Dirceu and Rodrigo Taboga
Dirceu grew up in Brazil and always rode horses and worked with cattle. He has been interested in cutting horses from a very young age. He learned about the American Quarter Horse from an episode on TV that showed all the different sports you could do with the breed. He saw cutting and decided that was how he wanted to make a living and he began a journey to learn the sport of cutting.
In Brazil, he mainly focused on two year olds. He said his favorite thing to do is to train and ride horses. You can’t beat the thrill of riding a colt for the first time, getting it trained and showing it for the first time, he said.
He has now been in the States for a few years learning under great trainers such as Adan and Ascencion Banuelos, Sandra McBride and now Bruce Morine.
Grigiletto was excited to show in the Will Rogers for the first time at the Super Stakes this year but unfortunately the show was cancelled due to the Covid-19 outbreak. He hopes will get to realize his dream of showing in the famous coliseum soon.
“For me is like a sacred temple, my whole life I saw [Will Rogers] in videos and magazines. I’m 55 years old now and I wait 50 years to realize my dreams and goals,” he said.
“One of my favorite [memories] is last year I saw Rodrigo [Taboga] be Champion in the Limited Open Class and Gary Bellenfant be Open Champion [at the NCHA Futurity]. That was awesome. But my real favorite is when I was Reserve Champion in my first Futurity in Brazil in the Limited Open class riding my own mare.”
Why Dirceu Uses CHTO:
“I use CHTO because when you are going to break or start a horse on the cow or any other stage you may have some difficulty with this or that individual. Well, CHTO is a very useful tool for me to have a better work strategy for that specific horse. It also helps me to know a little about the work program of the best trainers of the world. I believe that CHTO is one of the most important tools that the internet gives us.”