An Olympic gold medalist in showjumping, he is an accomplished rider who followed in the footsteps of his father, Nelson Pessoa. Rodrigo has represented Brazil at seven Olympic Games.

At the start of 2017, Rodrigo was appointed Senior High Performance Director of the Irish Showjumping team. It was a successful start as Senior High Performance Director, with Ireland winning Team Gold at the European Championships in Gothenburg in August 2017.