Rodrigo Pessoa talks about his rides, and successes, We start out with a young Rodrigo at the World Cup in Geneva in 1980, walking the course with his father, who was competing. He was experiencing the best right from the start…
Cheering from the stands, not long until he was out there himself…
“I was 18 when I first started in the WEG at Stockholm (1990). Thanks to my father, I owe everything to him. I had a dream start, because I could start from an already existing, well organized structure, I was given the right coaching early and the right horses at the right time and off I went.”
Special Envoy – “a very forgiving and generous horse.”here at a ceremony to mark his retirement. He was Irish bred by King of Diamonds
Rodrigo and Baloubet – three World Cups in a row, the third in 2000, making the combination hot tips for the 2000 Games in Sydney
Riding Baloubet, Rodrigo won three World Cup finals in a row: 1998, 1999 and 2000, making him the first rider to claim victory at the event three times consecutively with the same horse.
Read more about Rodrigo’s star, Baloubet du Rouet, who died in 2017, and what Rodrigo thought when he first saw the stallion:
https://www.horsemagazine.com/thm/2010/08/baloubet-de-rouet/
The Sydney Games were not a success story for Rodrigo and Baloubet, the pair were leading going into the Final…
Baloubet had a stop
The pair next went to the 2002 WEG in Jerez
The Las Vegas World Cup in 2004
Looking stylish at Aachen, also in 2004
Aachen again in 2005, and Rodrigo joining the traditional Aachen Farewell Hanky waving
In the Final Four at the 2010 WEG in Kentucky with Rebozo
At Lyon in 2013 with Cadjanine Z
With over 70 Grand Prix victories and more than $7,000,000 in prize money to his name, the Brazilian star counts winning the World Championships in Rome in 1998 as his most memorable career moment.