June 26-30 Quebec City Show Jumping Tournament

Coming off a high from her success at Spruce Meadows and the Rocky Mountain Classic, both held in Calgary, Alberta, earlier in the month, Yvonne Losos de Muñiz competed at the Quebec City Show Jumping Tournament under the guidance of Jim Kyle, assistant trainer to Canada's seven-time Olympian, Ian Millar.

With torrential downpours earlier in the week, the footing in the city's park known as the historic Plains of Abraham on which the unique competition took place, was less forgiving than anticipated.

With the horses' confidence shaken in the 1.40m Junior/Amateur division on Thursday and Friday, Yvonne moved down to ride haut concoure in the 1.20m class on Saturday with both Maretty Las Marismas and Jilou Las Marismas. Although they secured easy clean rounds, it wasn't enough to put them back on track just yet. Sunday's 1.40m again proved challenging with both horses incurring a stop in the first round.

It was a disappointing end to Quebec City but proof that coming to Canada, as a preparation for the 2002 Central American Games and the 2003 Pan American Games, would be an invaluable experience.

June 12-16 Rocky Mountain Classic

Yvonne and Inatana Las Marismas finish second in the I1 Freestyle

Closing out her western Canada debut, Yvonne Losos de Muñiz, riding Maretty Las Marismas, was Champion in the High Junior/Amateur division at the Rocky Mountain Classic held at 1988 Olympian John Anderson's Tyrrell Farms. With two wins and a second place finish in these 1.40m classes, Yvonne's partnership with Maretty was evident.

Yvonne also secured third and fourth places in the High J/A division with Jilou Las Marismas while earlier in the week, she and Mondriaan Las Marismas were second in a 1.20m Low J/A class.

Under the direction of US Equestrian Team member Laura Kraut and her assistant trainer, Canadian Equestrian Team member Jonathon Millar, Yvonne included the Rocky Mountain Classic in her summer schedule before heading east across Canada for the Quebec/Ontario show jumping circuit.

June 5-9 Spruce Meadows

Yvonne and Maretty
Las Marismas

Making her first appearance at the world-renowned Spruce Meadows in Calgary, Alberta, Yvonne Losos de Muñiz was in the midst of international company with equestrian stars such as three-time World Cup Champion Rodrigo Pessoa and US Olympian Leslie Howard taking part in the event.

Shipping her two jumpers, Maretty Las Marismas and Mondriaan Las Marismas, from Dominican Republic, Yvonne was reunited with her talented Dutch mare, Jilou Las Marismas, who had campaigned at 1.50m throughout the spring with US Equestrian Team member Laura Kraut.

Although the weather dipped into the single digits and there was non-stop rain some days, the footing at Spruce Meadows never wavered. Training with Laura Kraut and her assistant, Canadian Equestrian Team members Jonathon Millar, Yvonne secured excellent results right from day one in classes that numbered no fewer than thirty.

Mondriaan Las Marismas' top results were had at the beginning of the week before fatigue from his trip north set in. In Wednesday's 1.20m class he had just four faults for 11th place out of 46. On Thursday's 1.20m class he bettered that with a double clear, good for fifth out of 44.

With a third-place finish in a field of 34 in Thursday's 1.40m Junior/Amateur class, results for Yvonne and Jilou Las Marismas couldn't have been much better. Their double-clean, along with Wednesday and Friday's four-fault rounds, showed their partnership was intact despite a three-month hiatus.

Yet it was Maretty Las Marismas that proved Yvonne's homework had been done. On opening day the pair excelled with a four-fault jump-off round in the 1.30m Junior/Amateur class with 57 competitors. The next day they jumped double clean, which secured fifth position in a field of 44, but with eight faults in the opening round of 1.30m class on Friday, it was evident that fatigue was against the mare.

After a well-deserved day-off on Saturday, Maretty and Yvonne had the time of their lives competing in Sunday's ATCO Double Slalom in Spruce's notorious "International Ring". Going head-to-head with Canada's rising superstar, Karen Cudmore, riding Ocelot, Maretty and Yvonne gave it their best in the 1.40 class that pits two competitors against each other as they tackle identical courses at the same time. Rodrigo Pessoa proved victorious once again with his win in this crowd-pleasing class that features Open and Junior/Amateur riders in the same competition.

Photos courtesy of Cealy Tetley and Betty Cooper