I’m glad I could be useful to you, sincerely yours.
Carlos Zambrano Ulloa
Notes: This short article only starts to scratch the surface of the importance of the famous Paso Fino breeder Carlos Ochoa. When I started studying pedigrees I had no idea who Carlos Ochoa was and the important role that he would ultimately play in the history of the Paso Fino horse of today. As I studied the X factor theory I started noticing certain horses that kept showing up in the pedigrees of the best Paso Fino Stallions and Mares on their X factor trail. Certainly this was important, it was a hidden secret in the way that you view a pedigree. But then I learned quite by accident that the majority of these horses were either owned or bred by one person and that was person was Carlos Ochoa.
Who was Carlos Ochoa anyway? I had never heard of Carlos Ochoa but he was mentioned by Fabio Ochoa in his books again just a short mention of him for the importance that he should receive. Carlos Ochoa in my opinion is the Fredrico Tesio (a famous breeder of thoroughbreds who at any given time only had about 20 horses but yet today the horses that he bred are in the pedigrees of most all the famous race horses) of the Paso Fino breed.
Why has Carlos Ochoa not been given more credit? I suspect it is because he didn’t own a famous show horse or stallion during his time and that his horses only showed up many years later in the pedigrees of the mothers of the famous stallions and mares. And the tendency is to only give credit to the stallion of the day and not his mother or her lines. But just like Secretariat, the famous Thoroughbred winner who never produced a colt as good as himself, who shows up in the dam’s pedigrees of many superior racing offspring so do the stallions and mares that Carlos Ochoa bred. And then in the early 2000′s a student of Paso Fino pedigrees in a far away country of the USA, myself, discovered this little known secret and has been trying to finally give Carlos Ochoa the credit that he so justly deserves.
So when you hear the old famous horse names such as Gaucho, Desvelo, Cerezo, Anfitrion, La Guala, Resorte III, Venus, Plumaje, La Cabinera, La Celosa, La Oka, Caribe, Cometa, etc ( horses that I grouped together and cointed the term the "Desvelo Factor" ) you will immediately recognize the horses of Carlos Ochoa.
Muchos Gracias Carlos Ochoa for what you have given to the Paso Fino world and may many people come to know your name.
PasoPedigree.com
Spanish Version
Carlos Ochoa
Familiar muy cercano de don Fabio Ochoa, don CARLOS OCHOA fue uno de los criadores mas importantes de la primera mitad del siglo pasado. Nació en Salgar
(Antioquia)en una familia muy pobre. Su vida de trabajo comenzó en la finca de don Abelardo Ochoa, abuelo de don Fabio, en donde desempeñó oficios humildes como ordeñador y vendedor de leche a domicilio. Muy pronto aprendió a amansar mulares. Cuando vieron en él su potencial como amansador y arrendador de caballos, le entregaron los Ochoa sus primeros ejemplares, con los cuales comenzó su carrera. Despues de contraer matrimonio, se fue a vivir a Popayán, en donde hizo un buen patrimonio en el comercio de ganado, mulares, caballares y haciendas.
En esa ciudad monta su criadero, llevando reproductores y yeguas adquiridas y seleccionadas en Antioquia. Entre ellos, llevó a GAUCHO, que con la CABINERA y la OKA, produjo ejmplares extraordinarios que aparecen hoy en los cuadros genealógicos de los grandes reproductores de Paso Fino Colombiano, como la GUALA, madre de RESORTE III, DESVELO, CASTALIA I, la DIVINA,la CELOSA, la SOMBRA, la TUERTA, CARIBE,padre de CHUCUANO y abuelo de PLEBEYO, SOBERANO, EL CONDE, EL NEGRO. Llevó al Cauca a PLUMAJE, abuelo de BOCHICA y bisabuelo de PATRIMONIO. Don CARLOS OCHOA fue uno de los criadores que mejor conoció los caballos y sus técnicas para seleccionarlos, criarlos, cruzarlos y arrendarlos y su aporte a la formación de la raza del Paso Fino colombiano, fue de mucha trascendencia. Como dato curioso hay que anotar que a GAUCHO y a la CABINERA, los cruzó varias veces, al comprobar su compatibilidad genética, que produjo excelentes crías.
Don CARLOS OCHOA murió en Popayán, en 1.970.
Me alegra haberte podido ser util, afectísimo,
Carlos Zambrano Ulloa