Elite Horse Academy is the training and teaching program of Tiago Ernesto, based in Loxahatchee Groves in the heart of the Wellington equestrian community. Tiago trains and competes horses from the young-horse levels through FEI Grand Prix, coaches riders of all ages and breeds, and teaches working equitation with the same classical system he learned in Portugal.

Tiago began his career in 2002 as an apprentice at the Alter Real National Stud, the state stud that breeds and schools the Lusitano stallions of the Portuguese School of Equestrian Art. That system is built to produce horses that are correctly schooled and riders who know how to teach others. In 2011 he came to the United States as dressage trainer and breeding manager for Haras dos Cavaleiros in Magnolia, Texas, where he spent 12 years before launching Elite Horse Academy in Florida in 2023 under the mentorship of U.S. Olympian Adrienne Lyle.

Tiago has campaigned horses on the international circuit in Wellington and Ocala, including the approved Lusitano stallion Hobbit Interagro through the Grand Prix Freestyle and Hectar Interagro in the Intermediate and Prix St. Georges, and he continues to develop and show horses for Interagro Lusitanos. Although his career has grown through the Lusitano, he enjoys training and showing all breeds.

For working equitation riders, Tiago connects classical principles to practical, teachable skills: balance, straightness and true collection that carry straight into the dressage trial, ease of handling and speed. He led WEFL's Teaching Working Equitation kickoff clinic at the Jacksonville Equestrian Center in October 2026 and directs the educational design of WEFL's Train the Trainers program.