Although Lauren is not a full-time boarder at SendonWay, she regularly trailers her horse Folio in for lessons with Nancy. Here is her "story" in her own words:

I started riding hunter/jumpers when I was 8 years old. My first pony was a leased Welsh Arabian named Dr. J. I fell off him at least once, and frequently twice, every day I rode him. We were Short Stirrup champions in the Ohio Hunter Jumper Association in 1985. I still have my second pony, a now 29-year-old buckskin Quarter Pony named Rainbow Connection (RC). RC and I were OHJA Large Pony Champions in 1987, and my younger sister Lindsay took him to the then AHSA (now USA equestrian) pony finals in 1991. 

 The second horse I owned was an bay Anglo-Trakehner mare named Lunar Eclipse (Ellie). Ellie is largely responsible both for my switch from hunters to dressage and for my career in veterinary medicine. Ellie and I qualified for the AHSA Medal Finals in 1991 and that is where she decided not to jump fences anymore. Since I liked her more than jumping, dressage seemed like a great choice. She never got further than Training Level, but I liked the sport so much better I have been a dressage devote ever since. It was at a show with Ellie (helping a vet attend one of her many injuries) that I realized that I wanted to go to vet school.

I was accepted to the Ohio State College of Veterinary Medicine as a member of the Class of 2000. Ellie was admitted to Ohio State as a

patient in March of 1998 after she broke her leg while turned out. She was humanely destroyed a few months later. 

 

I bought Portfolio, aka Foli, two months after putting Ellie down. Foli is a now a 16-year-old Anglo-Trakehner gelding. Although I bought him to do dressage, he has done a bit of everything. He has shown hunters, jumpers and western pleasure. He likes trail riding and is a fabulous "patient" when veterinary students, college students and even some high school students spend time "shadowing" me. He has fabulous veins, and stands very still for people to practice drawing blood and giving shots. 

 

Foli and I acheived our USDF Bronze Medal in 2007 and are working toward our Silver Medal. In 2009 we got both Fourth Level scores toward that goal.