Biography

Birthday: September 30, 1984
Two-Legged Family: parents John and Judy; brother Kevin
Favorite color: blue
Favorite snack: extra sharp cheddar cheese, or popcorn
Hobbies: Reading, working out, photography.

Lauren Sprieser's international riding career began with a bicycle. The Sprieser clan found tiny Oak Brook Farms a mere five minutes from their house outside Chicago, IL on a late-night biking expedition. When Judy Sprieser signed herself and her then ten-year-old daughter up for lessons, she couldn’t have known that just eight years later, Lauren would win her first medal in international dressage competition.

Weekly lessons led to the purchase of the Spriesers’ first horse, a cuddly pinto mutt gelding named Cheerio. While no dressage superstar, Lauren dragged Cheerio (kicking and screaming) through First Level competition, including a Reserve High Point award at Training Level from the Region 2 Jr/YR Team Championships. Cheerio and the family’s next horse, a Thoroughbred gelding tragically named Stressful Prince (Beau) would lead Lauren and Judy away from Oak Brook Farms and into the capable hands of Ken McGrath, a Grand Prix rider and trainer in Wauconda, IL.

Ken's patient teachings and fatherly persistence were a lifesaver for a teenage Lauren, who was inclined to be a bit aggressive in her riding, and had a lot of judgment to learn. He was - and continues to be - a strong force in Lauren's personal life, encouraging her to keep her chin up during the toughest parts of her teenage years. Lauren rode and competed all throughout high school, balancing a rigorous academic schedule with high achievements as junior captain of the Speech Team, News Editor for the highly successful student newsmagazine, several student leadership positions, and as a student advisor to her high school's administrators.

Lauren moved East to attend Sarah Lawrence College in Yonkers, New York in 2002. Horseless, Lauren joined up with the SLC Equestrian Team, and competed with tremendous mediocrity in Hunter Equitation. While grateful for her experience on the team, Lauren needed more. She discovered that two-time Olympian Lendon Gray's home stable was only a half-hour's drive from campus, and after a few lessons, the Sprieser family made the biggest decision of their lives - to send Lauren and Ken to Germany in search of Lauren's next FEI partner.

After getting in touch with Michael Ripploh, a friend from Ken's days studying under master Willie Schulteis, they were on their way to Warendorf. In 3 days, Lauren sat on almost 25 horses, but the first ride proved to be the most memorable - a skinny bay Trakehner named Bellinger Go. It was truly love at first sight for Lauren, who had never even seen, much less ridden, such a magnificent trot, or found the tricky FEI movements so blissfully easy.

Their 2003 show season proved the beginning of a formidable partnership. They squeaked onto Region 2's Young Rider team, and took home Team and Junior Olympic Bronze at the NAYRC in Bromont, Quebec, and took 24th place individually.

2004 proved to be a banner year for Lauren, both with Bellinger and her new mount, the phenomenal 13-year-old Holsteiner L’Etoile 6. With Bellinger, bouncing boldly back from a fall suspensory injury, the pair would take top honors at the YR qualifiers at Silverwood, Lamplight, Tempel and Paxton Farms, and finish the early season with a 65% average, third in the Region, and 16th in the nation. At the 2004 NAYRC at Tempel Farms, Bellinger put his game face on in spite of the tremendous chill to take an 11th place overall finish, 9th place in the Kur, and help lead a rookie Region 2 team to a second Junior Olympic Bronze Medal. L’Etoile, called “Struppie,” was declared Young Rider Champion at both the WFDA CDI*** and the Region 2 Jr/YR Team Championships.

An August clinic with Monica Theodorescu back at McGrath Sport Horse opened a tremendous door for Lauren – the opportunity to bring Billy and Struppie to train in Germany. A semester ahead at Sarah Lawrence, Lauren packed her ponies and headed to Warendorf, where she breathed, slept and dreamed horses for 12 weeks. A month without stirrups revolutionized her seat; watching the best riders in the world on their home territory, in training and in the showring, dazzled her beyond anything she’d ever seen. Mostly, Lauren came to understand how little she knew, and deepened her desire to learn and improve.

Lauren’s boys had an immaculate 2005 season, including an NAYRC Gold Medal, top honors in the national YR standings, and a triumphant debut with Bellinger at the Intermediare II and Grand Prix. Team Sprieser finished their 2005 season with triumphant wins at the Region 8 Championships and Dressage at Devon, and top placings in the Jr/YR Horse of the Year standings.

With L’Etoile sold to a new home, 2006 brought Lauren two new partners, the 5-year-old Westfalen mare Ellegria, who consistently scored above 70% at Training Level, and the 8-year-old Hanoverian mare Clairvoya, on whom after only a few months together, Lauren won the Region 2 Intermediare I Championships, and took Reserve honors in the Prix St. Georges. Not to be outdone, Bellinger and Lauren placed Third in the “Brentina Cup” National Young Adult Championship at Gladstone.

2007 has brought Lauren and her horses some incredible opportunities. First, Lauren and her three horses spent the winter in Loxahatchee, Florida, working for Olympian and dressage legend Carol Lavell. That Spring, Lauren received extraordinary news: her family purchased 130 acres of beautiful rolling hills in Marshall, Virginia, with a 12 stall barn and plans for a world-class indoor arena. With construction underway, Lauren has spent the summer working for another American great, Pam Goodrich. Bellinger again qualified for Gladstone at the Brentina Cup, and both Lauren’s mares and another youngster, a training horse named Victorious, have placed well in their divisions all year long with scores through 70% at Training Level, Second Level and the Small Tour, respectively.

What does 2008 hold in store for Lauren and her horses? Bellinger is currently off with an injury that may force his retirement from the Grand Prix ring, but is more than happy to pass the baton onto his stablemates. Clairvoya is putting together the Grand Prix work, and will complete the qualifiers for the Intermediare I Championships. Ellegria continues to develop towards the FEI work, and will most likely show at Third Level, with eyes on the 2009 Developing Horse Championships at Prix St. Georges. Victorious continues to develop his ability to collect and organize, and may even start the flying changes in time for the 2008 6-year-old division. Come what may, it will be a most exciting year!