William Whitaker has made the decision to base himself in Belgium to further his showjumping career.
The 26-year-old will be taking a handful of his top horses to the yard of Tal Milstein near Brussels. William will also be competing some of Tal’s horses.
“I’ve often thought about the idea of moving abroad to reduce the travelling. It was a hard decision because I like being based in England — apart from the amount of travelling you have to do to get to shows — it is a great place to produce good young horses,” he told H&H.
William’s family, fiancée Elisabeth Fredlund and two young children Isabella and Oliver, plan to make the move with him initially, but will return to the UK when Isabella starts school. He will then spilt his time between the two countries.
“It was also a difficult decision because I have a family to think about too. They will join me to start with but then my daughter is starting school in England, so I will be coming and going a lot,” he added.
“I will be taking some of my best horses to Belgium — although I haven’t decided which yet — and others will remain at the yard in Huddersfield. It will depend on their show plans, I will probably end up swapping and changing horses around, to give some a break,” he said. “My brothers, George and James, will be looking after the yard and riding while I am away.”
Although a move date has not been set in stone, William believes it will be in the next month or so.
“I made the decision to broaden my horizons and I will just see how things develop in the future. I am heading to Royal Windsor this week (12-15 May), so I will be concentrating on that show first before making plans on the move afterwards,” he concluded.
