Laura Graves and U.S. medal in Olympic dressage
RIO DE JANEIRO – Upon a horse she bought eight years ago but, because he was so difficult to manage, tried to sell and could not, Laura Graves won an Olympic bronze medal on Friday.
The Vermont native led the U.S. to third place in Dressage Team competition at the Olympic Equestrian Centre, continuing a remarkable rise through the ranks in just her third year competing at the highest international level.
It was the first U.S. Olympic medal in dressage since 2004. As Graves and Verdades, a horse she calls “Diddy,” came off the course, they were warmly greeted by teammates, which let her know the performance had been medal-worthy.
“It’s amazing,” she said of the accomplishment.
Great Britain and the U.S. couldn’t overtake first-day leader Germany, which finished with a score of 82.577 percent for the gold medal.
Great Britain, which won gold in 2012, took silver with 77.951; the U.S. bronze-winning score was 76.363.
Fayston's Graves was joined by Steffen Peters (riding Legolas 92), Kasey Perry-Glass (Dublet) and Allison Brock (Rosevelt). Graves scored a 78.071 in the grand prix Thursday and an 80.644 in the grand prix special Friday. She, Peters and Brock qualified for grand prix freestyle on Monday.
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“The elusive 80 percent,” Graves said of her score, “finally we captured it. It exists.”
It was a career best, she added.
“I knew it was going well,” she said. “You just always hope your reflections match up with the judges’. So I was happy to see, first of all, that my teammates were happy. I had no idea going in what I needed for a score. And to my see my teammates so happy, and then to have a personal best and a score I’ve been reaching for was just icing on the cake.”
Through Thursday’s first round, Germany was in first place with an average score of 81.295 points followed by Great Britain (79.252), the United States (76.971), the Netherlands (76.043) and Sweden (75.319).
Asked if she felt pressure with the Dutch so close, Graves,a graduate of Harwood Union High School, said, “I guess you could feel pressure but it doesn’t help you achieve anything. I would ride the same way going in first.”
Not riding until mid-afternoon despite arriving at the barn at 6:30 a.m., she spent the day with the horse.
“That gives me a sense of calm,” she said, “making sure that he’s on all four legs and knowing how he’s feeling. He gets a bit of a massage and knowing he’s happy and fed properly and rested, that’s how I get ready.”
Graves, a 29-year-old former hair stylist, purchased Verdades as a six-month old in 2008, but the horse’s uncooperative nature caused her to eventually decide to sell him. But his temperament even scared off buyers.
She then decided to give the horse a second chance and, moving to Florida to work with coach Debbie McDonald, she eventually found success, though it took time.
In 2014, Graves and Verdades took fourth in dressage team and fifth in Grand Prix freestyle in the World Games. A year later, they were first in team and second in individual dressage at the Pan Am Games, putting them on course for the Olympics.
She has gotten used to the horse rising to the occasion and it did again Friday.
“He loves going in the stadium,” Graves said, “so I can kind of trust that and I can get a pretty good idea before I enter how he’s going to ride and so it just rode fantastic.
“He is big time and he knows out there, when we pull his wraps, what he’s about to do. That’s really something that’s changed in him in the past year. He really likes it.”
Kevin Tresolini writes for The News Journal (Wilmington, Del.).