"Do It With A Smile"
Horses have shaped my life in ways words can barely capture. They offer their strength, grace, and trust, asking only that we treat them with care and respect. There is a quiet understanding between horse and human; a bond that feels as old as time. I believe they sense how much we depend on them and willingly step into the role of partner, whether in work, sport, or simple companionship. I also believe these magnificent animals are among God’s greatest blessings. My deep faith reminds me that this partnership is a gift from Him; one we are called to honor by cherishing their presence, safeguarding their place in our world, and never forgetting the privilege it is to share our lives with them.
About Lisa
Lisa’s story begins in the American West, where her Colorado upbringing and Pony Club roots sparked a passion for horses that carried her to Europe to train and compete with the best in the world. Early coaching with Jan Ebeling opened the door to Germany; in 1994 she crossed the Atlantic to study with the late master Herbert Rehbein at Gestut Gronwohldhof, immersing herself in the language, the system, and the discipline that would define her career. In Germany she earned the Bereiter and Reitlehrer credentials, a signal that she had absorbed the method from the inside out rather than as a visitor.
Lisa’s unique talent met opportunity at Gestüt Vorwerk in Cappeln, one of the Oldenburg breed’s standard-bearing stations. There she became head rider and the public face of the stud’s stallion string, riding nine horses a day and showing on most weekends. It was an elite proving ground; Ernst Hoyos, a longtime veteran of the Spanish Riding School in Vienna, stood at the rail and sharpened every transition. The Vorwerk years paired Lisa’s American work ethic with classical exactitude; they also linked her to the breeding stallions that would carry her to the top of the sport.
Royal Diamond marked the first major crest. The grey, a full brother to Rohdiamant, was already gifted; under Lisa he announced himself as a young-horse champion. In 1999 the pair were reserve champions in the five-year-old division at the Bundeschampionat in Warendorf; in 2000 they returned and won the six-year-old title. Royal Diamond twice qualified for the Nürnberger Burg-Pokal finals and was a consistent Small Tour winner. Lisa competed with Royal Diamond through Grand Prix with scores in the 70s evidence of training that transformed potential into reliable performance, at the highest level.
Rohdiamant gave Lisa her first sustained experience piloting a famous Grand Prix stallion under bright lights. By early 2000 she was posting 70 percent freestyles on him, stepping into the international conversation not as a one-horse rider but as a specialist in producing and presenting elite breeding stallions at the highest levels. That capacity to polish expression without losing training purity would become her signature.
The defining partnership, however, was Relevant, an Oldenburg by Rubinstein. In 2002 at the FEI World Equestrian Games in Jerez, Lisa and Relevant helped the United States secure team silver, and Lisa finished fifth individually, a performance that signaled she belonged at the peak of international dressage.
A year later came Hickstead. The 2003 European Championships were designated “open,” allowing non-European riders to compete. Lisa and Relevant delivered a 77.042 percent Grand Prix to stand second, and over the weekend’s championship they earned the individual silver medal in the open classification. Hickstead was more than a result sheet; it was a public mastering of pressure against the era’s strongest combinations. It also marked a milestone for the United States: Lisa became the first American dressage rider to achieve a world No. 2 ranking.
Athens in 2004 added an Olympic chapter. Riding Relevant, Lisa joined Debbie McDonald, Robert Dover, and Guenter Seidel to win team bronze for the United States. In a nation building depth at Grand Prix, Lisa’s consistency with a breeding stallion was particularly instructive; she was showing that elegance and reliability could overlap even under the sport’s heaviest scrutiny.
After the Games she kept the European rhythm for a season, basing in Switzerland for owner Dr. Samuel Schatzmann and maintaining a busy competition barn with Ernst Hoyos consulting monthly. The structure was pure European: multiple Grand Prix horses, a Small Tour project with Burg-Pokal ambitions, and a pipeline of young prospects stepping into bigger work.
In 2006 she brought the knowledge home. Lisa returned to the United States to set up a focused training operation in Florida, limiting numbers to protect quality, and began teaching widely. The move did not slow the competitive engine; rather, it widened her impact and made European craft available to American riders who could not themselves decamp to Cappeln or Vienna.
The next decade traced a second act that blended coaching with new stars in the ring. With Horses Unlimited’s Hanoverian stallion Pikko del Cerro HU, Lisa won the 2011 USEF Developing Horse National Championship, then the inaugural USEF Developing Grand Prix National Championship in 2012. In 2013 the pair debuted internationally at Wellington with wins in the CDI-W and CDI3*, then flew back to her old stopping grounds to score above 70 percent at Grand Prix in Germany. Pikko del Cerro became a three-time U.S. national champion, as a US-bred stallion developed through Lisa’s systematic program to CDI Grand Prix.
The Devon thread ran through this era as well. As a graduate of Dressage at Devon’s “Born in the USA” pipeline, Pikko del Cerro symbolized Lisa’s commitment to American breeding; she showcased how a U.S.-bred could be educated to international standard without sacrificing scope or temperament.
Meanwhile, Lisa continued to produce CDI results in Wellington, including a Grand Prix Special win at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival in 2013 and further CDI placings with Denzello. She was not only winning; she was teaching by demonstration, bringing the careful straightness work and shoulder control that characterized her training into very public test rides.
By the late 2010s, the competitive highlights were paired with a steady calendar as a clinician and program builder. Based in Wellington, she developed horses for owners across North America and filled clinics with riders wanting the classical, horse-first clarity she had refined under Hoyos. Her 2017 AGDF victories and Nations Cup performances with Galant affirmed that the competitive instinct still burned.
When asked what holds it all together, Lisa speaks not of the drive that brought her from Colorado to Cappeln, but of the lessons Europe gave her: the patient technique, quiet repetition, and daily correctness that let true expression emerge without force. Her program treats collection as a gymnastic fact rather than a theatrical trick, the very ethos that made her so effective with sensitive stallions. The Spanish Riding School imprint is clear in the detail, but the American work ethic is there too; the training is systematic, ambitious, and kind.
Today her Wellington base operates as an elite training stable, where she systematically develops horses for their owners as well as a homebred of her own and helps owner-riders progress through her program toward their own competition goals. Her clients range from international students seeking a winter training base to dedicated riders from across the United States; many of whom have relocated to Wellington for the opportunity to train and learn directly from Lisa. Beyond the stable, she travels widely to teach clinics, bringing European standards into U.S. barns and show-grounds from Ocala to the Midwest. Riders come for a lesson and leave with inspiration, new tools, polish, and a plan.
Lisa Wilcox’s career arc is both rich and inspiring. She carried her passion and strong work ethic from Colorado to Europe, where she earned Bundeschampionat titles to World Equestrian Games silver, from an open European medal to Olympic Bronze, while serving as head rider for a stallion station. Guided by her motto, ‘Do it with a smile,’ she now focuses on sharing the depth of knowledge gained abroad; spreading her expertise, inspiring riders, and helping them achieve world-class standards. The medals highlight her journey; the lasting impact is the wisdom and joy she brings to every rider she teaches.
Ringside with Lisa
Current competition and clinic dates; upcoming events and educational opportunities in one place.
