November 15, 2001

Las Marismas successfully hosted the Dominican Equestrian Federation's 2001 Dressage Cup at our facilities in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, in mid November. We were very fortunate to have FEI "O" judge Col. Axel Steiner and FEI "I" judge Marianne Ludwig as the officials for the show. All of the competitors were grateful for the opportunity to ride under these two extensively experienced international judges and thank them for generously taking time at the end of the competition to offer suggestions for improving the riders' performances in the future. We look forward to welcoming Col. Steiner and Ms. Ludwig in the Dominican Republic again in the years to come.

October 27, 2001

Yvonne Losos' new jumper "Maretty"

During a recent trip to Holland two new mounts were secured for Team Las Marismas as part of Yvonne Losos' string of show jumpers. Demonstrating outstanding scope and technique, both Audi's Jilou, a dark bay ten-year-old Emilion x Nimmerdor mare, and Maretty, a seven-year-old Ferro x Ronald mare, were purchased from Stal Hendrix. Emile Hendrix, Yvonne's trainer, has campaigned Jilou internationally at numerous CSIs this past year, including London, Valkensvaard, Maastricht, Geneva and Amsterdam, before she and Maretty were shipped to West Palm Beach, Florida, where Yvonne will compete them and other Las Marismas horses in the 2002 Winter Equestrian Festival.

September 17, 2001

Yvonne and Tango win the 2001 Marismas Masters Yvonne Losos and her Spanish-bred palomino gelding, Tango, secured a home-turf win in the most prestigious showjumping event in the Dominican Republic. In spite of the tremendous problems faced by the organizing committee, who saw the travel cancellations of course designer Pepe Gamarra and FEI-O judge Francois Ferland in view of the September 11 tragedies, the show took place as planned. Fortunately, Juan Carlos Tafur, an FEI-I designer from Colombia, was able to arrive on short notice. The riders at the highest level, 1.35m., were faced with a tough speed class on Friday, with the results carrying over to a two-round 1.35-1.40m class on Sunday, with a water jump to a double-vertical combination that was the nemesis of many. Tango really came into his own, jumping with incredible technique and scope to carry Yvonne to the overall lead. For her efforts, Yvonne pocketed over US$3,000 of the total of $10,000 the show offered in price money.

Thanks to Cealy Tetley and Betty Cooper