All of this began when her mother Carol, gave Laura her first riding lesson as a small child. Laura’s sister, Mary Elizabeth, also loved riding, and almost forty years later the sisters still work together to fulfill their childhood dream of discovering, training and competing the best show jumpers in the world. Mary Elizabeth manages the horses, staff and barn while Laura trains and shows her current grand prix horses while seeking out talented young horses to bring along.

After a successful 2009 winter in Wellington, Florida, Laura and the horses returned to Europe for the summer. Kraut and Anthem has a successful start by winning the 2009 Grand Prix of Madrid, repeating their 2007 victory. Cedric will be Laura’s Nations Cup horse for competitions in La Baule, Rome, St. Gallen, Rotterdam and Aachen.

2008 was a remarkable year for Laura and her team. Kraut and Cedric competed in the US Olympic trials held in Wellington, Florida. As Cedric was only ten years old at the time, Laura entered him in the trials for the experience, but they went on to win and earn a place on the 2008 Beijing Olympic Team.

In August the pair traveled to Hong Kong and where Cedric continued to amaze everyone by winning the Team Gold Medal.

While Laura’s focus was having Cedric ready for the Olympic Games, she was also busy on her other horses. During the spring of 2008 Laura and her long-time partner Anthem traveled to North Carolina where they won the $500,000 Grand Prix of Charlotte. After successfully representing the US on several Nations Cup teams during the summer, Laura and Miss Independent went on to end an amazing year with Grand Prix wins in Brussels, Geneva, and London’s Olympia.

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