Lauren Nicholson (née Kieffer; born June 6, 1987)[1][2][3] is an American equestrian who competes in eventing.[1] 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 Warmbloodmare Veronica[4] with whom she has been paired since 2013.[5] Nicholson was a member of the gold medal-winning US eventing team at the 2015 Pan American Games, riding Meadowbrook's Scarlett.[3]
Nicholson comes from a "non-horsey" family,[6] the only daughter of a diesel mechanic and an accountant.[7] She began riding lessons at age six, and began competing in eventing at age 12.[3] She is closely associated with champion equestrians and trainers David and Karen O'Connor, with whom she has served a working apprenticeship since her late teens.[6]
As of April 2016, Nicholson was the world's ninth-ranked eventing equestrian according to the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI),[8] and at the time of the 2016 Summer Olympics in which Nicholson competed, was considered the top-ranked female eventing athlete
in the United States.[7]
In 2019, Nicholson was placed in the top 10 in the Burghley Horse Trials 5* aboard the American-bred Anglo-Arabian Vermiculus,[9] 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[Anglo-Arabs], because they’re very, very smart."[10]
