Will team USA qualify for the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024? And what if it doesn't? Laura Kraut is one of the riders at the start in Santiago. "Every day I can ride horses or just be at the stable, is a good day," Kraut says. "It is my life, it is what I do, what I love ..."
"I breathe and live for horses. My personal environment revolves around horses, including sports, trading, and coaching. The fact that I grew up in the American system helps me find a good balance in it. I have been teaching and guiding students since I was twenty-one, selling horses, and riding them. You have to do a bit of everything, so I've adapted. Sometimes it's not easy, and sometimes you're very busy," says the equestrian. "I love working with people who have the ambition to perform at the highest level, and I hope I can help them in that quest."
America is looking for young talent
"Personally, I think we have good riders. Jessica Springsteen is a fantastic equestrian, and Karl Cook has a golden horse with his Kalinka van 't Zorgvliet and Caracole de la Roque. Both of them are strong pillars for the American team. But we need new talent. There is a shortage of young riders who want to reach the highest level. The costs and efforts required to reach this level are often discouraging. It's not easy, but I would really like to see our ranks filled. Discovering new talent and encouraging them to think about the highest level might be a project for me if I slow down my own career."
"Together with Katie Prudent, we are discussing ideas to select young riders who we consider exceptional, so they can train with us and receive our support. The goal would be to guide them until they can have their own horses and move forward from there. I don't think we have the ambition to manage everything from A to Z, from start to finish, but we would like to help them halfway. Hopefully, they will be sufficiently inspired to take the final steps."
Is equestrian sports a male-dominated sport?
"I do stand out a bit among my male colleagues in the Longines Ranking list. But I believe that's simply because there are more male riders active at the highest level. I also think this sport can be challenging for women in Europe. There is sometimes still a slightly too traditional view of women's roles in the household. I hope that more and more women find their way to the top, because the fact that men and women compete on an equal footing makes our sport unique!"
