Golden Groom Philip Willaert: “I Couldn’t Form a Team Like This with Anyone Else!”

Carriage driving was not something Filip grew up with. His neighbour Joshua Maerevoet was in the same class as Annelies van Praet, daughter of Eric van Praet and sister of Nico. Filip explains:

“At home, horses played no role at all, but I often visited the Van Praet family. When we were at Eric’s place, we were often asked if we wanted to join for a carriage ride. I enjoyed that from the very beginning. One day, Eric said: ‘Can you go and get the horses from the field?’ It was about 200 metres away. I had never handled a horse before that day, but from that moment on, I was hooked. I found—and still find—horses very special animals.”