08/18/2025
"Riding was what Laura Kraut’s family did. Her mother Carol rode, so both Laura and her sister, Mary Elizabeth, began riding at an early age. The only one who didn’t ride was their dad, Laurence. While living in Harrisonburg, Virginia, three-year-old Laura helped herself onto a horse for the very first time. Climbing the paddock fence in her back yard, Laura launched herself up onto a horse’s back. Carol looked up and there sat Laura, very proud of herself.
Carol had fallen in love with horses as a child. In grammar school in Charlotte, North Carolina, she began riding Saddle horses, and later migrated to riding hunters. When she moved to Atlanta, Carol rode at Rockridge Farm where she took clinics from icon Gordon Wright and his assistant at the time, George Morris. She rode until the girls were born.
Carol’s education with Gordon and George served her daughters well, as she was able to put great basics on them. She didn’t just teach the girls to ride; they learned horsemanship as well. After school the girls headed for the barn where they cleaned stalls, groomed, learned to braid, cleaned tack…and painted feet. Laura remembers how much they loved to paint their ponies’ feet! While they loved to ride, it was more about the love of the animal. Just being around the ponies was always the best part of Laura’s day.
Family life revolved around horses. When Laura was five years old, they moved to Roswell, Georgia. There, Laura and Mary Elizabeth went to the barn every day. They cared for the ponies, took lessons, and went to horse shows. That suited Laura just fine.
When Laura was five, their first pony was an 11.2 hand buckskin, a “little devil” says Carol, named Siamese Cat. While he was meant mainly as a pet, both girls rode him, occasionally showing him locally and always earning ribbons.
By the time she was 12, Laura’s talent and dedication was clear. Her family showed on the southern circuit, including Aiken, Tryon, and Atlanta. At horse shows she competed with her pinto pony, “Plain and Fancy,” who was pure white with one brown ear and blue eyes. At first Laura didn’t want to ride the pony because Fancy looked so different from all the other show ponies. But one ride convinced her, and she fell in love. “She was the best beginner pony you could ever have,” remembers Carol. Fancy and Laura qualified for indoors in the medium pony hunters.
The school the girls attended absurdly decided riding was not a proper sport and refused to forgive their absences for horse shows (while excusing swimmers and tennis players). Carol and Laurence solved the problem by transferring them to The Galloway School for Athletes. Students had to be serious competitors in their sport to attend. The transfer meant the girls were now free to pursue their passion while keeping up with schoolwork. Classes were in session from 4-7 p.m., but basically they could schedule what they wanted as long as they kept their grades up.
People were keeping an eye on Laura—people who would be instrumental in her career. “By luck,” says Laura, “the trainers (Kathy Paxon and Anne Kenan) at Hunter Hill Farm saw me ride. They had fancy ponies like Polaris Cookie. They called my mom out of the blue and asked if I could ride their ponies. It was a big break!”
🔗 Continue reading the full profile by Ann Jamieson at https://www.theplaidhorse.com/2022/02/25/laura-kraut-talent-and-timing-part-i/
