Verdades, the USA’s top dressage horse of the last six years, will be taking his last bows before his public at the 2020 FEI World Cup™ Finals in Las Vegas next month.
Diddy, whose retirement was announced in January, will appear in the Devoucoux Dressage Showcase on Friday afternoon Apri 17 before his formal retirement ceremony the next evening during intermission of the Grand Prix Freestyle.
Owner Laura Graves, who got the personable show ring star as a weanling and trained him up to international stardom, has ridden him to second place in the last three World Cup finals, to a team bronze medal at the 2016 Olympics and to team and individual silver at the 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games
Explaining her choice of Las Vegas for his retirement, Laura noted that “Diddy.has so many fans and I wanted to give as many of them as possible a chance to see him before his retiremen.
“He has performed on the world’s biggest stages and there really is no bigger stage than the World Cup Finals in Las Vegas, so this is really the perfect place for his formal retirement.”
In 2009, Brentina, the top U.S. dressage horse of the early part of the century, was retired in an emotional ceremony in Las Vegas. Brentina was ridden by Debbie McDonald, now the U.S. dressage technical advisor and Laura’s personal coach.
Laura Graves and her Verdades have a special relationship that enabled them to become worldwide stars. (Photo © 2020 by Nancy Jaffer)
To order tickets, or for further information on the 2020 FEI World Cup™ Finals in Las Vegas, go to the event’s official website at www.WorldCupLasVegas.com.
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