About Laura

     

Laura Mungioli grew up in Rochester Hills, Michigan where she began riding at the age of 10. As a horse obsessed child her parents bought her a series of lessons for her 10th birthday- From there she never looked back. At age 15 Laura discovered the sport of eventing and was hooked. With all the support in the world from her family she started working to  afford to ride and pursue her dream of riding at the 4* level.

     Laura's trainer growing up, Marian Hutchins, impressed upon her the importance of dressage and how it influenced all three phases of eventing. Marian also encouraged riding with upper level trainers. We'd travel to school with Ian Roberts in Canada, and take clinics  with Stuart Young-Black. Laura also gained experience on many horses and breaking youngsters under Marian's guidance

      In 2003 Laura bought her first horse- Bahada. She was your typical mare that taught her a lot about riding, including patience and how to fall. She also saw many victories and learned more than she could have from an easier horse. They competed in a Training 3-Day Event where they completed on their dressage score. She also had her first taste of competing at the Preliminary level and completed the American Eventing Championships.  At the end of that summer Bahada was sadly retired from jumping due to arthritis in her hocks and took up a career in dressage.

    Searching for another horse was put on the back burner as Laura began college at Michigan State University where she received a degree in Animal Science. However, horses seem to fall in our laps when we least expect it, and at the end of her Sophomore year she acquired Ian, aka If By Chance. Ian was a fabulous Trakehner gelding who blasted on the eventing scene where he enjoyed walking away with the dressage, rocking around the XC course and looking cute as a button in the stadium.

    With Ian, Laura started working with 4* rider Bill Hoos in Franklin, TN where she decided to become a working student over  the summer of 2007. Once graduated, Laura relocated to Franklin in January 2008 to live  with the Hoos family for 6 months. The Hoos's have influenced her life in the most positive way and do nothing but hope for her success. 

    Laura's most recent competition partner is River Card, aka River.  River was purchased as a 2 year old for $1. Having never been handled before, River was a handful. It took time and patience, but River turned into a fabulous competition partner and was successful at the preliminary level. River was unfortunately retired due to a tendon injury in 2013. 

    Laura's favorite part of riding is working with difficult and young horses. She enjoys watching them progress in their training and become competition partners. Her goal as a rider is to compete at the 4* level, and doesn't plan on stopping until she gets there. As a coach she hopes to influence as many students lives in the same positive way her coaches have influenced hers. Besides riding and training, Laura also worked part time as a Veterinary Technician and still enjoys volunteering with veterinarians as it aids in her ability to care for the horses. She enjoys traveling and reading and spending time with her family and childhood friends. If life offers the opportunity she would also like to attend Vet School at some point  in her future.