Stephan de Freitas Barcha wrote a new chapter in his story at the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile this week. But the lead up felt like familiar ground.

On Wednesday, the Brazilian rider jumped double clear in the team final aboard Chevaux Primavera Imperio Egipcio, then watched the gold medal slip from his grasp when the final rider in the ring, teammate Rodrigo Pessoa, dropped a pair of rails.

Brazil took team bronze that day.

In Friday’s individual final in Chile, it was déjà vu for de Freitas Barcha. As the final rider, in the final round, to tackle Marina Azevedo’s 1.60m course, the gold medal was the Brazilian’s to lose.

Only this time, he rewrote the ending.

With a rail and time fault in hand, de Freitas Barcha and Primavera were foot perfect ’til the last when they dropped the top rail of the final fence. The pair crossed the timers with 0.49 seconds to spare to claim the gold on a total of 8.06 penalties, just 1.58 points ahead of USA’s Kent Farrington and Landon.

©FEI/Shannon Brinkman
©FEI/Shannon Brinkman

It’s the Brazilian Olympian’s first international championship medal, an achievement that’s not lost on his team.

“It’s Gold for Brazil! It’s Gold for Stephan Barcha and Chevaux Primavera Egyptian Empire at the 2023 Pan American Games, the first of their career,” wrote the Chevaux Team on Instagram.

“A medal that enshrines the excellence of a champion team from the very first round and the importance of investing in a system thought out down to the smallest detail. A medal that makes all the resignations, absences and tireless days of work worth it. A medal that is not just ours, but that of the entire country.

A mare literally made of gold, proving Brazil’s power in national breeding. Primavera grew and developed in the Chevaux System. In recent months, it has demonstrated its maximum potential also under the tutelage and experience of the entire Haras Império Egípcio team, which has given us fundamental support and enabled us to achieve our dreams.

There are countless thanks. There are many people responsible for the Brazilian national anthem echoing in Chile today. To everyone who supports us, believes in our projects and dedicates themselves to this sport that gives us so much in return, thank you very much. To each member of the Chevaux Team: keepers, veterinarians, students, clients, managers, physical trainers, thank you for your trust. To everyone who cheered with us at every turn and at every flag.

To all the members of Team Brazil, it was a privilege to write every page of the 2023 season alongside you. Greater pride than wearing the green jacket is having someone to share all these moments with, which we certainly won’t forget.”

For the 34 year old, who celebrated his birthday less than a week ago, it’s a chapter six years in the making with his mount Primavera Imperio Egipcio.

The Brazilian-bred mare was discovered at age three by a well-meaning if not entirely equine educated father looking for a horse for his son when she jumped out of her field. Three years later, they brought her to de Freitas Barcha’s Chevaux Team for training. The mare was “completely wild,” the Brazilian told World of Show Jumping.

de Freitas Barcha spent over a year training Primavera before attempting to compete. In 2019, the mare came second in the Brazilian Championship for 7-Year Olds. In 2020, she contested her first FEI classes and, the following year, won back to back World Cup qualifiers in Brazil.

The pair has had near constant success in Brazil since. From 2020 to 2022, they only once finished outside the top 10 in an international class. Until a few months ago, however, they had never competed outside of the country.

If de Freitas Barcha had any doubts about their potential when they headed to Europe to compete for the first time this spring, they were put to bed immediately.

“I have Primavera since she was six years old (she is now 12) and we grew together,” said de Freitas Barcha ahead of the individual final in Chile. “I twice won the Brazilian national title with her and I came to Europe at the beginning of this year straight to a 4* show and won the Grand Prix. I was in Rome (in May 2023) also third in the Grand Prix, then I did some Nations Cups to prepare for coming here to this championship. We are in nice shape to fight!”

And they did.

Over five championship rounds of jumping, the pair dropped only two rails. One in the opening speed round and the another at the final fence of the final round, a course only USA’s Kent Farrington managed to jump fault free.

If their record sounds impressive, it is. In 10 rounds at 1.60m height, the pair has an 60% clear round rate and phenomenal 89% top ten finish average, according to Jumpr App. And that’s before the Pan American Games.

More impressive still, those stats stay consistent across all heights. At 1.55m, they jump clear at a 57% clip; at 1.50m, 65%. Which is to say, they’re more likely to jump clear than not, regardless of height.

The Brazilian has climbed 100 spots up the world ranking to no. 152 since May. With two Pan Am medals in hand and the Paris Games on the horizon, there are still many more chapters in their story to come.

Farrington and Landon took the silver. Teammates McLain Ward brought home the bronze with Contagious on 15.34, while Laura Kraut and Dorado 212 narrowly missed the podium on 15.39. Amy Millar was Canada’s top placed rider, finishing sixth on 17.71.

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