Wilmington Standlee Sunday Spotlight: Orpen Horses

Wilmington, Ohio – This week’s Wilmington Sunday Spotlight shines on Orpen Horses, a distinguished, family-run sales and training operation led by Declan and Cassandra Orpen and Loic Cannaert. For the Orpens, Wilmington offers not only an ideal environment for producing and showcasing talented horses, but also a welcoming, accessible space to share the sport with their family. With its top-notch facilities and family-friendly atmosphere, WEC – Wilmington has become a favorite stop for their team. We talked to Declan Orpen to learn more about their experience at WEC!

WEC: Tell us a little about Orpen Horses and your operation.

We are a show barn and we don’t really have any clients. Every horse is for sale. Lately, we’ve started taking in a few horses for people who’ve been asking us to help bring them along, but at our core, we’re a sales and development program.

Cassie does a great job making up the hunters and equitation horses, while Loic does the jumpers. I don’t ride anymore, so these days I mow the grass, set jumps, and help from the ground! The team is very self-sufficient; they just send me a WhatsApp when they’re ready!

Cassie has started going to Europe more often now, while I’ve been staying home. Between tariffs and flight costs, we’ve actually been doing a lot more buying here in the States. There are great horses around. Sometimes kids go off to college and we find really nice ones in the 1.10m or 1.20m rings. We also do a lot of leasing, and each year we try to keep a really nice eight- or nine-year-old ready to step up for Loic. He even jumped a five-star last year and has really come a long way in his three years with us.

WEC: How is the facility beneficial for your program, both for selling horses and stepping them up?

WEC – Wilmington is phenomenal. The rings, the footing, the setup, everything. It’s only about a two-hour drive for us, which makes it easy to come and go if we need to run home for a horse.

The layout is perfect for what we do. It’s big enough to have trials, you can go from the outdoor to the indoor, and the horses really seem to love it here. We usually come in the spring with the younger or newer ones, then come back in the fall for the five-week circuit. That gives us time to produce them and have them ready for Florida. This facility is really a stepping stone for our horses.

WEC: How is the family-friendly environment at WEC beneficial for you and your team?

It’s also the perfect setup for families. We can bring the ponies, and there are tunnels and walkways so the kids can’t get into trouble! Everyone knows everyone here—it’s such a community. It just feels really safe, which isn’t always the case at huge venues.

Even the pony riding opportunities here are special. In the evenings, after we finish with the jumpers, the kids can trot around on their ponies. It’s wonderful that WEC offers that. And the Home-Away-From-Home setup is a huge plus. With the rental houses across the street, the kids can go home for lunch, relax, and we can still be right here for long but productive days.

WEC: You’ve developed many young horses here in the States. What’s that process like for you?

We have a farm in Georgetown, Kentucky, and I’ve been leaning toward buying horses that just need time—maybe pulling their shoes, turning them out for the winter, and bringing them back in the spring. Especially with the younger ones, you can’t expect to get top dollar right away.

Not taking them to Florida has been a big help. It lets us focus on the more seasoned horses while the younger ones get time to mature. They’ll work hard here at WEC for a few weeks, then get a few months off before we bring them back in March. We’ve started to really enjoy developing the young ones. Between WEC – Wilmington, and a few other shows, there are more opportunities now that make it worthwhile.