Don was born in 1957 in a small Northwestern Ohio town. The last of four children born to a masonry contractor. As he grew up, he wore many different hats. First was becoming a Brick Mason. His father agreed to allow Don to buy his first horse when he was 11 providing he worked full time weekends and summers to pay for it. He continued in the masonry trade until he was a skilled brick layer, until 1979 when he went to work as a trainer for a small breeder in eastern Pennsylvania. For almost 40 years he trained and showed top end show horses internationally.