Samba Dances Off With Grand Prix Freestyle Win

Luiza Tavares Almeida represented Brazil at the Pan American Games at the mature age of 16. She was the youngest equestrian competitors there, and now two years later she’s proving herself in the Grand Prix with her Lusitano Samba. On Friday, Jan. 30, she won the Grand Prix freestyle in the Wellington CDI*** over Catherine Morelli and Be Se.

In the small tour, Jan Brons once again emerged victorious with Teutobod. The pair debuted their Intermediaire freestyle to win over Marco Bernal with Halbgott and Peter Gray with Collo 5.

“I thought he was wonderful,” said Brons. “I hit most of my marks. I was a tiny bit ahead in the pirouettes, but that was OK.”

Marlene Whitaker designed Brons’ freestyle, and after riding it for the first time in competition, he’s contemplating how to make it harder. The test highlighted “Teddy’s” changes as he switched from two-tempis on the long side to three-tempis on 20-meter circle.

“I need to talk to Marlene to make sure what I’m thinking about changing is all legal,” he said with a laugh. “He’s coming right along. This is the first time he’s done three days in a row, and he was great.”