Both his parents were active in equestrian as well and Lips knew he wanted to be successful in the sport from a young age.

[1] Already at the age of 8 he was getting decent results in show jumping and he created experienced ponies out of total inexperienced ones.

[2] At the European Championships for Young Riders in Pardubice, Czech Republic he placed fifteenth, but managed to get the award for Best Equestrian.

[2] Later he became third in Outdoor Gelderland with Van Schijndels Owaola and in July he finished second in the CHIO Aachen, the World's largest equestrian meeting.

[2] This earned enough points to be among the top 30 at the World Rankings, which gave him the international nomination for the 2008 Summer Olympics.