Torrao Rides to New Personal Best Scores Sweeping Big Tour at 2020 CDI Beloura

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2020 CDI Beloura

Portuguese team rider Joao Torrao rode two new personal best scores and record scores for a Lusitano horse as the pair swept the board in the big tour at the 2020 CDI Beloura in Portugal on 28 - 30 August 2020.

The CDI Beloura is one of the few international dressage competitions still taking place amidst the corona pandemic. Hosted at the Beloura Centro Hipico in Sintra, Portugal, the FEI level classes were ridden in the indoor arena.

The event drew out a big field of Portuguese home riders and guest riders from Spain and Russia, while it boasted an impressive panel of 5* judges, including Magnus Ringmark, Hans-Christian Matthiesen and Evi Eisenhardt.

Double PR for Torrao and Equador MVL

The young Portuguese Grand Prix team combination, Joao Miguel Torrao and Equador MVL, have been going from strength to strength in the 2019 show season, claiming impressive high marks at the CDIO Hickstead last summer. At the 2019 European Championships the inexperienced pair could not hold on to that stellar form, but fortunately they quickly regained their improving form in 2020 and gave proof of their promise at the CDI Beloura.

In a field of 12 entered combinations, Torrao and the 11-year old Lusitano stallion Equador MVL (by Quo Vadis x Hostil) were a league of their own, winning the Grand Prix with 77.00% and staying far ahead of Spanish routinier Jose Antonio Garcia Mena on Benzi Landro. The next day the pair upped the ante and finished on a winning 77.468% ahead of Portuguese Maria Caetano on her rising Grand Prix horse Fenix de Tineo.

"I felt that Equador MVL was full of energy, but at the same time always listening to my aids and very focused," Torrao said about his two rides in Sintra. "He really loves to perform and I felt he gave me everything again. It was maybe the best feeling I ever had in the ring, truly a combination of power and relaxation."

Setting New Standards for Portugal

Torrao's feat at the CDI Beloura does not go unnoticed. The 27-year old not only achieved two personal best scores, but he also set two new Portuguese national record scores. Furthermore, these two result were the highest Grand Prix scores ever achieved by a Lusitano horse at international top sport level. Equador is bred by Monte Velho and owned by the breeder in partnership with Marc Lebbe and Katarzyna Gontarska.

"Since last year, Equador has matured at this level, improving his balance, and he is now performing all exercises in a more effortless and easy way," said Joao about the progress of his horse since the summer of 2019. "With my trainer Coralie Baldrey, who has been coaching me the last 5 years, we have focused on the exercises I found most difficulties, like the pirouettes and the zig zags. Coralie puts a lot the focus of the basics, and I feel her approach is really the right one for me and my horse. I am fortunate to have best team around me, that really allows me to focus on my riding."

New Training Plans due to Corona

Last summer, Torrao and Equador MVL spent several months training with Carl Hester in the U.K. but after the European Championships in Rotterdam, the duo returned home to Monte Velho Equo-Resort in Portugal where they spent the winter and were then kept home because of the corona lockdown.

Joao Torrao and Equador MVL on their way to 77%

"We spent the quarantine at home and decided to give Equador some holidays," said Torrao. "Last year was quite demanding and tough for him."

Joao focused on clearing his horse's mind with some light saddle work and gymnastics.

"We have done many hacks and workouts in the arena only working on suppleness and relaxation," he explained. "Equador also did his breeding duties, so in that period, I focused on my younger horses. Although it was quite disappointing not to compete in the Olympics, I dedicated a lot of time on improving my riding."

With the corona infections still spiking across Europe it is hard for riders to make a long-term plan. Autumn CDI shows are being cancelled and it is unsure what the future of high performance competition sport will bring.

"With so much uncertainty going on right now, we really don’t have any plans on the short-term," he said. "We will try to get better at home, as there is still a big room for improvement."

Photos by Rui Pedro Godinho