June 11, 2025
By KENNETH J. BRADDICK
Six years after the last international championship ride for Laura Graves on Verdades, the only American ever to become world No. 1, is returning to top sport with three Grand Prix horses
Two stallions at international Big Tour and a new partnership on an eye-catching Lusitano buckskin stallion that was US Dressage Federation 2024 reserve Grand Prix horse give the 37-year-old rider more options than she’s had before.
Laura’s goal returning to top sport comes at time when the U.S. is rebuilding toward the Los Angeles Olympics in three years, an effort that so far is short of the most successful period in American dressage from 2014 through to the Tokyo Olympics.
Robert Dover, a six-time Olympian and former team coach who created and implemented the program that along with Debbie McDonald produced the success in which Laura on Verdades was a key, is working personally with Laura on three future U.S. squad prospects.
Two of the three horses are:
–Sole Mio, 11-year-old Rhinelander stallion, that was developed by Emily Miles from a youngster to compete in the world championships at the age of five, U.S. developing Grand Prix champion in 2023 and competed at international Grand Prix in 2023 and 2024, and
–Java Dulce, 14-year-old Danish Warmblood gelding that was competed at CDI Grand Prix by Emily in 2022 in 2024.
Both horses are owned by Leslie Waterman who moved them to Laura after Emily of LaCygne, Kansas opted to give up high performance competition to go to medical school.
The third is Lider Seven, an 11-year-old Lusitano stallion that was developed by Jorge Gabriel to become U.S. Dressage Federation reserve Grand Prix champion in 2024. At the age of seven, “Leader,” as he was called (but Laura wants a catchy barn name) was USDF Horse of the Year at Prix St. Georges.
The stallion was recently acquired by Raquel Rizzuto, who owns Beauty Central Equestrian Center in Wellington, Florida and works with Robert who disclosed the collaboration of his Romance Farm with Laura.
Lider joins Sole Mio as one of two stallions, although she had said she never expected to ride any.
However, she describes Lider as “a wonderful character” that “reminds me so much of Verdades.”
“He’s young enough, he’s fit enough, and he really does make a super nice picture,” she said.
“So you look at the important parts on a Grand Prix horse, they have to have the scope, they have to have incredible rhythm in all three paces, the walk especially, and a desire to do the job.
“They’re great characters, they work hard and all the pieces are there for some exciting things to happen.
“I mean I just know positivity breeds positivity. So when you get to that place and it’s not great in the beginning, right? To still say we’re going to keep at this and it’s positive and we’re bringing other riders and other owners and more people along for the ride. This is the building block of keeping our sport together.”
The prospects to bring Laura back into the limelight come at a time when dressage as a sport is under a sharp and sometimes hostile spotlight. The American riders from the time of World Equestrian Games and Olympic silver and bronze medals were widely praised for correct and caring riding and treatment of their horses. (For the record, those duos were Laura Graves/Verdades, Steffen Peters/Legolas & Suppenkasper, Adrienne Lyle/Salvino, Kasey Perry-Glass/Dublet, Allison Brock/Rosevelt and Sabine Schut-Kery/Sanceo).
Verdades was bought online from the Netherlands as a youngster and was developed by Laura first in her home state of Vermont then in Florida where she initially was a working student and at night waited tables to pay her bills.
Their first big success was claiming reserve U.S. championship to Steffen on Legolas that was also a qualifying competition for Americans for the World Games in Normandy. After being accepted for the competition as among the lowest ranked, Laura’s success set a new tone for the sport in the U.S.
That was followed by the World Games in Normandy where the duo posted the second highest score to Steffen on Legolas for the U.S. team that placed fourth overall. The next year was their first of four World Cup Finals, and the Pan American Games for gold.
Then the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 where Laura and Verdades led USA to bronze. In 2017, the pair began what became three years of World Cup Finals at the same time as German superstar Isabell Werth was competing Weihegold OLD in the annual championships. Isabell and the Oldenburg mare took all three titles with Laura and Verdades runner-up at all three; though in 2017 the American pair won the World Cup Grand Prix and later the same year placed first in the CDIO5* Grand Prix Special ahead of Isabell and Weihegold at the prestigious World Equestrian Festival in Aachen, Germany.
Certainly one of the highlights of the competition career of Laura and Verdades was the World Games at home in Tryon in 2018 where they led USA to silver, placing second to Isabell on her “heart” horse Bella Rose in both the Grand Prix and the Special.
The performances of Laura and Verdades for the year resulted in the pair becoming world No. 1 in September and October, the first and still the only American to achieve that level.
Verdades was USA Horse of Year for 2018 and Laura was named Equestrian of Year.
After three CDIs at Wellington’s Global Dressage Festival in the winter of 2019 and their last championship, the World Cup Final at Gothenburg, Sweden Laura retired Verdades.
Part 2: Laura Graves on Looking to Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, Dealing With Image of Dressage
