Bedecked in the same trademark yellow of his Brazilian father, international showjumper Yuri Mansur, six-year-old Pedro certainly catches the eye. But as this video shows, Yuri’s son is a real chip off the block in terms of beautiful horsemanship, too.
Pedro shows great style in the saddle — finishing with a superb clear round celebration — as he steers his pony Ollie to a clear round over a 50cm track in a team competition in the Netherlands.
“It was a real ‘Nations Cup’ moment,” says Pedro’s mother Louisie Weber. “Pedro was the first one to go and when he crossed the line he felt amazing — the pressure was off the shoulders! He was very happy to jump a clear round and to help the whole team. It was such a nice evening, we had so much fun.”
Just like his father Yuri, Pedro takes great pride in wearing his yellow Animo jacket and matching Uvex helmet at every opportunity, but for this class the whole team joined him in displaying the Brazilian colours — complete with yellow party hats for the boys, yellow crowns for the girls and yellow balloons on the ponies’ tails.
“The yellow jacket is part of the Yuri/Pedro thing,” says Louisie. “He also asked us for the green jacket so he could be dressed like the Brazilian team riders.”
Yuri, 40, is originally from Sao Paolo but came to Europe at the age of 18. He has an impressive list of grand prix wins to his name, including the King George V Gold Cup at Hickstead in 2017, where he also helped Brazil to win the Nations Cup, and he represented his country at the World Equestrian Games last year. Pedro has aspirations to follow in his father’s footsteps.
Yuri in action
“But it’s very important that he enjoys it and that he learns lessons that only the sport can teach,” explains Louisie. “What impresses us most is his dedication and focus when he rides — it’s not the same when he goes to school though! But Pedro loves all animals and as soon as he started talking he new all the names of Yuri’s horses — he recognised them all!”
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Pedro has had his pony Ollie — known at home as Cisco, after Kevin Costner’s horse in the film Dances With Wolves — since he was four and rides him almost every day around school. From their home in the Netherlands, he follows his father to shows whenever he can, along with his mother and younger sister Marie Louisie.
“The most important thing for Yuri is to teach Pedro what Yuri does best,” says Louisie. “Yuri loves it — since he didn’t have his own father around after the age of four, he is totally present in every moment [with Pedro].
“If he follows the same path or not, only time will tell. And I think our younger daughter will also follow — she only knows two horses, Pedro’s Cisco and Yuri’s top horse Babylotte. But it is amazing to have our kid in our world, it keeps us more together.”
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