SIBLING TRIO to WEG S
port at the highest levels is a very tough industry, even without the added dimension of sibling ri- valry and familial relationships. Equestrian sport in particular has seen fathers and sons, brothers, hus-
bands and wives, as well as in-laws competing at the Euro- pean, world and Olympic levels. Never before, however, has there been a family trio—a sister alongside her twin broth- ers—contesting national dressage team selection. Luiza, Pedro and Manuel Tavares de Almeida firmly have their eyes on the 2014 World Equestrian Games in Normandy, France, as well as Rio 2016 on the horizon beyond. The Tavares de Almeida family team also devotedly repre-
sents their father’s stud farm, Rocas do Vouga, with its state- of-the-art breeding facility that has been selectively pro- ducing Lusitano horses for Grand Prix dressage since 1996. Located in Itu, 120 kilometres from São Paulo, Brazil’s largest city, Rocas do Vouga has, alongside its breeding activities, focused on creating tailored training programs to produce
and RIO?
One family brings Brazilian competitive dressage to new levels. By Jean Llewellyn
world-class athletes—both riders and horses. The result has been both Olympic and World Championship participation with the Brazilian dressage team.
Young Luiza Goes International At 7:30 pm Hong Kong time, on August 13, 2008, at the age of 16, Luiza Tavares de Almeida made her debut as the youngest equestrian competitor in Olympic history. De- spite—or perhaps because of—the history-making moment, she said later that it wasn’t the best test she and Samba had ever done. “I knew that I had to do my best and show people that age doesn’t really matter, and it’s the work that I did that’s important,” she explained. “I’m very, very happy. I know my horse can do much better, but for his first time [in an Olympic arena] I think he did really well,” she added. “I have learned that I really have to keep calm, as always, in all competitions and I really have to trust my horse. Normally he’s very nervous, and I thought he was going to be more nervous with the public, but he was actually calm, so I just needed to stay focused, try to do my best, and keep going.”
24 May/June 2014
Photos by Ney Messi
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