Paso Fino Horses
The mount of the Spanish Conquistadors, the smooth-gaited
Paso Fino captures the hearts of horse lovers everywhere.
The Paso Fino is the oldest true native breed of horse in
the Western Hemisphere. Over 500 years ago, on his second
voyage from Spain, Columbus brought a select group of mares
and stallions from the provinces of Andalusia and Cordela,
and settled them at Santa Domingo. These horses were a mixture
of Barb, Andalusian and Spanish Jennet. The Spanish Jennet
not only possessed an extremely comfortable saddle gait,
but also was able to pass the gait on to its offspring.
The result of the blending of these horses was to become
known as the Paso Fino breed - the horse with the incredibly
smooth gait.
American Flyer Trains
American Flyer® S Gauge trains were made from 1946 to
1966 by the A.C. Gilbert Company in New Haven, Connecticut.
These electric toy trains were known as tinplate from the
days before plastics when toys were tinplated in factories.
The American Flyer® line of toy trains reached their
market peak in the mid to late 1950s. While the American
Flyer line was never as extensive as that of Lionel, American
Flyer always offered realism and some interesting accessories
at a price more affordable to the masses. Many of those
accessories are in high demand today, and are used by Lionel
operators as well. Gilbert American Flyer also offered unique
special features like syncronized Smoke and Choo Choo Sounds.
Recently, Lionel has begun reintroducing several of those
accessories.
Other Things
In addition to horses and trains, we have many other interests.
Our children, grandchildren, dachshunds and various other
pets always keep us on our toes. We like to trail ride and
try our hand once in a whlie at cow sorting. We are members
of the Texas Paso Fino Horse Association
and participate in many of their activities. Our eight acres
in Splendora, TX are a haven for antique roses, gorgeous
Texas Wood Ducks, blue birds, hummingbirds and many other
forms of wildlife. We've been truly blessed to have been
given the opportunity to live in such a place. We hope you
enjoy browsing our website and that you enjoy the photos
and stories it contains. We are always willing to make new
friends, so if you have a question or would like more information
on anything you see, just click on the Contact tab and leave
us a message ~ Sincerely, The Gips