Since then, Luiza—who will turn 23 on September 7, the


final day of WEG 2014 in Normandy—has become a dressage veteran by Brazilian standards. Prior to her ride at the 2010 World Equestrian Games in Lexington, Kentucky, an indi- vidual dressage rider had only once represented Brazil back in 2002. Therefore, Luiza and Samba’s inaugural team appear- ance four years ago was a noteworthy milestone in which they starred as the country’s leading combination.


Brotherly Love Following in their older sister’s footsteps may have seemed a daunting prospect, but Luiza’s success has been an inspi- ration for her 20-year-old twin brothers Pedro and Manuel (“Manu”), they say. “Luiza inspired many young riders when she managed to go to the 2008 Olympic Games at the re- markable age of 16, but what really inspired me was her hard and serious work that has made her the rider she is today,” Pedro explains. These sentiments are shared by Manu. “She gave us the opportunity to realize that it was possible to qualify for an Olympic Games,” he remarks. With only a handful of years riding dressage and little


Grand Prix level experience, these identical twins have cam- paigned with commitment and determination, improving their scores one show at a time, until they both consistently exceeded the 64% WEG qualifying score during the latter half of 2013. With three more selection trials in April and May in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, the brothers are heading in the right direc- tion and are already dem- onstrating the professional competence that team se- lection demands. (It’s interesting to make


London 2012 saw Luiza’s second Olympic appearance,


as Latin America’s only dressage representative. Having al- ready passed Samba on to one of her younger brothers to ride, she saddled Pastor, another Lusitano, and improved her performance from four years earlier by several per- centage marks. Her goal this year is to consistently score around the 70% mark and continue her winning streak going into the Brazilian qualifiers for WEG. “Since Decem- ber, Pastor’s canter pirouettes and piaffe have especially improved. But I’m focusing on his overall image, with more energy and impulsion,” she explains. Luiza is currently the highest ranked Brazilian dressage rider going into the final WEG qualifiers. Alongside four coveted titles Luiza has collected from the


Brazilian equestrian federation, the highlight of her career so far has been winning the equivalent of a sporting ‘Oscar’, awarded by the Brazilian Olympic Committee to a leading sportsman or woman—having proven herself both as an ath- lete and also as a national sporting ambassador.


Opposite top, L to R: Luiza, Pedro and Manuel Tavares de Almeida riding Grand Prix Lusitanos Pastor, Samba and Viheste respectively. Opposite photos of farm: Rocas do Vouga, the state-of-the-art Lu- sitano breeding and training farm in Itu, Brazil. The deck that runs into the lake is used for swimming the horses for exercise. This page, above left: Luiza and Pastor whom she rode in the 2012 Olympics. She frequently rides in her military attire. Above right top: Pedro competing the veteran Grand Prix horse Samba. Bottom right: Manuel competes Viheste, an FEI horse imported from Portugal.


Warmbloods Today 25


the comparison between the team results in 2010— when Brazil finished four- teenth—and where they might have finished today. Had the recent Grand Prix performances of the Tavares de Almeida trio counted towards the 2010 WEG scores, the team would have finished no lower than ninth place, a sub- stantial improvement.) Establishing a successful relationship with Viheste, a


pure-bred Lusitano imported from the Alter Real State Stud in Portugal, Manu was successful at Intermediare before progressing to Grand Prix last season. As a rider, his earlier


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