Klaus Ferdinand Hempfling

Klaus Ferdinand Hempfling was born in Westphalia in 1957. After completing an education in the field of telecommunications technology in 1978, he took the time to deepen his understanding of life by becoming a teacher, freelance artist, theater director and traveler. After several years in the Spanish Pyrenees he became, at twenty-six, a full-time lecturer at the School of Art and Design in Dortmund. During this period he undertook a detailed study of mythology and found he was continually confronted with that most significant symbol of our culture - the horse. At the age 29 he gave up his successful career of creating and designing garden- and nature-facilities, and devoted his life to the study of the horse. His career in the horse-world began with a practical and theoretical study of the art of classical horsemanship in Europe, and this led him on to undertake a study of wild horses in the Pyrenees. At that time, in the end of the eighties, the mountains where partly still wild and 'untouched', and having found the wild horses he could live undisturbed among them during a long period of time, and gained a deep insight in their communication and herd-structure. At this point of his life he began a study that would reshape not only the person, Klaus Ferdinand Hempfling, but also the horse world. In 1993 he published an account of his experiences in the book 'Dancing with Horses', which became a worldwide best seller. Later he published different other books which are translated into many languages. Recently he moved to a remote farm in northern Denmark, where he together with his crew is offering seminars and different activities around his coaching and consulting institute and seminars dedicated to the being with horses. With his firm he won in 2014 the Gazelle Award for innovation, remarkable management and constant growth.