Lauren and TB mare Quixotic at last year’s Burghley
Every now and then you meet someone interesting, someone that stands out from the crowd. I was lucky enough to meet Lauren Shannon recently at Burghley. As an Eventer, Lauren is just starting to come into her own with two really good seasons behind her.
I met Lauren over a glass of French Champagne at the Land Rover Cocktail Party, where Lauren was picking up her award for the highest placed under 25 year old rider, for the second year running, she finished ninth.
In fact Lauren has had five four-star starts in the last 18 months, she has completed XC in all five and had three top twenty finishes. Not bad considering they were at Burghley 2010 & 2011 and Badminton 2011. This recent form has been hard won because every step forward has been accompanied by three backwards–until reaching the four-star level her results had been mixed.
I caught up with Lauren again this week to chat a little more and she talked of the harsh reality of life as an Eventer, especially one aspiring for an Olympic spot. Lauren remained on her Burghley high for about as long as it took to make the long walk back from the Land Rover tent to the truck park and start the short drive home in her borrowed (lorry) truck.
As we know, one great result in Eventing is just that, you need a string of great results and the depth of horsepower to make it long term. No horizon is ever definite. London is less than a year away and a real possibility now, Lauren thinks if picked she would go as an individual rather than British team rider but London is but a mere stones-throw away and Zero Flight her only equine partner qualified.
Normandy is also nearing and many an Eventer is already planning as far out as Rio in 2016. Good horsepower comes with long term planning. I asked Lauren how she builds her equine team. As a young Eventer trying to make her name in the highly crowded (especially at the top) British Eventing scene Lauren makes her mark by buying young horses and bringing them on, as well as teaching everywhere from Pony Club to high level Eventers.
Lauren believes that breeding horses is too much of a gamble and after spending many years under the watchful eyes of Mark and Tania Kyle, who make a living from trading Irish Sport Horses, Lauren has an eye for a good youngster.
Lauren prefers the sport horses as well as thoroughbreds over warmblood types for their heart and running. Most of Lauren’s current team are Irish Sport Horses and given her connections to the breed that is unlikely to change in the near future. There is definitely something to be said for having enough horse between your legs to still have some running at the end of 12 minutes of XC.
Lauren and Zero Flight at the last fence Burghley this year, with pink pom-pom
So why does Lauren stand out from the crowd so much? It may be her pink pom-pom on her XC helmet? It may be that Utah accent? Lauren was born in the UK but spent her formative years growing up in the USA. Perhaps it is her tech savvy, social media presence?
You can’t miss Lauren on the web, she has a her own site, a Horse and Hound blog, Twitter and Facebook. Her trials and tribulations, especially with her truck, which is a little tired to be honest–she was too embarrassed to drive her own truck to Burghley–are played out on twitter. Lauren uses social media as a tool for her business, to communicate with her supporters and sponsors and hopefully to help gain new supporters.
It may be her bravery? We know all Eventers need to be brave, but how many are prepared to do a full nude, rear on? Lauren has featured in the new fundraising calendar, Riders Revealed raising money for spinal research and Claire Lomas who was injured in an eventing accident in 2007. Claire collided with a tree on the cross country at Osberton Horse Trials, just a freak accident that changed her life.
What I do know is Lauren Shannon is a rider and she is rising to the top, she will win GOLD, she will represent her Nation at the Olympics. Keep an eye on her. Lauren’s goal now, apart from London, is to build her team of horses. She needs more horsepower and more horsepower requires more owners and the cycle continues. What I found during our conversations is that Lauren is tough. She has worked very hard including making some mistakes along the way but now she is focused, businesslike, and just that little bit different.
Don’t get me wrong, I think that in the business of Eventing we all need our signatures that help to define our persona. For instance that pink pom-pom on the XC helmet, that is a token of her childhood Eventing in the USA where everything in her tack was colour matched, which is something that is a little frowned upon in her native UK.
As for that photo, Lauren did it for a great cause and is among legends in our sport who also bared all, Mark Todd, Blyth Tait and Mary King and many more. E N favorite Nico Morgan shot it and has generously shared some of his other pics of Lauren for this story, thanks again Nico. The pic below is a cropped version of the one in the Calendar, I asked Nico if we could tease the calendar pic and this is the result.
A preview of the Riders Revealed Calendar pic
You can buy a copy of the Riders Revealed Calendar here, they will send it worldwide for £14.95 and payment is via PayPal–a great Christmas present for the Riders in your life.
Keep and eye on Lauren, I recommend following Lauren on twitter @ShannonEventing and you will get little gems like this. I have NEVER seen bikini clad girls sunbathing in the truck park before.
Yours in Eventing,
ESJ
