Las Marismas' Own Yvonne Losos de Muñiz Earns Pan Am Bronze Medal

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Photos courtesy of Cealy Tetley

Making her Pan American Games debut in front of a hometown crowd, Las Marismas' owner Yvonne Losos de Muñiz, 36, earned the individual bronze medal in dressage at the 2003 Pan American Games held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Canada's Leslie Reid captured the individual gold medal while Mexico's Bernadette Pujals took the individual silver.

With Inatana Las Marismas, her 13-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare, Losos de Muñiz proudly represented the Dominican Republic and finished the three phases of competition with a final score of 212 points after posting a score of 70.80% in the Intermediare I Freestyle on the last day. The 2003 Pan Ams marked the first time the Dominican Republic has fielded a dressage team, and Losos de Muñiz's individual bronze is the first time the country has ever won a medal in equestrian competition.

"For me, this bronze medal feels like ten medals!" exclaimed Losos de Muñiz. "When we set out on the Pan Am path three years ago, I had a goal of finishing in the top 12. In the future, we're going to try to improve the quality of dressage in this country and improve our results."

The top 25 riders in the individual standings following the team competition advanced to Friday's Intermediare I competition. Of the original 43 horse starting field, only the top 15 qualified for the last day's Intermediare I Freestyle competition where the individual medals were determined.

In Friday's second of three individual qualifiers, the Intermediaire I, Losos de Muñiz sat in the individual silver medal position with a high score of 69.40%, despite the fact that the mare had been sick earlier in the day. Added with her Prix St. George mark of 71.80%, her two-day total was 141.20.

"We got one of those dreaded phone calls at 4 o'clock in the morning to tell us that she was colicking," explained Losos de Muñiz, obviously worried about the health of her horse. "Thankfully, she was okay and we were able to compete. She gave me everything she could but she wasn't her normal self. We'll keep her under strict observation and hopefully she'll come out of it."

Losos de Muñiz's teammate, George Fernández, 23, also enjoyed a strong performance. He finished tenth overall riding Joris Las Marismas after advancing to the Intermediare I and Intermediare I Freestyle to music after the team competition.

Ten teams in total contested the Team medals, which were awarded following completion of the Prix St. Georges competition by all four team members of each country. Held over the first two days of competition, Argentina, Barbados, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Mexico, and the United States battled for medals while an additional six nations joined the quest for an individual medal.

The team results were tight with the Dominican Republic narrowly missing the bronze medal with a final team score of 194.85. The United States took gold with a final team score of 206.55 while Canada settled for silver with 206.30 and Mexico for bronze with a final team score of 195.35.

"The best moment of my test was when I finished, looked over at my husband, and he gave me two thumbs up," said Losos de Muñiz who, with her husband Eduardo Muñiz, operates Las Marismas in the heart of Santo Domingo where she and her teammates, George Fernández and Diana Ramos de Tejeda, are coached by well-known Dutch trainer, Diederik Wigmans. "I am just so happy, and so proud.Our goal as a team was to finish in fourth place. We've all done what we've been practicing for the past three years, and we all got the results that we wanted."

Dominican Republic's team scores included Yvonne Losos de Muñiz and Inatana Las Marismas' 71.80%; George Fernández and Joris Las Marismas' 66.45%; Diana Ramos de Tejeda and Nienke's 56.60%; and Martin Hache and Nitram Blanco's drop score of 45.80%.

"I am very excited, I couldn't even believe it myself when I walked out of the ring!" exclaimed Fernández, a student of veterinary medicine. "The ride I had today is only possible because of the wonderful team I have around me."

Officiating at the 2003 Pan American Games dressage events were Mariette Whitages of Belgium, President of the Ground Jury, Lissette Purcell of the Dominican Republic, Gotthilf Reixinger of Germany, Axel Steiner of the United States and Cara Whitham of Canada.