Dressage star Laura Graves continues to hit the heights, with yet another run of success encapsulated over three days in Palm Beach County, Fla.
Not only do the judges reward her performances with Verdades, the Dutchbred gelding who was purchased on the basis of a video as a weanling, but now the public has voted in her favor as well. Actually, no surprise there; the only American ever to be ranked as world number one is widely admired for her down-to-earth work ethic. When she won the Grand Prix Freestyle with Verdades at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival in Wellington Friday night, for instance, she picked up the check for the groom’s award as well as the first place prize.
A toast to Laura Graves from judge Hans Christian Matthiesen, Tinne Vilhelmson Silfven, Shelly Francis, sponsor Jose Gomez. Back row: Adequan’s Allyn Mann and dressage director Thomas Baur. (Photo©2019 by Nancy Jaffer)
The U.S. Equestrian Federation’s Equestrian of the Year and International Horse of the Year trophies were presented at the organization’s awards dinners over the weekend at the West Palm Beach Hilton. Laura got a standing ovation as she picked up the trophies for both major honors, decided through online ballots. Show jumping hero McLain Ward, also nominated for the Equestrian of the Year title—which he won for 2017– urged his fans to vote for her, and Laura acknowledged to me that she believed his generous gesture played a role in her victory.
Laura and Verdades debuting their new freestyle at the first show of the year. (Photo©2019 by Nancy Jaffer)
But Laura is well-deserving of all her accolades, which also include two silver medals at the FEI World Equestrian Games in Tryon, N.C. Likely she would have had a third WEG medal, had not the WEG freestyle been cancelled. The WEG was where she was going to debut her new freestyle, performed to the Neil Diamond favorite, “Coming to America.”
“I was really looking forward to showing this at Tryon with everyone coming to our country,” she observed.
Instead, the debut was at Global last weekend before a good-size crowd, although not as big as the audience that would have seen it at the WEG. The freestyle had the same choreography as the one Laura rode previously, but she noted, “I just wanted to change the music.” The show was the first of the season, and the first World Cup qualifier for the finals, which will be in Gothenburg, Sweden, this spring.
Click on the video below to find out her thoughts.
The new freestyle was well-received for its energy and style. But always viewing her rides with the critical eye that has been crucial to her success, Laura cited a couple of mistakes, including one in her final pirouette.
“I need to settle down a little bit I think,” she said. “My horse is ready to go, he’s right on. I just came out at him a little strong.”
Laura had a full table backing her up at the awards dinners, with U.S. dressage technical advisor Debbie McDonald (who is also Laura’s coach), Betsy Juliano and WEG teammates Adrienne Lyle and Kasey Perry-Glass on hand.
Laura Graves and her supporters: Teammate Adrienne Lyle, Betsy Juliano and Debbie McDonald. (Photo©2018 by Nancy Jaffer)
Debbie picked up a well-deserved award of her own when she accepted a Pegasus Medal of Honor statue. Others in that category also went to U.S. jumping team gold medal coach Robert Ridland, along with one of the dressage world’s most respected figures, Janine Malone, and Ellen Di Bella, a western dressage standout. The medal is awarded for service to horses and the sport by those who have advanced its popularity.
The USEF owns seven figures worth of silver trophies, many of which date back decades and make for an impressive display. They are just there for presentation and photo purposes, however; winners only take home a small Pegasus statue.
Other honors went to former U.S. dressage technical advisor and international judge Anne Gribbons, who guided Laura Graves as a working student to bring Verdades to Grand Prix. Anne accepted the Walter B. Devereaux Sportsmanship Award for her commitment and dedication to the sport.
The winner of the Sallie Busch Wheeler Award for distinguished service is selected by USEF President Murray Kessler, and never revealed before the dinner.
Anne Kursinski receives the Sallie Busch Wheeler trophy from USEF President Murray Kessler. (Photo©2019 by Nancy Jaffer)
It went to assistant show jumping coach and Olympic medalist Anne Kursinski, whose decision to talk about the abuse she suffered as a child from her trainer underlined the value of the Safe Sport program that is such an important part of USEF’s agenda.
One other winner who should be mentioned is the National Horse of the Year, Cobra. A wild mustang who has quite a story, he was.rounded up in Nevada as a six-year-old and later deemed unadoptable.
But owner/trainer Marsha Hartford-Sapp knew how to reach him and make use of his instincts. She bid on him after watching a 15-second video of this horse that had not found a home after being put up for adoption three times.
She prepared him for the Extreme Mustang Makeover, and he turned out to be a versatile competitor, excelling in both classical and western dressage.
Cobra has an impressive list of victories and awards to his credit. He was 2015 Horse of the Year for western dressage and won the Adequan/ U.S. Dressage Federation All-breeds American Mustang & Burro Association Prix St. Georges national championship in 2018. He stays busy making special appearances and has been immortalized as a Breyer model horse.
Like Verdades in his younger days, Cobra presented a challenge. But the persistence of Laura and Marsha illustrates how important it is to stick with a horse that has potential so these special animals can realize their true calling and show it off to the world.
