Growing up in the city of Santos in São Paulo, Brazil, Michel Feitosa was sole horse lover in his decidedly non-equestrian family, so horse ownership was simply never an option. Instead, the man who has become a professional show jumper worked to access opportunities to train and develop his skills on other people’s horses, eventually moving to the United States to work for Brazilian Olympic champion Rodrigo Pessoa. But, as with many equestrians, the desire to have a horse of his own never faded. When his wife Amanda Feitosa shared a sales video with him in 2022, Michel couldn’t have predicted that the green 10-year-old Thoroughbred gelding it showed would fulfill a lifelong dream.

Initially purchased by the couple as a resale project, “Niven” soon exceeded their expectations, and as his rideability and talent started to shine through, their desire to sell him faded. Showing under the name Even Better, in June 2024 Niven did his first grand prix at the $30,000 Grand Prix of Princeton (New Jersey). The thrill of finally riding his own horse in a grand prix was hard to top, Michel said.

“It was like a dream come true, because the family I was born into, we could never have a horse,” Michel, 31, said. “It was a little more special that I knew it was his first grand prix also. It was not a horse I bought who was made, and I just took him in the class. It was a horse I helped to get there, and maybe if it wasn’t because of me also, he would never jump a grand prix in his life. I felt like it was very special.”

Michel and Nevin are currently at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, Florida, where they plan to return to the FEI ring in this week’s two-star competition. But for Michel, who regularly rides at least 10 horses a day besides Nevin in his role as the principal rider and trainer at Halcyon Show Stables in Litchfield, Connecticut, his only goal is for Nevin to have a positive experience.

“Because Niven is ours, and we don’t have to worry about selling him, we don’t have to be so concerned with results,” Amanda, 31, said. “We have done a lot of pushing a little bit for him to have the experience, even if he isn’t going to win the class.”

An Unexpected Partnership

Bred for the track, a horse like Niven perhaps would not be the first choice of mount for many show jumpers aiming for FEI. By Belmont Stakes winner Lemon Drop Kid and out of a mare by Thunder Gulch, who won both the Belmont and the Kentucky Derby, Nevin theoretically was destined for a different kind of winner’s circle. But after an early injury, he never showed much promise as a race horse. His connections sold the youngster to an Ocala-based jumper trainer, and he then moved through a series of homes before ending up with a friend of Amanda’s as an 8-year-old.

“He had some professional training from the ages of 3 to 5, but otherwise he had been ridden by juniors and amateurs,” Amanda said. “He had never done a USEF show, and had no microchip.”

But despite his lack of polish, Niven impressed in his sales video when he trotted through muddy footing and readily cleared a 1.30-meter vertical. Additional footage from an earlier owner showed a 3-year-old Niven confidently jumping a liverpool.

“I really liked him because of the way he behaved in the video,” Michel said. “I thought, I can teach this horse how to do a course, and I can put anyone on him, because he is going to go over the jump. [At Halcyon] every week we try horses and sell horses, and we always need a horse with that mind, and it is very difficult to find.

“A lot of people, they need that powerful feeling,” he continued. “They need to know if they miss, the horse is going to be able to jump without a problem, and without getting scared. I felt like he would be a very nice amateur horse.”

The couple—who jokingly describe themselves as “lowly horse people with no money”— came to a “lease to own” agreement with Niven’s seller. As Michel began to work with the gelding, he soon learned that despite his age, Niven was still somewhat green.

“He had his style to do things, and it was the only way he knew how to jump,” Michel recalled with a laugh. “He was always going with a short stride, and he [would] turn to the jump, and slow down, slow down, slow down and jump.”

Michel kept the fences low while he taught Niven to move more steadily forward; but from the beginning, the horse was brave, jumping anything put in front of him. The gelding made steady progress, and one day, Michel decided to try him over a 1.20-meter course.

“I was a little impressed with him, because I felt like, ‘I think he can be a real horse,’ ” Michel remembered. “But I was still thinking, in six months or a year, if he becomes a nice 1.30-meter horse, we can sell him for good money, because he is going to carry an amateur or junior around the lows.”

The more he worked with Niven, the more Michel liked him. But when it came time to think about selling the gelding, it was Amanda who insisted he stay.

“I had someone interested, and then Amanda had a meltdown about it,” Michel said with a laugh. “I thought, ‘Well, maybe he will have to become that real horse I thought he could be.’ My only concern about it was his age—I wish I had him when he was 4 or 5. Niven was already 10. Though he didn’t need to learn how to jump, he needed to learn how to jump correctly, and I felt like I didn’t have a lot of time.

“But when he became my horse, instead of a sales horse, I was like, ‘I will just take the time he needs,’” he continued. “He is 13 now, and I don’t care if he is ready when he is 15 or 16—I will give him the time, and I think he is going to make it.”

An Underdog Comes Out On Top

Michel and Niven made their show ring debut together in 1.15- and 1.25-meter schooling jumper classes during the 2023 Winter Equestrian Festival. Because the Halcyon program spends about five months in Wellington every winter, Michel felt he could pick and choose when he decided to compete Niven.

“I am a little more confident to make a plan, and make small changes depending on how he feels, because I own him,” Michel said. “In fact, I put less pressure on him because he is my horse. I always try to make sure he shows when he is ready, and when he is feeling the best. I don’t want to be so busy with the other horses I cannot give him enough attention.”

This approach has meant that Niven shows less frequently than the client-owned horses in Michel’s program. But he derives an equal amount of enjoyment simply riding Niven at home.

“I enjoy training and setting a gymnastic or course for him to do,” Michel said. “I am very specific with the distance between the jumps and the heights. It’s normal to see me in the ring measuring exactly how tall the jump is, so especially for Niven, I know exactly the size of the jump he jumps, and the distance between them.

“Pretty much everything he knows, he learned with me,” he continued. “So when I build a difficult course at home, and he makes a mistake, then I repeat the course and he fixes the mistake, I feel proud of him. For me, it’s not just showing. He’s a horse I trust, and I know when I need a bit of confidence, I can build a line that’s a little bigger and I know he has the power to go over the jump.”

Amanda and Michel do all of Niven’s care themselves, and they appreciate the generosity of other equine professionals and supporters who contribute to his well-being and success. 

“We are very much a team,” Amanda said. “Michel is amazing—he is there at the start of the day, he feeds Niven, does Niven’s stall and puts him in the paddock. I am remote, so while Michel is riding, I bring Niven in, and when it’s his turn to be ridden, I tack Niven for Michel.

“Niven has so much respect for Michel,” she continued. “Michel says Niven’s main quality is his power, but second to that is his heart. He tries so hard for Michel, and it’s very cool for me to watch them together.”

In September 2024, the pair entered their first FEI classes together at the Old Salem Farm CSI2* (New York), and then in October, the Silo Ridge Masters CSI3* (New York). Although they retired at each competition, the main goal was to expose Niven to the environment, and Michel is proud of what his horse accomplished.

“I’m always concerned about his confidence, because he trusts himself, and he trusts me,” Michel said of their FEI debut at Old Salem. “When I turn him toward a jump, he believes I think he can do it. 

“I’m always worried he will try too hard, and he will hurt himself,” he continued. “So at Old Salem, I thought he was trying a bit too hard, and I got a little concerned, so I retired. … I don’t have to make it happen, because he is going to have another chance.”

For Michel, being the underdog is nothing new. He jumped his first 1.30-meter class at age of 17 on a former polo pony that his then-employer had picked up in a package deal for $2,500. At his next job, Michel spent nearly eight years starting young horses for the jumper ring, bringing them from their first efforts through the 1.40-meter level. When he moved to the U.S. at 24 to work for Pessoa, Michel spoke only Portuguese; he first picked up Spanish, to communicate with the grooms, and then English.

“Michel has worked very, very hard for every single opportunity,” Amanda said. “Everything he has gotten, he has earned 110%. None of this has been easy, none of it continues to be easy—he is all ambition and drive, and what he has been able to accomplish is extremely impressive.”

Michel hopes that the experience and mileage Niven gained in the FEI ring last fall will set him up for success in this week’s two-star competition. But how Michel defines “success” for Niven at this stage of his career is perhaps a little different than for other horses in his program.

“I would like to take him to the end of the course,” Michel said. “I always keep in mind that his age is not exactly how he feels. He is 13, but he is jumping like an 8-year-old in a two-star grand prix. I have to be careful, because he has a lot of quality, and I don’t want to make a wrong choice, and then have to go backward and start again because of one class.

“We’re still at the beginning, and he has a bright future in front of him,” he continued. “I want to make sure I am his partner in it.”