Laura Kraut to launch 2024 Olympic campaign at WEF
Laura Kraut’s two Olympic prospects will be on show at WEF as they start on the path to Paris – but the show is to be a training ground for them rather than a competitive campaign.
Baloutinue, a 14-year old Hanoverian bay gelding and Dorado 212, an 11-year old Oldenburg bay gelding – who competed with Laura at the Pan-American Games – will be starting their build up to Versailles when they appear at WEF later in the season.
“The major goal this year is Paris,” said Laura at the opening press conference for the Winter Equestrian Festival and Global Dressage Festival. “I’ve got the two horses that I’m hopefully trying to qualify to go to Paris with – one is Baloutinue and the other is Dorado 212. The idea is probably not to bring either of them out until the middle of February or maybe the beginning of March. Balou had an injury so he’s actually on his way back from that.”
Faced with a challenging timetable in the prelude to Paris, Laura plans to use WEF to condition the pair.
“For them this will be a fitness circuit,” she said. “Because then we have to do two Nations Cups over in Europe and the idea is for those horses to start to peak at the end of June and into July – and on into July and August.”
Calculating the regularity of showing a horse is a challenge Laura is familiar with – particularly at WEF. “Thirteen weeks anywhere is probably too long so you have to really learn how to manage your horses and not overdo and I’m still perfecting that,” she said. “I haven’t actually got it down perfectly.
“To have top competition for 13 weeks is wonderful for people watching riders at the top level week in and week out – it is really educational. But on the flip side you can do your whole year in 13 weeks so you have to be very smart and make sure you don’t overjump your horses. For me that is the hardest part, learning how to pick and choose.”
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