Spanish WEG Grand Prix dressage star Juan Manuel Munoz Diaz set hearts aflame during a 3-day clinic at the stallion station Rocas do Vouga near Sao Paulo, Brazil, on 28 - 30 January 2011.
Tribuna Lusitana, an online TV company promoting Lusitano breeding, invited Munoz Diaz to travel to Brazil and train some of the country's Grand Prix riders for the first time. The clinic was a huge success.
The initiative for the clinic arose when Tribuna Lusitana first visited Munoz Diaz in Spain for a video interview. The company invited Spain's number one GP rider to come to Brazil and inspect the level of breeding and training in the country, which will host the 2016 Olympic Games.
"Juan Manuel praised the quality of the Brazilian breed of Lusitanos horses and the Brazilian riders," Tribuna Lusitana's Andrea Gomes told Eurodressage. "He was very satisfied and said with humility that “to me the important thing is having contributed with something, something from the world of equitation that might have been useful for the horse riders in order to improve their equitation."
Participants at the clinic included riders such as Roge?rio Clementino, Luiza Almeida, Luciano Pereira Alves, Ndzinji Pontes, Joa?o Paulo, Manuel Almeida, Luiza Magalha?es, Pedro Almeida, Thaisa Almeida, Paulo Ce?sar, Edneu Jose? Senhorini, and Edgar Jose? Alvares. Officials, trainers and breeders also attended the event.
Lifting the Level of Dressage in Brazil
Luiz Roberto Giugni, president of the Brazilian Equestrian Federation, was full of praise. "The initiatives the Lusitanian world have presented in the last few years have all been fantastic," Giugni commented. "There have been loads of good horse riders, great horsemen from Brazil and that is what makes the difference for our horse nowadays. I usually say that we have great horse riders but we need skill, we need people who can teach us something and it was exactly that what I saw during these days here at the clinic given by Juan Manuel."
Giugni admitted that in order to push the sport forward experienced trainers and riders from abroad have to be teaching in Brazil. "We are developing a project for all disciplines, not only for dressage but for all disciplines, which is something that has been a bit forgotten in the past," Giugni confessed. "The old directors would only take care of the jumping but the equestrian sport has seven disciplines. The work that we are developing involves bringing experts from other countries. The new trainers we have are all with a lot of experience in all discplines. It is exactly that that we are looking for, that exchange of information, that way of learning how to do it better, having a better quality and we will only get that if we exchange information."
Pélé in Dressage
Juan Manuel Munoz Diaz' claim to fame sky-rocketed when he thrilled the audiences aboard his PRE stallion Fuego XII with his kur to music at the 2010 World Equestrian Games, triggering more applause from the crowds than gold medal winning Totilas. The promotion of Iberian horse breeding, which resulted from this World Equestrian Games' performance, is unlimted.
"He is the Pélé in Dressage," Manuel Tavares de Almeida Filho, owner of stud farm Rocas do Vouga, said of Munoz Diaz. "For us it is an honor to have a rider like him here. What we saw him do in Kentucky made us very proud. First because his horse is closely related to ours and that gave us a lot of honor in seeing such success. Secondly, what impressed me was the way in which the whole world saw how he left Totilas behind him. He did his test right before Totilas and I have always seen Totilas extremely applauded at all shows but for the first time I saw more than half the public sitting down because the feeling of emotions wasn’t the same as Fuego’s. I think this made us realise that we could do a lot better than we dared imagine."
Luiza Almeida, the youngest Olympic dressage rider in history, concurred with Manuel and added that, "no one was able to do what he did for the Iberian horse. I think that all of us need to be thankful for what he did and for his great work."
Enlightening Brazil
Ndzinji Pontes, a Portuguese dressage rider based in Brazil, praised Munoz Diaz for his sharp eye. "His work methods are amazing, he is a fine person," said Pontes. "In work terms he is a direct and objective and he can easily spot the faults and defects in each horse."
Thereza Almeida, who co-owns Rocas do Vouga with her husband added that, "I think this is the moment for the Iberian horse and the Spanish and Portuguese riders to form a large front together with this marvelous horse that we all love so much."
Munoz Diaz has been invited to return to Brazil in the near future but a date needs to be set.
Photos © Tribuna Lusitana
Related Links
Munoz Diaz and Fuego XII, Kings of Hearts at the 2010 World Equestrian Games
Munoz Diaz, 2008 Spanish Grand Prix Dressage Champion
Rogerio Clementino: With Both Feet on the Ground But Head in Guadalajara