Portuguese Team Rider Maria Pais do Amaral Gets Olympic Back-Up from Ilegivel OC

Dressage

Portugal

With Portugal having secured a team slot for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris last minute, the stakes are high for the Portuguese riders to capture one of just three spots on the team this season.

Maria Pais do Amaral, who was a member of the Portuguese team at the 2023 European Championships in Riesenbeck on Hot Hit Campline, has strengthened her position going into the Olympic season with a second Grand Prix horse to ride: Ilegivel OC.

Ilegivel OC

Ilegivel OC is an 11-year old Lusitano stallion by Latino x Ramalhete. He is bred at Coudelaria Ortigao Costa.

He was initially owned by Spaniard Diego Ventura, a world famous bullfighter, and was scouted by German horse dealer Jochen Arl in the South of France in December 2022. He bought the stallion and brought it to The Netherlands, where Spaniard Antonio Laiz Zandio established him at FEI level.

In February 2023 Arl sold Ilegivel to his long-time client, American Grand Prix rider and sponsor Akiko Yamazaki, for American Dawn White - O'Connor to ride as her next Grand Prix level prospect. Dawn had Ilegivel in her care and training in Wellington, Florida.

A New Training Plan

In the autumn Akiko Yamazaki and Jochen Arl discussed a new training plan for Ilegivel and it was decided to have the horse shipped to Portugal.

Maria Pais do Amaral and her husband Portuguese Tokyo Olympian Rodrigo Torres are experienced Lusitano horse trainers and have known Yamazaki since 2018, when Arl sold their Gronskovlunds Romeeo to Akiko as her personal ride. They welcomed the black Ilegivel into their barn in November.

"Ilegivel's strong point is his willingness to work and talent for collection," said Maria. "He has three very good gaits naturally and a lot of talent for piaffe and passage. I would say his highlight are also the trot half passes, he really excels in lateral work. He is very collaborative and is very proud of his work, which makes it a lot of fun every day."

She continued, "I’m really happy to be able to compete with Lusitanos with this quality, I believe the Lusitano breed is getting better and with a stronger footprint in the international dressage arenas. I think it will continue and reinforce its presence in the most important competitions, and I’m excited to be part of it."

Exciting Season Ahead

For Maria Pais do Amaral an exciting show season lies ahead. It starts in Wellington, Florida.

Maria will be commuting to Florida to compete her number one Hot Hit Campline in two CDI's under the watchful eyes of the grey's former rider, Frederic Wandres. Maria was the third Portuguese riders achieving the necessary points on the FEI Olympic Ranking for Portugal to unlock a team slot for Paris.

Ilegivel OC, a second iron in the fire for Marial

"I’m going to compete Hot Hit Campline in Wellington in the beginning of the season, and then he will be traveling back to Europe," she said.

The tentative planning for Ilegivel's competition schedule includes a national show first, before jumping into the deep end at CDI's.

"I plan on doing a first show with Ilegivel to test the waters and then slowly work towards our international debut," Maria explained. "If all goes well, we plan to debut at the CDI Cascais in February but we need to see how he develops. It's great to have him as a second iron in the fire in this important Olympic year."

At the end of the year Ilegivel OC will return to the United States to join Akiko's string of horses at Four Winds Farm near San Francisco, CA.