PPF: Jonathan, thank you very much for allowing Perfiles del Paso Fino to interview you. I appreciate you having taken the time to speak with me and share your story.
JR: Thank you. I appreciate it.

PPF: Can you please tell me a little about the beginning of your life with horses. Is it a family tradition? Were you the first in the family?
JR: Yes, everything began in my town of Barranquita with my father, who was a Paso Fino horse trainer, and my brother, who is also a Paso Fino horse trainer currently in Puerto Rico. So, I grew up watching them both loving the sport and I grew fond of it. I grew up among the hooves of the horse and have developed from there. I have seen pictures of me riding at such a young age that I don’t even remember. I didn’t even know what I was doing at that time. That’s right.

PPF: How and when did you come to be a part of the Paso Fino horse world in the United States?
JR: I came to the United States in 2015, thanks to Jochi Rodriguez, who got me a job opportunity with Mr. Jose Ochoa “Ochoita” in Alachua. I had the opportunity to work for them, so I arrived in May of 2015, just in time for the Spectrum International Competition. And as of that time, I remained in the US. Thanks to God, I have been working without interruption throughout all these years.

PPF: With which horses did you begin making a name for yourself in North American showrings?
JR: Here in the United States, the first opportunity was given to me by Jose Ochoa, at his own farm, where I competed. I arrived in May and my first competition was in August with a performance filly, daughter of Sublime. Thanks be to God, we had the opportunity to debut in the showring and win at once. At that same horse show, I began showing a horse that, to me, was very important. It was Mi Precioso Capuchino, who marked a beautiful beginning to my career in the United States.

PPF: Can you tell me a little bit about that horse?
JR: With that horse, after that show, we had the opportunity to show him in another 4 or 5 competitions, where he obtained the grand championship titles in the US. He won at the Ocala Classic and at the Piedmont Classic in Asheville, North Carolina. He also won at a PFHA competition in Tallahassee… no wait, it was 4 competitions and the Spectrum. At Spectrum, he won 6th place in the stallion class, which was very competitive. That was the horse that made my name be known; he gave me that little push for people to see me. Thanks to Zarela Olsen, who owned the horse at the time, and Jose Ochoa, who helped me a lot. I think that horse marked a very nice stage for me.

PPF: What has been the most valuable resource for your development thus far?
JR: What kind of resource do you mean?
PPF: In the sense of a tool, a person, an experience… what do you believe has helped you reach the place where you are now?
JR: I think I have been blessed with the people who I have related myself with. I think that these people have wanted to help me, and I have always been willing to learn. That has been, I think, my X Factor in my career because I came to the United States to learn and still today, after several years, my goal every day is to learn from other riders as well as from horses, because horses teach us all the time.

PPF: Do any of them stand out as teachers for you, be it in Puerto Rico or here?
JR: Yes, yes. Like I was saying, I have been very blessed because there have been so many people who, thank God, have contributed their share. But I think that it all began in Puerto Rico with my father and brother. They have been the pillar to all of this and the reason why I even work with horses. Later, I sought help from a rider named Jonathan Bultron, who opened the doors of his horse breeding farm to me when I was working in Puerto Rico. Through Jonathan Bultron, I meet Mr. Jochi Rodriguez, who was the person who later brought me to the United States. Luis Mundo, a tremendous rider, helped me very much. Jimmy Espino; he has been the person I have interacted with the most in more recent times and has been one of my greatest teachers. That group is important, but there are so many more that I haven’t mentioned, like Jose Ochoa, who gave me such an opportunity at that time. There are so many more, like Mr. David Castro, who I may not have had the chance to work with on a daily basis, but who I have learned from and had conversations with which have filled me with so much knowledge and honestly, are worth mentioning.
PPF: Of course.

PPF: If you had the opportunity to be a pioneer of the Paso Fino horse anywhere in the world, how would you introduce the breed?
JR: I think that Paso Fino horses are a sport that unites families. It is a sport where every person, from the youngest to adult-age to the elderly, can enjoy in their own way. They can ride and feel the horses. I love to see people of the North American market how the owners ride and enjoy their own horses. I think this particular sport provides that, where not many other horse-related sports allow their owners to enjoy the horses, or maybe not enjoy them at that level.

PPF: What have been your greatest accomplishments or ‘bullseyes’?
JR: Oh wow, that’s a tough one! I think there have been so many nice and precious moments. I would say maybe with Mi Precioso Capuchino because, like I said earlier, he was among my first experiences here in the United States and I enjoyed it so much, tremendously. Then, we had the chance of winning with a mare called La Novia de Besilu at an Ocala Classic show one or two years after I had arrived to the United States. That was a beautiful moment also. We have lived so many nice moments. Spectrum also. Seduccion has also given us very nice moments here. Miss Universo was titled reserve champion. This year, we had the chance to be reserve champion with the mare Impertinente de HH, a filly who had arrived only 1 month before from Colombia. But no, I’m telling you, there have been, thank God, so so many beautiful moments. Which would I want to relive? Back when I was learning from my father and my brother at our farm because at the time, I was young and simply dreaming. Perhaps I didn’t value those moments and now I would love to be back there again enjoying them.
PPF: Right.

PPF: What has been the most significant sign of affection you have received from a horse?
JR: Well, I think that I enjoy the entire process very much. I enjoy horses from when they are foals. I have always liked to begin their training process. I like to feel how the start changing and understanding what we are asking of them. And I think that when we get to the competition and a horse responds, and does so with content, in a healthy and happy way, I think that reaching that point and feeling that a horse is comfortable and responding to what is being asked, I think that is the best way for a horse to show his affection.
PPF: That makes sense. Do you have any anecdote in particular with a horse at a competition, or at a farm…
JR: Oh, there are so many, but every day it’s something. That is how horses are; that is why I love horses. Because you wake up every day and each day it’s something different. Something that has never happened before. We learn and learn and new things always happen. I enjoy this so much. This is my passion. This is what I love. Every day we learn something and have a good time. There could be negative days, but just like with everything else, you keep working after a negative day. Those days that don’t go so well are the ones that make the good times be so pleasant because we know all the sacrifices made to get to that moment. All the sweat, all the stress, all the tears from crying to get to that point are all enjoyed and are so pretty, because they are our passion.

PPF: What do you consider could improve the current Paso Fino industry in the United States? Now that we are coming out of a time of pandemic where we hadn’t had a competition in a while and many people underwent life changes. What do you think would be a way to improve the Paso Fino industry itself?
JR: No, I believe there is really always room for improvement, and I think that the directives of each entity are doing a great job. Coming up soon in Ocala, we are going to have our first show [May 2021] at the World Equestrian Center. That is a horse facility of a level that we had never before reached, and we are so happy to be able to expose our product in such a wonderful place. We’re also having our world championship this year and we hope that everything remains on schedule. There are many things to improve, but I also know that each of the directives of the entities in the US are horse people who are knowledgeable, respectable, and we couldn’t be in better hands.

PPF: Having obtained so many victories at your age, is there any challenge that you have yet to meet in your career?
JR: Of course, yes. No, I still have many accomplishments to reach. We are also journeying on breeding horses. I am just getting started with the breeding aspect of my business in partnership with Jesus Rodriguez, a great friend and brother that horses have gifted me. We hadn’t met before working with horses, but we met and ever since we started our friendship, he has inspired a sense of trust in me and, together, we are beginning Criadero JR, hand in hand. In the competitive realm, there are many competitions we have yet to conquer and this year we have the world championship, Extravaganza, US Nationals. We have a lot of work to do. We are very hungry to do well.

PPF: Alright, you are quite notorious for riding the horses of Criadero La Costeña; for your victories with the stallions, the colt, the mares… Can you tell us a little about your experience with those horses?
JR: Of course, the story with Robbyn began, wow, about 3 years ago, 3 or 4 years ago, I am not exactly sure right now, but we have known each other for a while now. At Criadero La Costeña, I have done very well. For starters, because there are high quality horses that I have had the chance to work with, and secondly, because Robbyn Young is a great friend and is very knowledgeable about horses and understands the process of each horse. When we have that type of client, it is so much easier for us to be able to develop the animals because there is knowledge. And not only a knowledge, but also an understanding of the horse. So, that allows me the opportunity of continuing to develop her horses at that level. Among the horses we have been working with, is the mare Seduccion de la Ilusion. She is currently the most representative mare of our breeding farm. We also have the stallion El Jefe de La Nube, a son of Dulce Sueño and Lunita de Milagro. We just started competing this stallion as of the last national show. So far, and honestly, every show after show, show after show, he keeps working in such a way that he makes us so happy. We are fascinated with him. He makes us happy in his competition facet as well as in his reproductive facet. The people have offered him a great acceptance as a stud and we have also now begun his first 2 offspring. His first colt is already 36 months and just obtained the reserve champion title in the 3-year-old class at Spectrum ridden by a professional and was titled Spectrum champion with Ms. Robbyn in the amateur class. For a colt of only 36 months to start his career with those types of results in the professional as well as amateur class, tells us what the stallion can transmit as far as docility, quality, and also his tameness. So, of course, we are very pleased with the product. We also have Seductor de La Costeña, who was the National Champion of 4-year-old colts. He is a son of Quinto Elemento in a daughter of Imponente. Just recently, we had the mare Fortaleza de La Costeña, ridden by Ms. Robbyn. Together, they obtained like 4 or 5 grand reserve champion titles. She was trained by Mr. Pedro Bruno, who trained her well to reach that high level. There have been some others, such as La Alaja de Los Reyes, who has also had great results. We competed a son of Sublime in Pleasure, where he won as well. These are horses we have been selling and we have maintained the others as our pillars. The horses we are currently training and are the most renowned now are El Jefe, La Seduccion, and El Seductor.

Jonathan’s Five MOST…

• Who was the MOST influential person in your career? – My brother, Alfredo Rodriguez, without a doubt. Without a doubt… because he was my idol since I was a child. I always followed him. If he wore a yellow shirt, I wanted to wear a yellow shirt. If he wore a hat, I wanted to wear a hat. He decided to be a horse trainer and I think it is one of the reasons why I decided to be a horse trainer too, because I wanted to follow him at everything. And still today, he continues to be my idol. I still maintain that admiration for him.

• What is the MOST important aspect of your work? – I would say the day-to-day of getting to know the horses. I think that as a trainer, when you are able to get to know the horse and understand it, is when that horse is going to offer you its 100% in the showring as well as at the farm; it will feel comfortable. That would be my goal all the time with horses, to be able to know each horse 100%, each and every one of them.

• What do you like MOST about a horse? – Well, to feel it. To feel the horse in the Paso Fino gait. To be able to feel a noble horse, and to see how they can do all that exercise and have all that energy. It’s impressive. I am a fan of the horse, and I always will be, of the Paso Fino horse. There are times that I am competing, and I wish I were competing and also in the bleachers so that I could enjoy being there too because it’s such a beautiful moment. I’m a fan; a fan of anything that has to do with a horse and all its process. I love being in the showring, I love to compete. I love competing healthily and I always try to give the best of myself when I am in there. That’s happened to me, it happened recently. At the last show, during the stallions championship, I had the opportunity to sit there close-up during the last comparison. Wow! It’s like a dream, it’s a dream. When I’m competing and doing a work-off, and the audience gets excited… to get that… that feeling from the audience when I’m there in the heat of the moment. It’s fascinating. Also, when I’m competing with one of my guys and they are in there with me, and I can see them. I would love to sit down and just watch them. I enjoy it because I also know how hard they work to be there, and they have earned the right. It’s very nice, it’s so nice.

• What would you like people to know or remember the MOST about you? – That I try every day to do the best that I can.

1. What quotes from the horse world do you say or like the MOST? – That I say?
   PPF: Yes, or that you enjoy hearing from others.
   JR: Well, I always say ‘we keep living the dream’ when we are in each of the moments that we are doing well. That quote started very organically because every time I uploaded a post when I first arrived here, I would always type ‘thanks to God, we keep living the dream; thanks to God, we keep living the dream’. And I think that people caught on to that and as time passed, people would see me at a horse show and saw me doing well, so they’d say to me ‘we keep living the dream’. And it became something where people started knowing me through that quote. So, I have used it to help me remember every day where we came from and where we are. That phrase is from very early in my career and it helps me to refresh my mind about being thankful to God about where we are and to keep our feet placed firmly on the ground because we know that all of this has come from hard work and that we must keep working all the time.

PPF: Jonathan, do you have anything else that you would like to share with the Paso Fino horse world in the United States?
JR: No, just that they have a friend in me and that if there is anything I can help with, be it clients, youth, children… I don’t know much, I am still learning, but if there is something I can share with them, I will do it with great pleasure.

PPF: Thank you so much for your time, for accepting this interview and we shall be seeing each other at horse shows and competitions.
JR: Thank you for the opportunity and greetings to everyone.
PPF: Thank you.