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in Portugal with Rodrigo Matos and Charlotte Wittbom
His training began in earnest at the Morgado Lusitano facility in Lisbon, where he was schooled under the talented Mr. Nuno Palma. It was under Mr. Palma's guidance that Rodrigo's talents grew, and when a position at the esteemed Escola Portuguesa d' Arte Equestre (The Portuguese version of The Spanish Riding School of Vienna) became available, Rodrigo was selected. In the fourteen years since then, his talents have matured under the watchful eye of modern day Masters. He currently trains under Maestro Dr. Filipe Figueiredo (Graciosa) and works daily with stallions from the Altar Real stud farm. Rodrigo is proficient at teaching and riding maneuvers such as the Piaffe, Passage and Long-reins-in-hand. He also performs the most demanding high school airs, including the Capriole (shown above), Levade and Corvetta. During these shows Rodrigo also works with the other Picadores as part of an ten rider Quadrille. When it comes to teaching, few are as passionate about Classical riding as Charlotte Wittbom. Charlotte was born in Sweden and started riding as soon as she could say "Horsey". She competed in three day eventing as well as show jumping before settling upon dressage competitions. He desire to be a teacher first led her to London, England, where she completed a full time instructor program. It was during this time that she discovered that she was especially drawn to classical riding. In order to be the best, you must learn from the best, an with this as her goal she found her way to Portugal to be nearer the center of this specialized form of horsemanship. She was soon working for one of the acclaimed classical teachers, Master Luis Valenca. Although she had already accomplished considerable skills, under Mr. Valenca's care she blossomed into one of his most talented riders. Her hard work and dedication finally earned her the award of a Diploma of Merit from Mr. Valenca, a certificate that few in the world have ever achieved. in the Appasionata horse show, a European horse extravaganza similar in scope to Cavalia in the USA. Appasionata tours all the major cities in Europe, and with over 650,000 visitors it is one of the most successful equestrian productions in the world. Join us in Part 2 of 4 of the interview with both of these wonderful and sharing instructors. One where Rodrigo shares with us the most common problem that he see’s riders making. [RODRIGO]: No, I like any kind of horse. If it’s a nice horse for me, I like [it]. In the United States I just work with warmbloods and Friesians. When they are nice, they are really nice to work with too, you know. The Lusitano are very nice but some Lusitano are not so good, you know. Like all breeds, you have good and bad horses. I work most with Lusitano because I’m from Portugal but…  [HFL]: Absolutely, absolutely. I completely agree with you. I like playing with all the different breeds and I agree that in every breed there are good horses and there are not so good horses. [RODRIGO]: Lusitano it’s easy to see. You have a fantastic mind and flexible walk [then] it’s an easy horse to make passage, piaffe, and that kind of work. Maybe it’s a little easier than other breed, but sometimes I would be riding a warmblood or a Friesian and they would be really easy- nice too. [HFL]: So when you work at the Portuguese Riding School in the morning, do you work with the same horse all the time or do you work with different horses? How does that work for you? [RODRIGO]: I work with the same horses all the time. [HFL]: How many horses are you working with at the School? [RODRIGO]: At the moment, I have four. [HFL]: Out of the horses that you’ve ever had in your life, do you ever look back at the horses you’ve worked with and is there one horse that you would say “that horse taught me so much”? [RODRIGO]: Few, maybe two or three horses. [HFL]: Can you tell me what they taught you?
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