Saturday April 5, 2003

2003 Pan American Games Contenders: Yvonne Losos de Muniz

The Mare Mirrors Yvonne

Inatana Las Marismas is a 17.2 hand, Dutch-bred by Latano out of a Carnivale dam, Madya van ten Bosch, which is a Holsteiner jumping line, according to Eduardo. The mare was previously owned and trained by Janette Haazen from Holland. “I know a lot of people tried her,” recalled Yvonne, explaining that the mare looks quiet but is actually difficult and “really neurotic,” however Yvonne gets along with her very well. “It sounds stupid, but it’s total body language with me when I ride her. If you read what dressage is, that’s what you’re supposed to see. We get along really well – she’s lanky, I’m lanky. I’ve been told by the judges that it’s a pretty picture. We go together.”

Eduardo concurs, “It’s nice. The mare is very difficult. Hot like you wouldn’t believe. She can react in the wrong way if she’s not ridden the way she thinks she should be. When she starts getting upset, she starts getting shorter in the neck and running backwards instead of forward, and she’s such a big horse it’s obvious right away.”

Still, Yvonne has hopes of taking the mare all the way to the Olympics, even though at this point, she has not competed at the Grand Prix level. “I would love to. She’s only missing the confirmation in the ones. But the problem is I don’t want to train it because I don’t want to risk something going wrong before the Pan Ams because she’s so hot.”

Hanne Valentin, an ‘O’ judge from Denmark scored Yvonne in each of her classes at the Zada/WEF CDI and sees a bright international future for the mare “That’s a beautiful horse – a top horse. A horse with potential in my opinion – potential for high levels also.”

Inatana will remain in Yvonne’s line-up for Athens, but she is also looking for another horse that could be an Olympic contender and recently vetted a new mount. “I would like to do the Pan Ams for the country,” explained Yvonne. “I think right now the Olympics are a personal goal of my husband and I, and Las Marismas (their sport horse business), but for the country, it’s the Pan Am Games.”