Laura Graves

Laura Graves

Laura Graves and Verdades (2014 FEI World Equestrian Games)
Personal information
Born	(1987-07-22) July 22, 1987 Burlington, Vermont, United States
Residence	Plymouth, Florida
Medal record Equestrian Representing  United States Olympic Games 2016 Rio de Janeiro Team dressage World Cup 2017 Omaha Individual dressage Pan American Games 2015 Toronto Team dressage 2015 Toronto Individual dressage

Laura Graves (born July 22, 1987) is an American dressage rider.^[1] She represented the United States at the 2016 Summer Olympics where she won a bronze medal in the team dressage competition.

Dressage career

Growing up in Vermont, Laura rode her first pony at an early age when a family friend boarded two ponies at the Graves' farm. Laura and her sisters got attached to the ponies what eventually persuaded their parents to trade a washing machine and a tumble-drier in order to keep them. At the age of 15, Laura and her mother bought a foal named Verdades from the Netherlands, a horse that eventually became her Olympic partner. Verdades however proved difficult at his early age, in 2009 she suffered a broken back after it threw her from the saddle. Following the setbacks, Laura decided to focus on her cosmetology studies and sell the horse. However, later on she moved to Florida and continued pursuing her career as a dressage rider after not being able to sell him.^[2][3]

Laura and Verdades started competing at the international Grand Prix level in 2014. At the American Dressage Championships, held in Gladstone, New Jersey, she surprisingly placed 2nd overall and qualified directly for the 2014 World Equestrian Games.^[4] In the build-up towards the World Equestrian Games, Laura and Verdades competed at the CHIO Aachen 5* event, placing 10th in the freestyle final. At the World Games, held in Normandy, France, she finished fifth in the team, fifth in the freestyle and fifth in the special dressage competitions.

Graves opened the 2015 dressage season with FEI World Cup Finals in Las Vegas, Nevada, where she finished 4th, narrowly missing out on a podium finish. Later that year, she competed at the Pan American Games, which were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She won a gold medal in the team and a silver medal in the individual dressage competition, behind her team mate Steffen Peters.

In 2016, Graves competed at her first Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She won a bronze medal in the team competition and earned 4th position individually.

Following year, Graves and Verdades qualified to compete at the 2017 World Cup Finals in Omaha. She eventually finished in a runner-up position, behind Isabell Werth, and thus won her first individual medal.^[5]

References