Didier Kempter

Didier Kempter is a craftsman - a professional trainer specializing in horse training education & re-education.

Around the age of 12, Didier rode as a gentlemen rider at Sterrebeek, where he trained race horses. A few years after that, he participated in many jumping and dressage competitions. When he was 25 years old, he turned to Western Riding and competed as a professional rider in all of Europe.

It is especially Didier's passion for horses that convinced him in 2003 to turn to new training and educational methods which were appearing in the equestrian world from people known as "horse whisperers," such as John and Josh Lyons, Monty Roberts, Pat Parelli, and Craig Cameron... all in the United States.

In 2004, John Lyons' first arrival in Europe was organized by Elisabeth de Corbigny, who was one of John's students. She gave Didier the opportunity to organize John Lyons's symposium in Belgium (Moorsele). The arrival of John Lyons in Belgium and France was a great event within the equestrian world. John Lyons, "The Most Ttrusted Horseman in the USA," a great horseman and excellent teacher, presented an opportunity to discover in an admirable way the link between the new methods and our traditional horsemanship.

In 2005, enthusiastic and willing to learn more, Didier attended an intensive, six-month certification and training program at John and Josh Lyons' facility in Colorado, USA, and returned to Belgium as a "Certified John and Josh Lyons Trainer". Thanks to the excellent training program, mainly taught by Josh Lyons (son of John Lyons), Didier has had the opportunity to learn how to obtain and build, in record time, a willing partnership with all horses.

Through this investment of himself, and of his money and time spent learning, these intensive trainings have supplied Didier with thorough knowledge concerning the application of new, effective training, as well as education methods for horses.

Didier Kempter is the first Belgian trainer certified by John and Josh Lyons, and he is putting his knowledge to work in the service of the equestrian world in Belgium and the rest of Europe.

In 2007, he and his wife, Graziella Walravens, organized the arrival of Josh and Jana Lyons (and their children) to Belgium for a two-day symposium and two three-day riding clinics. Everything was fully-booked, and it turned out to be a wonderful and successful event, with lots of local and international press attention and sponsorships. The whole event was organized in partnership with Domaine de Rigenée, the riding facilities at Villers-la-Ville.

Didier has spent the past four years working full-time as a horse trainer, travelling all over Belgium, France and Holland. His main activities include foal handling, horse training, horse education and re-education. During the weekends, he and Graziella organize workshops, demos and clinics, in both French and Dutch, to meet and train horses, as well as riders from different disciplines and nations.

Today, Didier lives at the riding facilities of Le Domaine de Rigenée, which are owned by Mr. and Ms. Laloux, at ‘Villers-la-Ville’. Here he gives workshops and daily lessons and boards horses for training.

Didier's 2008 Event Schedule: