David de Wispelaere. Riding in harmony

David began riding at the age of 14 in Rochester, N.Y. and was hooked at once. He excelled in all kind of equestrian sports, was county champion in English and Western, but found his real calling after his first Dressage lesson. Only 2 years later he competed through 4th level and worked for Thomas Poulin and then for Robert Dover. At the same time he searched for the origins of dressage and became captivated by its roots in ancient times and its particular popularity in the Baroque Period.

Especially in choreographing freestyles to music his talent showed. David was twice U.S. Intermediare Freestyle Champion with the grey mount "Highness."

Apart from competitions he started to ride in Baroque Quadrilles in the Massachusets area which he continued with later engagements in Europe. Among others, he rode in the Baroque Horse Ballet at the Salzburg Music Festival, performed with Quadrilles in Kassel Germany and in Graz, Austria.

During his first stay in Germany in 1987 he trained with Olympic Gold Medallist Gabriella Grillo and General Albert Stecken and competed through Grand Prix with the Hannoverian mare Daktari in national and International competitions in Germany, France, and the Netherlands.

With the same mare he won 1 Year later the Grand Prix at Devon, Pennsylvania.

After competing successfully in the U.S. he returned to Germany in 1991 and stayed for 3 years where he extensively worked with the late Dr. Klimke, Gabriella Grillo, Wolfgang Michaelis and Jan Bemelmans. In 1995 he spent a summer training at the facility of the late Herbert Rehbein.

While training in Germany a Rheinlander Yearling caught his eye and consequently Figaro became David's Masterpiece which he started and trained to Grand Prix. During his career Figaro was placed 8th in the Rheinlander Championships and won several Grand Prix and Grand Prix Specials in the U.S. with a high score of 71% at Grand Prix Freestyle.

After riding in a clinic with Arthur Kottas Heldenberg, David was impressed with the effectiveness of his teachers classical approach and in 1998 decided to move to Vienna, Austria and work more intensely with the former 1st rider of the Spanish Riding School. The study of Classical riding led to the interest in more ancient breeds of horses, particular Iberian origins. After an extensive research in Spain, David was one of the first Professional Dressage Trainers to import Spanish Horses (in cooperation with Kimberley van Kampen, owner of HGF) into the U.S. with the purpose of training and competing in Dressage.

He started with young stallions that were not yet trained in Spain and competed "Idilio" and "Camaron" (both owned by Hampton Green Farm) successfully from 2nd level to Prix St. Georges.

With those two and his own stallion "Hacendado" he returned to Spain in 2002 to compete in the National Dressage Championships for Spanish Horses. It was an immense success for David and Hampton Green Farm, since all three horses qualified for the finals in Seville and placed 4th in the top 11 Pure Bred Spanish Stallions in Spain. Til this day a feat that has not been followed up by another rider of non-spanish origin.

In 2003 he decided to move his horses and himself back to Europe, the continent where he most feels at home. As a rider and trainer he enjoys the equestrian lifestyle, rooted in centuries of classical horsemanship and as a private person the richness of european culture, being an admirer of old architecture and collector of antique furniture and art.

Today David de Wispelaere resides and practices his own riding culture in Germany, running a dressage barn in the "Branderhof", an equestrian facility in the heart of Aachen.