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The Horse that went swimming One morning in Summer '62, 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.

Creating the perfect Saddle Since its arrival in Europe in '62, 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 '71 and has continued to develop his revolutionary designs.
Top skilled craftmen The classical riding style of Nelson 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 Anky & Blyth Tait. 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.
The magic of Pessoa Pessoa is synonymous with quality. And with legend. The classical riding style of Nelson is an inspiration for every rider. No wonder an impressive number of champions have selected his saddles and, year after year, renew their commitment to Pessoa as their preferred saddlemaker. Pessoa Saddles promote enormous loyalty from their users, due to their extraordinary quality, design, testing and workmanship. 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. Therefore, acquiring a Pessoa is more than a purchase. It is a lifelong adoption. Pessoa always aims for more. After all, limits are made to be broken.