| The horse that went to swin ::: One morning in Summer 1962, at the Nice (France) horse show, "Untouchable", the famous Thoroughbred belonging to the American champion Cathy Kusner, had the funny idea of dumping its rider and taking a cooling dive in the Bay of the Angels’ blue waters. The next day, Nelson Pessoa was given the saddle, still wet, to try it out. He was very interested by its steeplechase-based design, much lighter than his own Danloux type saddle. Soaked with salt water, this saddle seat conformed miraculously to his body. This is how -by chance?- Nelson discovered the first step of the path leading to his comfortable and finely balanced “Close Contact” saddles. For all these years, this design, with undisputed performances, has been the key to success among champions as well as amateur riders. Created the perfect saddle ::: Since its arrival in Europe in 1962, Nelson had been pursuing a difficult task: creating the perfect saddle. In 1968, the famous Hermès Saddlery Company in Paris asked the renowned rider to design a jumping saddle that would respond to modern criteria. Then, Nelson launched his own trademark in 1971 and has continued to develop his revolutionary designs. Top skilled craftmen ::: The classical riding style of Nelson Pessoa is an inspiration for every rider. No wonder an impressive number of champions have selected his saddles. Among them are the reigning world champions: Rodrigo Pessoa and Blyth Tait. Besides this, the Pessoa line benefits directly from the results of the international competitions benchmark. Nelson places as high demands on the craft as on the quality of his equipment. Under his control, top skilled craftsmen manufacture his original creations: the Pessoa items are identical to those used every day by the Master. |