Tiago Ferreira Living the Dream: Portuguese Young Riders Title to Conclude Strong Season

Focus

Portugal

Portuguese young professional Tiago Ferreira was crowned Portuguese Young Riders Champion at the 2024 National Dressage Championships at the "Clube Hipico do Norte" in Esposende on 27 - 29 September 2024.

For Tiago the year 2024 was one of many firsts: first year at Young Riders level, first European Championships, and first National Championships at Young Riders level. And the results were beyond expectation.

Dreaming Big with Diamo Dream

Ferreira's partner-in-crime is 13-year old Oldenburg gelding Diamo Dream (by Diamo Gold x Fürst Heinrich), which MFI Group bought in December 2023 in Denmark after acquiring Grand Prix stallion Revolution. Andreas Helgstrand matched the experienced black gelding, who had competed at three European Youth Championships for Poland, to Tiago and it turned out to be a perfect fit.

Coached by business partner Roberto Brasil, the pair kicked off the year strongly by becoming the first Young Riders pair in Portugal to meet the team selection criteria after CDI starts in Cascais and Jerez de la Frontera, where they won the team test and Kur to Music with 72.455%.

At the 2024 European Young Riders Championships in St. Margarethen they were Portugal's highest scoring pair with clean rounds in a high pressure environment. Their consistent scores currently rank them 35th on the FEI World Young Riders ranking as the highest Portuguese ranked pair.

Icing on the Cake: National Title

The icing on the cake came last weekend when the pair won the gold medal and national title at the 2024 Portuguese Dressage Championships, which were contested during the CDI Esposende.

Twelve riders started out in the Young Riders Championships and six riders were finally ranked after all three rounds. The stakes were high with peers Briana Vintila (on Inana B) and Nicole Silva (on Funji) putting on the pressure. Tiago was second in the first round with 67.706% and found his stride in round two and three, winning the individual test with 69.559% and the Kur to Music with a personal best of 73.240%. With the highest overall total he claimed the highest step of the podium. Vintila got silver and Silva earned bronze.

Tiago Ferreira is the 2024 Portuguese
Young Rider Champion
(Photo © Rui Pedro Godinho)

"There are no words to describe such a special feeling, it’s a dream come true," he said after winning the title. "Diamo felt like never before, he was in is best shape. We’ve done three amazing tests looking for harmony and risking to get all the points we could."

The successes in 2024 have whetted Tiago's appetite for 2025.

"I’m riding Diamo less time than a year, so we’re still growing our partnership and getting to know each other," he said. "As the results prove we’ve been scoring more and more throughout the season. We’ve reached all our goals for this season and we are dreaming with much more."

Rollercoaster Year for Young Professionals

The year 2024 has been great for more reasons that just sportive success in the competition arena. Tiago and his trainer Roberto Brasil run their own business - training stable Equiminho - in Barcelos (POR). As professionals devoted to horse sport they faced the usual ups and downs horses bring about, but after one year running they draw more than positive conclusions and are excited for the years to come.

"This last year has been a roller coaster and Tiago has not disappointed," said Roberto Brasil. "In the first year of our business and with a barn full of horses, and between so many competitions, and clients, this kid managed to be the best Portuguese combination at the Europeans and in Portugal, what else can I ask from him? I’m beyond proud of him. Team work makes the dream work and we have worked a lot this year but it was totally worth it. So much more will come in the next few months and now we focus on the next goals, taking it one day at a time."

For his career in the saddle Tiago has set clear goals for the future.

"Our main goal is to get to the top 10 in the world in 2025, so we will focus on keeping our partnership growing day by day and to learn from this amazing horse, as much as I can," he concluded.