About Jan Symons 

Jan is an international trainer with an impressive career. 

Throughout his career, he developed a unique training approach focused on the biomechanics of the horse, respect for its natural movement, and clear communication between horse and rider.

His expertise has taken him around the world, where he has guided riders at all levels. With this vision, he trains in dressage, show jumping, and eventing and has coached horse-and-rider combinations that competed at 8 Olympic Games

The beginning of his journey

Jan’s passion for horses started at a young age. His mother began riding first, and Jan followed when he was only 6 years old . The owner of the stable immediately recognised his connection with horses and encouraged his parents to support him in developing his talent further.

His parents gave him the opportunity to gain experience beyond Belgium from a young age, allowing him to learn from different trainers and broaden his understanding of horses. Over the years, this experience shaped him into a rider and trainer with a deep understanding of horse development.

Developing a training approach for every discipline

Jan’s journey as a trainer evolved when he started teaching the daughter of Evelyne Blaton, an Olympic rider. Although Evelyne had stopped riding, she observed Jan’s lessons and became inspired by his approach. This motivated her to start again with Jan as her trainer. Shortly afterwards, she introduced Jan to Philippe Le Jeune and Vigo D’Arsouilles. 

After Jan had trained with Vigo for some time, Philippe competed with Vigo. He explained to Jan that Vigo was too finely tuned and that he needed to focus less on the details, because the approach in jumping is different from dressage. This made Jan reflect, and he realised that show jumping horses need a different type of dressage training than dressage horses.

With Evelyne’s help in developing his jumping knowledge, Jan began adapting his dressage principles specifically for jumping horses. This became the foundation of his unique approach: developing correct training that respects the needs of each horse and discipline

Sharing his experience worldwide

Today, Jan continues to share his training philosophy with riders around the world. By combining biomechanics, natural movement, and clear communication, he helps every horse-and-rider combination reach its full potential, from ambitious amateurs to Olympic level.