Laura Graves: Learning From Horses

In this episode I interview the very funny US dressage star Laura Graves. Laura burst onto the international dressage scene in 2014 at WEG in Normandy where she finished 5th in the Freestyle with her gelding Verdades,who's she's had since he was a baby. Two years later at the Rio Olympics they were part of the bronze medal winning US Team as well as just missing the podium to finish 4th individually. More recently she won silver in the Special at the WEG in Tryon as well as team silver. In this interview, Laura talks about the difficulties of being at the top. Judges expectations and when you know your horse has given all he’s got. She describes “Diddy" the “person” and her approach with the gelding’s special personality, when situations don’t always go to plan and being smart about your training. Laura gets her fitness work by chasing dogs, and she talks about Andy the US team’s “voodoo” wielding physio. You’ll hear what I mean! She describes a normal day at home, why coach Debbie McDonald is so good and what it’s like being part of the US team; how she copes with social media….and all that time waiting around at the big shows plus learning from other riders. She also shares her thoughts on the sit trot. And the take way for me? The small things are the big things.