About Laura & Birch Grove Farm

Laura Vello has never known a life without horses. Born into a horse loving family, Laura quickly joined in on the family pastime. Laura was three years old when she was surprised with the gift of her first pony Coco. The pair bonded quickly and soon thereafter Laura and Coco were competing in the lead line class at the local area horse shows. It was not long before Laura chose riding as her sport. She enrolled in the local Pony Club and joined her family by competing in the regional Arabian Horse Association circuit.

The Vello family was very active in United States Pony Club and in the USPC Tri-State Region. Laura joined Pony Club at the age of seven to gain a solid understanding of horsemanship and safety. Laura progressed steadily through the ratings and received numerous awards for her riding, sportsmanship and horse management skills. Laura has competed at the United States Pony Club National Championship level in the disciplines of Eventing, Show Jumping, Dressage, and Games.

At the age of 19 Laura moved to Charleston, South Carolina to attend the College of Charleston, a nationally recognized public liberal arts and sciences university. Laura continued training and showing her mare Gris-D-Moment at the Preliminary level while completing her undergraduate degree in Political Science. Upon graduation Laura moved to Aiken, South Carolina to further develop her training and coaching skills while expanding her competition opportunities. In May of 2008 Laura returned to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to manage and develop Birch Grove Farm Equestrian Training Center into the area’s premier Eventing facility. The team members of Birch Grove Farm have become known for excellence in equine care and farm management under Laura’s leadership.

Currently Laura is competing at the International Three day level, and is focusing on further developing her skills as an Event rider, horseman, and coach. Laura works closely with coaches, International Event Rider and winner of the 2008 Bromont CCI***Sharon White, Show Jumper Ann Thal, and Grand Prix Dressage rider and Dressage judge Carol Bishop to further her education. Laura has developed many successful Event horses including Chloe, Gris-D-Moment, Winning Facts, C’est La Vie, and the newest member of the team Kiako Jana.

Laura’s teaching and coaching philosophy includes a team approach that allows both horse and rider to maximize their opportunities and improve their skills as a team. Laura customizes her approach to fit the developmental needs of each horse and rider combination, while building a solid foundation of horsemanship and safety for each horse and rider team she coaches. Laura loves what she does and that shows in her teaching and coaching. Her passion and love for the sport and her desire to help you and your horse learn, develop and grow is unparalleled.

Birch Grove Farm is a boarding and training facility located southwest of Pittsburgh, PA. 38 acres of level rolling property, main barn features 50 12X12 matted stalls, 2 foaling stalls, with heated Nelson automatic waterers, two tack rooms, 2 feed storage areas, heated lounge, viewing balcony, two wash stalls, fantastic indoor arena, office, and laundry room. Convenient to Interstate 79 and Routes 22/30. 80X200 Indoor lighted arena with excellent footing, as well as 80X140 Outdoor arena. 14 Post and Rail Paddocks.