Bossa Nova de Miami – a Memorial

Bossa Nova de Miami started my whole journey with Mangalarga Marchadors.     She is gone now to greener pastures, buried on a friend’s property next to her sister’s orphan foal overlooking the Blanco River in Pagosa Springs.   But what a life we lived together.

We were partners for 21 years, and I will forever wish it could have been longer.   We had many firsts together in the early years.   She was my first Marchador; my first mare; and my first gaited horse.   She was the first Marchador (we think) in endurance,  short-lived as she thought it too much work.   Bossa Nova was the first Marchador inspected and branded by the ABCCMM (Brazilian registry) in the U.S.  Dr. Jose Eduardo Teves and Dr. Getulio Viera traveling to us at our Scottsdale Ranch.   I remember building a fire for the branding iron and then running to the refrigerator for lemons for the branded area,  as they wanted to follow “tradition” to mark the occasion.   It took many years and hours at the ABCCMM registry office to get the paperwork in order for this to happen, but we felt it was worth it.  She was definitely worth it.

We rode together in the 2002 Rose Bowl Parade, probably against all wisdom as it was the first parade we had ever done.   She was not yet 4  years old.   She did really well, reacting only once to a place where the pavement changed to brick.  

Bossa Nova was smooth to ride and smart, so often she won for a rider that just stayed on as Bossa Nova did the pattern or the obstacle.   She gave everyone confidence that rode her and I trusted her to keep my family safe – as they all rode her when they came to visit.

She was uncanny at remembering directions (something I am not good at).   She always knew where the trailer was parked.   One time when John and I were riding fast down a wash, she took a left that I didn’t even know was there.   John thought I disappeared!   And what do you know, it was a new trail, and a shorter way home.

Bossa Nova was the matriarch of the Summerwind herd.  She was the protector of me and of the other horses.   One time in Colorado, 2 workers jumped the fence to take a short-cut through her pasture.   But they failed to notice that her sister Chanel de Miami was in there as well with a new foal, Caesar do Summerwind.   Never in my life did I see Bossa Nova rear up, but she did at those men and then chased them over the fence!  

In her later years, she was no longer as capable, but everyone deferred to her still.  Brasilia do Summerwind, younger and stronger and just as dominant, could have challenged her leadership, but it never happened.  There was honor and deference within the group.   Her wisdom and experience earned her that.

To say we will miss her is an understatement.    It is difficult to look at photos and remember being young together, riding wild and free and loving every minute.  

Bossa Nova de Miami and all the “de Miami” horses were bred by the Guerra family of Miami FL who had the first Marchadors imported to the US in the 1990s.   

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