Laura Graves and Verdades compete at the FEI World Cup Finals Grand Prix on March 30, 2017 in Omaha, Neb.
It was a banner day for 2016 Olympian Laura Graves and her horse Verdades as the pair took second place in the 2017 FEI World Cup Dressage Final in Omaha, Nebraska.
Germany's Isabell Werth and Weihegold OLD finished first, scoring 90.704%, and Great Britain's Carl Hester and Nip Tuck finished third with 83.757%. Kasey Perry-Glass, riding Goerklintgaards Dublet, placed seventh with 77.068%, and Steffen Peters rode Rosamunde to 75.879% for ninth place.
Graves posted a personal-best score of 85.307% in the FEI Grand Prix Freestyle en route to her career-best world cup final finish. She had previously competed in the event in 2015, where she narrowly missed a podium finish and placed fourth.
Also in 2015 she competed at the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games where she gold in the team and silver in the individual competitions. Graves made her Olympic debut in Rio, winning bronze with the team; it was Team USA's first Olympic dressage medal since 2004. She also placed fourth as an individual.
Graves won her first five-star grand prix freestyle in February, earning 82.00% to take the top spot in Wellington, Florida. Just days prior she earned her first 80% score in the FEI International Grand Prix test at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival.
