Olá Vasco Canto Moniz! Professional jumper Portugal who spends his free time surfing, traveling and hit a few rounds of golf.
I was born in Porto, Portugal, but spent all my life in Sintra, 20 km from Lisbon on a beautiful mountain overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.
You're quite new to Jakarta, how are you enjoying life here so far?
I arrived on January 6 and I'm loving so far! Despite the traffic and pollution, I find kind and friendly Indonesian people and landscapes across the country are breathtaking!
Where were you living before, and how did you finally move to Jakarta?
I lived in Sintra. Me and Carla, my wife ended up moving here because this is his first assignment as a diplomat in the Portuguese Embassy in Jakarta, so we hope that we will be here between 3-4 years.
How do you like usually spend your free time?
My free time is spent either playing golf (not much time for that since my horse arrived from Europe), traveling around Indonesia and surfing Bali or west Java. My wife likes to go shopping in the shops of antique furniture, and there are a lot of good in Jakarta!
So you are a professional rider show, how did you get involved in the sport?
There is a very popular sport in Europe, and my father gave me my love for this animal, the horse, and I ended up loving jump, sponsors have begun to invest in me and I could reach a higher level in this sport. I am also a coach and I have a good number of students who take lessons from me, both expatriates and Indonesians who also participate.
During the last year, with the SEA Games, people have started to invest in the sport in Indonesia and many sponsors have shown up to improve the jump to obstacles, dressage and eventing, the three Olympic equestrian disciplines. Indonesia has won many medals in these games and hopefully will do well next year in the Asian Games. It is an expensive sport that can develop with sponsors for support. I was amazed with the development of the sport in Indonesia when I arrived, I did not think it would be at this level, and I am glad they take my knowledge of so many years in Europe improve more.
You recently participated in a show jumping competition here, could you tell us a bit about it?
The weekend of 9 and 10 June to Arthayasa Stables, the Menpora Cup (Ministry of Sports Cup) took place, which included a Qualifyier for the World Cup 2013. In this competition, I was placed second, just 0.70 seconds behind the winner of the class. My horse, Tontin, had just flown in from Europe where he had to go through a large quarantine and I did not push it. In September, after Ramadan, the season starts again and I hope to win many shows!
In Europe, I mainly compete in the Portuguese and Spanish league, and you have shows every weekend, from Thursday to Sunday, and if I competed I travel Holland, Ireland, France, Belgium and Germany to buy new horses to compete. So we can say that in 52 weeks, I would be in competition or travel 48 weeks a year.
That's a lot of work! What is the most difficult aspect of jumping?
The most difficult aspect of the sport is to face another being with his own mind, his humor, his character, and he can not tell you when he is sick, tired, and so on. So you have to think for two and be able to manage this relationship. And in my case, jumping, is being able to go through a course of 12 jumps in the best possible time and without defects!
And if you are not a rider show, what would you do?
If I am not a rider show, I'd love to be able to practice business management that was what I studied at the University!