Lauren Nicholson (née Kieffer; born June 6, 1987) is an American

equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or Riding in British English) Examples of this are: *Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes in ...

who competes in

eventing Eventing (also known as three day eventing or horse trials) is an equestrian event where a single horse and rider combine and compete against other competitors across the three disciplines of dressage, cross-country, and show jumping. Thi ...

. As the leading USA rider in the Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event CCI, she won the Pinnacle Cup Trophy in 2014 and again in 2016, both times riding the

Dutch Warmblood A Dutch Warmblood is a warmblood type of horse registered with the Koninklijk Warmbloed Paardenstamboek Nederland (Royal Warmblood Studbook of the Netherlands (KWPN), which governs the breeding of competitive dressage and show jumping horses ...

mare A mare is an adult female horse or other equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than four ...

Veronica with whom she has been paired since 2013. Nicholson was a member of the gold medal-winning US eventing team at the

2015 Pan American Games Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music *Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak alb ...

, riding Meadowbrook's Scarlett. Nicholson comes from a "non-horsey" family, the only daughter of a diesel mechanic and an accountant. She began riding lessons at age six, and began competing in eventing at age 12. She is closely associated with champion equestrians and trainers

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

and

Karen O'Connor Karen Lende O'Connor (born February 17, 1958) is an American equestrian who competes in three-day eventing. Although she did not come from a family of equestrians, her interest in horses started at an early age, and she received her first hor ...

, with whom she has served a working apprenticeship since her late teens. As of April 2016, Nicholson was the world's ninth-ranked eventing equestrian according to the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI), and at the time of the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

in which Nicholson competed, was considered the top-ranked female eventing athlete in the United States. In 2019, Nicholson was placed in the top 10 in the

Burghley Horse Trials The Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials is an annual three-day event held at Burghley House near Stamford, Lincolnshire, England, currently in early September. Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials is classified by the FEI as one of the six leading th ...

5* aboard the American-bred

Anglo-Arabian The Anglo-Arabian or Anglo-Arab is a crossbred, part-Arabian horse that now also has its own status as a horse breed. It is the result of a Thoroughbred (hence, the prefix "Anglo") being crossed with an Arabian. The cross can be made betw ...

Vermiculus, the top placing among the contingent of riders from the United States. Vermiculus is a full brother to her 2010 Kentucky Three-Day Event horse Snooze Alarm. In discussing the training of Vermiculus, Nicholson has said, "You have to be very conscientious producing them nglo-Arabs because they’re very, very smart."

CCI***** results

International Championship Results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholson, Lauren 1987 births Living people American event riders American female equestrians People from Mount Carmel, Illinois Sportspeople from Illinois Equestrians at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic equestrians for the United States Equestrians at the 2015 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2015 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in equestrian 21st-century American women