Born in Curitiba – Paraná (Brazil) - on 1^st of November 1964 to a family that even then loved horses, his paternal grandfather was a horse trainer

Ivan became interested in the sport due to a visit to the grounds of the local show jumping school in Parana, to watch the son of his father’s friend in a competition in 1974. He later enrolled himself in a jumping school and started a beautiful chapter in his life.

The interest  in the sport turned into a passion and both father and son dedicated themselves to finding good young horses. Buying a horse that was already trained was too expensive and so they searched for young ones and went to auctions to find a good horse for his son.

During those searches, they discovered a mare called Venus. She had the shape and temperament to become a good show jumping horse, both father and son trained, and taught the new mare and as envisioned by both father and son, she turned into an excellent competition mare. It was Venus that took Ivan to the top of the podium at the National Juniors Championship in 1979, 1980 and 1982.

Ten years after the beginning Ivan decided that it was time to lift-off much higher.He felt the need to learn more, get to know important riders and travel to other countries.Once again, this was turned from dream to reality by Venus. Ivan received a great offer and sold his mare. With the money, he embarked for Europe to take up a course with the talented trainer Nelson Pessoa, in Belgium.

He trained and worked there for a year and learned a lot.It was there that he decided that this would be his profession. In 1985, on his way back to Curitiba with the help of his father, Ivan turned professional and moved to Sao Paulo, a big centre in Brazil, where he would have more chances to grow in the profession of horsemanship.

In a short period of time, Ivan was hired to work in one of the most important studs of show jumping horses in that time.

From 1985 until 1990, he won a lot of National shows, travelling all around Brazil, and, in 1987, he won his first International Grand Prix and got third place in the Brazilian’s National Championship.

In 1989 he received an invitation that could not be turned down, to join Nelson Pessoa’s team in Belgium.

He was the first Brazilian rider to be contracted by “Neco”, and joining Mr Pessoa’s team was the dream of every rider.

Ivan was responsible for the facilities in Germany, where AMG, the main sponsor of Rodrigo and Nelson Pessoa, had their headquarters at that time.

From 1990 – 1992, it was a period of immense learning. Ivan gained knowledge, experience and a lot of contacts as he participated in the highest level of European tournaments. Some of the main results from that period were:

2^nd place at the Grand Prix in Loncins, Belgium

Grand Prix Champion in Neumunster, Germany

3^rd place at the Grand Prix in Verona, Italy

In 1993, Ivan returned to Brazil as it was time to get married, but in his baggage he brought with him a small and hot tempered horse, his new companion “Dollar”.

This horse was 1.57m tall, and was responsible for Ivan Camargo’s public notoriety.

Together they had many victories and titles:

Indoor GP Champion, São Paulo - 1993

Vice Champion at the GP, Republic of Argentina - 1993

Champion of the South American League - 1993

Three times 3rd place at the Brazilian Senior Championship - 1992/95/96

With Dollar, in 1994 Ivan was qualified for the finals of the Volvo World Cup in Holland, where he was the only representative from Latin America who was classified for the finals.

It was rightly one of the most remarkable experiences of Ivan’s career. The best riders from all over the world were reunited at this competition along with their incredible horses.

Jumping over obstacles that were 1.60m (much taller than his horse) in a small indoor arena wasn’t an easy task and although being technically inferior to the other horses, little Dollar was very brave and didn’t do badly.

With Dollar’s death, Ivan was left without a horse to jump in important competitions and so he dedicated himself to giving classes. He discovered that by seeing his students win, it gave him equal or more pleasure than winning himself. It is not a small list of riders who were trained by Ivan. Many titles in all categories were won, but the important thing was that everyone learnt to ride, developing an efficient riding posture.

Another talent that Ivan discovered he had, by pure chance was that of a Television commentator. He is the official commentator for the sport of Show Jumping on ESPN-Brasil (the Brazilian sateline channel).

Ivan and Giulia during a break of a program on ESPN-Brazil