He is the son of João Baptista Ribeiro de Resende Alves and Maria José Cardoso. His interest in the sport of
show jumping began at age four on a visit to a farm. He began to learn the sport at this age under the instruction of Joseph Wilson. His first attempts were troubled as he took many falls, but he was determined and his trainer saw in him a lot of potential. By the age of eight, his determination noticeably paid off, as he won his first title and graduated to the tutelage of Vitor Alves Teixeira. By the age of 16, he was competing in the professional class. In May 2001, he trained for three months at the school of
Nelson Pessoa in Belgium. This prepared him for his debut at the CHIO
Aachen. == Career highlights ==