Den Oever Stables: that's An Verlinden and Lara De Grave!

An's big dream was to turn her passion into her (side) profession. Over the years she built her own private stable, little by little. In the early stages, her stable was modest and held her Friesian horse, Jelto, which she wanted to train to Prix St. George level at her own pace. During that time she was trained by several professional riders. When Lara De Grave crossed her path, she achieved that goal.

That was the start of a deep friendship. It also marked An's first purchase of a PRE, Kitkat de Mile. This sparked the ambition to break in her own horse and  to train it to Grand Prix level. Only time will tell how this journey will evolve. In the meantime, the learning curve this journey brings is already fulfilling for An. Together with  Lara, An decided to purchase more horses to train and successfully show at competitions.

Lara De Grave is a talented dressage rider. That is substantiated by the prestigious degree of 'Bereiter' she obtained in Germany. The first year she was trained by Ronny Roelands and afterwards by Holger Münstermann. In her youth, Lara was trained by Carlos De Cleermaecker and did an internship with Johan Hinnemann. Later on she worked for Gudrun Schlack for a long period of time. Afterwards she  was taught by some of the best schoolmasters at GP level. Moreover, in Belgium, Lara obtained a degree as self-employed riding instructor.

Horse riding remains an eternal learning and evolving process. That is why Lara kept on following internships to expand her knowledge, among others from Mieke Lunskens, Lotje Schoots, Arthur Kottas, Jacqueline Fiechter,...

Ever since An and Lara found their mutual interest in Iberian horses, they regularly attend clinics by Gaetan Bocklandt, Javier Morales Santiago and last but not least Guillermo Garcia Ayala.