Making Their Horses — And Their Mark

Show-jumping partners Enrique Gonzalez and Eduardo Menezes hone their craft for identifying and developing talented young horses while ascending the sport’s international rankings.

- Kim F. Miller

Backstage at the Del Mar Arena was a madhouse when Enrique Gonzalez and Eduardo Menezes finished first and third in the Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping Del Mar qualifier last October. Family members, friends, fans and strangers were happily swept up in the hug-fest following the victories of these partners in E2 Stables, which has locations in San Diego, California, and, as of this year, Wellington, Florida.

Enrique hails from Mexico, for which he contested the 2008 Olympics, the 2011 Pan Am Games and the 2014 World Equestrian Games. Eduardo is from Brazil, and he was that country’s lead-off rider in show jumping at the 2016 Rio Olympics, where the Brazilians finished fifth. So it couldn’t be called a “hometown win” in Del Mar, California, but the joyous reception to their victories—after an exhilarating jump-off with Frenchman Eric Navet—reflected the high regard in which Enrique and Eduardo are held in the U.S. show-jumping community.

As partners in E2 Stables, 52-year-old Enrique and 36-year-old Eduardo are making their mark in their adopted country and making their home countries proud on the international stage. With an average of 30 to 40 horses in their show program, plus more youngsters in Argentina and Europe, the scope of their business is impressive and one that requires a globe-trotting agenda. Their emphasis is global sport horse sales and developing successful horse and-rider partnerships for national- and international-level competition. The results of their efforts range from finding and bringing along one of Meredith Michaels Beerbaum’s current stars, Comanche, to matching horses with ambitious amateurs around the world.