Lauren Hough
Born: April 11, 1977
Hometown: Wellington, Florida
A native Californian, Hough got her start in the hunter ring as a successful junior rider. Most of her show jumping success in the early years was due in part to two horses, Clasiko and Windy City. She won the National Horse Show Grand Prix back-to-back in 2001 and 2002.
Lauren Hough and Quick Study win the $150,0000 Wellington Equestrian Realty Grand Prix CSIO4*. (Photo by SportFot)
A member of the 2000 Sydney Olympic squad, Hough had Olympic aspirations running through her veins at birth. Her father, Champ, was a member of the 1952 Olympic Team in eventing. Hough was a member of the Gold medal-winning Pan American Games team in 2003, representing the U.S. in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Demonstrating her tenacity, she rode in the selection trials with a broken collarbone.
With Casadora, Hough was a member of the 2007 Pan American Games Bronze medal-winning team. The pair started off 2008 with a victory at the $75,000 Green Cove Springs CSI-W Grand Prix. During the first week of the 2008 Spruce Meadows Summer Series, Hough and Casadora won the ATB Financial Cup. Later that week, she won the 1.50m ATCO Midstream Winning Round with Quick Study.
In 2009, Hough and Quick Study were part of the winning U.S. Meydan FEI Nations Cup team in May at CSIO Rome. The pair was also second in the Helsinki Grand Prix.
Early 2010 played out as another successful season for Hough in Florida. She and Quick Study jumped to third place in the $200,000 WEF FEI World Cup Qualifier.
The summer of 2010 proved to be a successful one for Hough in Europe. With Quick Study, she won the Global Champions Tour Grand Prix at Hamburg in May. The pair were then on the winning team at the Meydan FEI Nations Cup stop in Rotterdam, where they were fault free in both rounds. They completed the year by representing the United States at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Lexington, KY.
Hough and Quick Study had a strong start to the 2011 season in Wellington, FL. At the beginning of February, they won the fourth round of the WEF Challenge Cup Series. They began March by capturing the $150,000 Wellington Equestrian Realty Grand Prix CSIO4* and bookended the month by placing second in the $500,000 FTI Consulting Finale Grand Prix.
In August 2011, Hough and Quick Study claimed one of their biggest victories to date, capturing the Longines Dublin International Grand Prix.
In 2012, Hough is once again jumping at the FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival. At the end of January, she guided Blue Angel to a third place finish in the $80,000 Adequan Grand Prix. The pair also finished second in the $25,000 Spring 2 Grand Prix.
In April, Hough travelled in the West Coast to compete at the Del Mar National Horse Show, which also played host to two Observation Events for the 2012 U.S. Show Jumping Team. Hough rode Blue Angel to finish second and fourth in the $100,000 Hermes Grand Prix of Del Mar and the $50,000 Surfside Grand Prix respectively.
Riding over in Europe that summer, Hough and Ohlala took first and fourth place honors in two CSI 3* classes in Norten Hardenberg, Germany. She followed it up with two victories and a second in the CSI YH1* classes at Hamburg, Germany. Germany sent Hough out of the country with a good-bye gift in the form of a third, sixth, and seventh in CSI 5* classes at the Wiesbaden event. The Netherlands proved to be just as successful for Hough and her string of horses with a second, fifth, and sixth in three CSI3* classes at Am De Steeg Gelderland.
Hough returned to Germany in July, winning two CSIYH1* classes and earning a slew of CSIO5* ribbons at Aachen. She then continued of her tour of Europe by placing eighth in a CSI5* class at GCT Estoril in Portugal and sixth at the CSI5* San Patrignano event in Italy. Her string won her three Top 10 placings in CSI3* classes at Dinard, France before she earned another sixth place finish in the CSI3* at Beervelde, Belgium.
When Hough isn’t riding, she loves to cook and spend time with her friends and family.