This week’s Practical Horseman Podcast episode, sponsored by Farnam and Tribute Equine Nutrition, is with Olympic show jumper Rodrigo Pessoa. We spoke with Rodrigo in late June shortly before he was named to the Brazilian team for the FEI World Championships Aachen 2026.
To give you a little more background on Rodrigo, he started riding at a young age alongside his father, five-time Olympian Nelson Pessoa. He followed in his father’s footsteps and has tallied his own string of impressive results with numerous grand prix wins and medals at major championships.
Rodrigo is an eight-time Olympian and the winner of the Athens 2004 individual gold medal with Baloubet du Rouet. The iconic pair also won three consecutive FEI Jumping World Cup Finals from 1998 to 2000. Looking ahead to Aachen, 2026 will mark Rodrigo’s seventh world championship appearance, and his most notable past performance is when he became the youngest world champion at the age of 25 with Gandini Lianos in Rome in 1998.
In our discussion, Rodrigo talks about his training philosophy, what makes a good horseperson, his thoughts on how jumping has changed over the years, and more.
This Episode’s Sponsors, Farnam and Tribute Equine NutritionFarnam
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Tribute Equine Nutrition
At Tribute Equine Nutrition, caring for horses has always come first. As a family-owned company safely making feed right here in the USA, they’re celebrating America’s 250th anniversary by supporting programs that make a difference through horses. Every bag of Tribute sold helps support PATH International’s Equine Services for Heroes programs helping veterans through equine-assisted services. They’ve also introduced limited-edition Patriotic Horse Treats for summer.
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