Verdades to Retire After Lifetime With Laura Graves as One of Top American Partnerships in History

Verdades is being retired at the age of 18 after a lifelong partneship with Laura Graves that earned Olympic and world championship medals to become one of the top horses in the history of American dressage. (Photos of the highlights of the career of Verdades and Laura will be posted today).

The retirement of the Dutch Warmblood gelding was announced Wednesday by Laura, the opening day of the winter-long Global Dressage Festival where the combination had been stars as they were on the world stage for the past six years. Global this year is a key in U.S. Olympic team selection for Tokyo in July.

The absence of Verdades and Laura from Olympic team selection leaves their three team mates–Kasey Perry-Glass on Dublet, Adrienne Lyle on Salvino and Steffen Peters on Suppenkasper among those vying for the three places on the team.

“It is with both a heavy heart and a grateful mind that today I announce the retirement of my great friend, Diddy. I’ve always promised that I would do my best to listen and make the right choice for him when this time came.

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Article written by: KENNETH J. BRADDICK