Yvonne Losos de Muñiz

A History of Good Horses

Yvonne’s success as a trainer is evident when one considers the horses she has developed and brought along to international competition. Her current top mount is Bernstein, and before him was her Pan Am medalist mare Inatana Las Marismas, now retired in Europe. In addition to Inatana, she had her prior Grand Prix horse, Westfalian Rittersport Las Marismas (Royal Angelo x Argwohn), an extremely talented and brilliant chestnut that was quite an interesting challenge, but with whom she won the 2004 Grand Prix and Grand Prix Freestyle at the Darien CDI***.

“This was one of the most sensitive horses I had ever ridden. It took me close to a year to comprehend all his quirks,” she said.

She has also taken her Danish-approved Hannoverian-bred Bernstein DVH 696, an 11-year old Banditentraum x Winterwald stallion, to international success in just over two years. This imposing chestnut was seventh in the Six Year-Old division at the 2002 FEI Young Horse World Championships in Verden.

Furthermore, he received the highest scores ever given at the Danish Warmblood stallion approvals, and also had the champion foals in Denmark in 2000 and 2002. In 2003 he was undefeated in all the dressage classes he entered in Denmark, and that year was bred to over 150 mares in that country. Several of his older offspring have already made their mark in the competition arena, and are known for their gaits and rideability.

When Yvonne and Eduardo first purchased him, they encountered serious challenges since his owners were going through a divorce and the horse had been without proper training for over a year. “The horse was in a riding school, stabled next to some ponies, when I first saw him,” Yvonne said. “He was ridden once or twice a week. It took us a long time to get him back in shape and move him up to the FEI levels, in our first show in Palm Beach, we were nearly thrown out of the ring because he kept rearing!”

Yvonne and Eduardo saw his potential right away. “Even though he is an outstanding sire, we purchased him due to his excellent basic gaits and his incredible temperament,” Yvonne said. “His willingness to work and disposition to please are truly remarkable, and even though he was a bit of a challenge for a while, we believed we could bring out the incredible athlete that he is with some patience and discipline. It has given me great satisfaction to be able to go back to the Pan Ams with a different horse and secure a new medal, I am very proud of this accomplishment.”

Also showing great potential is Dondolo, a seven-year old by Blue Hors Don Schufro. The extravagant chestnut gelding qualified for the 2006 World Championships for Young Horses in Verden, Germany, but a slight injury kept him from competing. He’s now back in action and already schooling the Grand Prix moves. During the 2007 season, he earned scores in the mid-60s in the Prix St. Georges and Intermediare I levels on the Sunshine Tour in Spain, and dazzled the judges with his rubber-ball gaits.

Two other promising young horses in Yvonne’s barn are Goliat, a powerhouse, eight-year old Danish Warmblood gelding by Flyinge Amiral, and Royal Affair, a Hannoverian gelding by Royal Diamond. Yvonne said she’s moving slowly with Goliat because he’s a hot, powerful horse, but Royal Affair is already collecting top ribbons in the FEI Five-Year-Old horse classes. While they have received very generous offers for both horses, they believe both have the ability to compete at FEI levels and will keep them for the future.