I grew up in a village in the east of Switzerland, with a twin brother and a younger sister.

In 1997 I finished an apprenticeship as a tool and die maker with the best result in the Country. I really enjoyed the trade. My hobbies were mountaineering, making tools, leatherwork, woodwork and anything else we needed in our family workshop and riding once or twice a week.

In 2000 I discovered the Parelli Program, with my loan horse. All of a sudden I had a plan with my horse and the horse understood it too! So I decided to (and had the luck to be accepted) be a working student at Pat’s ranch in Colorado. I stayed for a year and was amazed how much I learned in these 12 months.

My trade was important to me at this time and only because I always had work at home, was I able to go through Pat’s program. Later I went to Montana for 6 months to ride with Ronnie Willis, which was the best time ever! Lots of young horses, some restarts and one of the best Horsemen as a teacher. I rode up to 10 horses a day six days a week.

After I became certified as a Parelli instructor and colt starter, I decided to quit tool making. I teach the Parelli program in various formats from private lessons to three day clinics.

In 2011 I moved to England to be with Alison.

Every year I go back to the Parelli source, for at least a month, to be up to date and improve in the different areas of expertise; teaching the program, colt starting, training of the foundation for performance and driving.

My biggest passion is young horse starting; I start colts all year in England and twice a year in Switzerland. Mountaineering and colt starting are very similar, it’s critical to respect the laws of nature and important that the whole team (guide and guest) makes it to the top and back to the cabin before dark.

My goal is to help everyone get closer and achieve their dreams with horses. The Parelli programme has enabled me to live my dream, I look forward to being able to help passionate horse lovers achieve theirs too.

Watch David and Alison’s demonstration ‘How to Become Partners’ in Arena 1

For more information visit www.thehorseplace.net

“I was really impressed to see how quickly David spotted the areas of weakness in my progress with my horse Taz, giving me lots of useful games to play to help with his specific issues. He was very encouraging and made it lots of fun!”

Nell Cruse

I sent my 3 year old filly Temi to David for starting and couldn’t be more pleased with the results. David kept me up to date throughout her training and then provided a comprehensive handover, which has left me confident and knowledgeable as to how to continue with Temi’s education and what to expect along the way.

I managed to visit Temi and David a couple of times at the start of her training and I was blown away by how much they had achieved in such a short space of time, Temi was happy, confident and willing.

David exceeded my expectations in every respect; the start Temi has received has laid down the foundations for whatever the future holds for us in whatever discipline we choose and I will definitely be sending any future youngsters to David for their formative education.

Darna Dunne