Marijke de Jong's ST Academy
Mastery Student Reviews
They Did It. So Can You.
Hear from Mastery Students from who made their dream with their horse come true!
Email Coaching Reviews
"The 101 Step Email Coaching is a fantaSTic tool which gives you daily-weekly-monthly hands-on support. For me, the Mastery Program is a lifetime commitment, and in the beginning, it is easy to feel overwhelmed by the extensive amount of videos and articles available for you to enjoy. Marijke’s emails motivated and inspired me, gave me direction, helped me to stay focused and grounded, allowing me to simply take it one email at a time."
Jola Stansfield | Pretoria, South Africa
La'Zamara, mare, 8 yo
"The Email Coaching is like Marijke holding your hand for the first twelve months.
It's like having sidewheels on, in the same way as we learn that we can help our horse with sidewheels (clear aids), until that we are more steady, and the sidewheels can come off.
Although it is now more than a year ago that my sidewheels came off, I still go back to the emails and find more help, and I also notice that I read something new in them now than when I read them the first time.
Sometimes I just pick a random mail to read, and it always gives me inspiration in some unexpected direction and new energy to work in my lab."
Hanne Friberg | Chalottelund, Denmark
"The 2015 email coaching was 55 steps, while the new one is 101 steps, which shows Marijke and her teams dedication to continuously improve this program."
Astrid van der Laan | South Africa
"The Email Coaching has been so helpful and encouraging to me, it keeps me on track and moving forward. When I get an email I always read through it at least once, there is so much to take away from each one! It seems like each time I get an email, it is about the exact thing I need to hear! I don't think I would have been able to progress and get this far in the program without the email coaching."
Jamillah Almutawakil | Litchfield Park, USA
"About the 101 Step Email Coaching: Through my first year of being an ST student I lost my dearest horse that I have started ST on. In that moment I was a bit lost, but the Email Coaching helped me to focus on the theory and reminded me that it is going to be OK. Everyone goes at there own pace. Nothing is chasing you! While in search of a new horse I was mentally preparing through the theory and watching videos. All the steps are there, so when I got my new Beautiful boy. I could just carry on from the last step I was with my previous horse. Even though I knew I was a little behind the rest, Marijke was with me with every step through the coaching email. The emails are a good reminder for, and I still go back and read over the details and advice Marijke gives. YOU CAN DO IT! And No Matter What, That I Need To Keep Going! It is a good reminder that we are part of a community as well. The email coaching helps you to connect with the other STudents so that you do not feel alone because you are NOT alone!"
Nastalia Gaude | Groblersdal, South Africa
Silver Express (Lex), gelding, 6 yo
"I have over 15 yrs of experience in a remote working scenario in the Software industry and I can confidently state that ST provides one of the top distance learning programs available in the equine world today. Included in the learning is the Evaluation Program, where you can receive feedback as to where you are in the development of you and your horse, in the ST program. The Evaluation Program has provided me with tips and guidance, that are broken down to a step-by-step instruction on how to overcome some obstacles you may be facing. It is a measurement of your current state, but I best think of it as a private lesson guiding you towards the progression through the program, providing feedback that is very detailed and accompanied by suggestions for improvement. The Support offered from your ST Evaluator, the ST Team, and the ST Community will always leave you feeling supported."
Lisa Byers | Blackstock, Canada
"The Email Coaching helps us to break things down into small steps, and keeping the momentum, especially at the beginning."
Hans Tzeng 曾漢斯 | Hsinchu, Taiwan
"The Email Coaching is a very wise and well thought through process that is assisting me with the navigation of the extensive materials and encourages me to stay on track. Even though the pace has been quite daunting at times, I am managing to keep up with the modules and stay engaged within the ST cCommunity."
Christine Markut | Naraganssett, USA
"The Email coaching is like an alarm clock, it helps me to stay on all the time, dring dring, a reminder that I am part of a community on the same path of mastery and that I need to keep going, no matter what."
Nicole-Marie Iresch | Cape Town, SA
"The Email Coaching stopped me becoming like a kid in a sweet shop, bull in a china shop, too excited, and out of control. When you get your log in details and enter the portal for the first time and see just how much information is in there, it would be so easy to jump right in with a, "yeeha, let's go" attitude. The email coaching basically says, "Are you sitting comfortably? Then we'll begin..." and takes you through the first few chapters step-by-step. It encourages you to take your time with the basics and keep referring back to them. At first, you do think, "yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever," but it is worth paying attention and building those foundations, as when you do start to delve in deeper, it makes so much more sense and explains why things are what they are and not what you think they should be. Oh, and work in your time. Yes, the emails can feel as though they are coming thick and fast, but you file them away and work your way through them in your own time.”
Sharon Richards | Buckinghamshire, UK
"The Evaluation Program is a very well developed environment how to see your progress during the training. You film a video according to a certain script and post it into the Evaluation Program. The ST Evaluators give very detailed feedback to your training videos full of very valuable tips. Sometimes you may miss a tiny detail what you cannot notice by yourself but what gives a huge difference.”
Kadri Mäkišev | Põltsamaa, Estonia
"The 101 Email Coaching takes us step by step into the concepts of ST. Each segment is broken down into short sessions. It comes fast and furious but is a great way to begin your overview of the material. The benefit is, these emails are always there for you to use as they fit into your schedule."
Mary OConnor | Southlake, USA
"The email coaching is a fantastic way to stay on track, stay motivated and is a guide through the encyclopedia of information in the Mastery Portal. If you are not able to keep up, no worries! It's all at your own pace anyway - put the coaching emails in a folder and come back to the guide when you are ready to. This is like having Marijke as your professor, and the emails are your homework assignments. I really loved them - they also help you to see the bigger picture of all the material."
Lara Pieret | Cape Town, South Africa
"Marijke's coaching emails are wonderful and just what I needed to keep me inspired and moving forward. The ST Mastery Course is a great value for the price, and the emails really helped me to unlock the treasures within, without being overwhelmed or lost. This one feature alone makes ST better than any other home study course I have tried, though it has many other highlights. The coaching emails will keep you on track and help you to optimize all the program has to offer."
Shannon Olson | Washington, USA
The 101 Step Email Coaching is brilliant - it really allows you to dissect what you are doing with the help of an instructor - I have been amazed on more than one occasion when the instructor has pointed out something that I was doing that I wasn't even aware of but addressing it has made a huge difference to my work with my horses."
Nicola Belfield | Flint Mountain, UK
The 101 Step Email Coaching is brilliant - it really allows you to dissect what you are doing with the help of an instructor - I have been amazed on more than one occasion when the instructor has pointed out something that I was doing that I wasn't even aware of but addressing it has made a huge difference to my work with my horses."
Nicola Belfield | Flint Mountain, UK
Without the 101 STep Email Coaching, I would have missed out on so much of the Mastery Program simply because I would have cherry-picked the parts I 'thought' I needed to work on, bypassing the parts that have actually helped me more. "You don't know what you don't know!!!"
The emails are easy to read, with enough explanation and background to catch your attention before directing you to the relevant part of the program. I have them saved all together for future reference and refer back to them regularly."
Joanna Smith | Leicester, UK
Lottie, Connemara, mare, 8 yo
"Emails serve as frequent reminders that I do have goals and there is plenty of material to study even when I am not with my horse."
Nancy Camp | Carey Idaho, USA
"I looked forward to the encouraging emails that came from Marijke with tons of tips and info! No matter what pace you take the program there were always tips and suggestions that I found encouraging and helpful each and every time."
Kristin Kill | Dexter, USA
"Marijke's kind and inspiring voice comes through clearly in the email coaching. I can tell that she has "been there" when she encourages me out of a rut or motivates me to head out to a cold barn. She has a gift for drawing the best out of her students."
Elizabeth Micheel | Houston, USA
"The 101 Step Email Coaching has helped a lot to keep the momentum because at the beginning the amount of material may be quite overwhelming and by yourself, you may get lost. The emails are always so motivating. The very good thing is that now the Email Coaching period lasts for a year instead of 6 months. So Marijke stays at your back 6 months longer and gives her motivating support!”
Kadri Mäkišev | Põltsamaa, Estonia
"The Email Coaching is like receiving valuable letters from our dear friend, Marijke!
They are warm, thought-provoking and often a result of Marijke's in-depth study of a relevant theme - which I would never find the resources to study on my own, although the information is of very high value for me.
Thanks to Marijke we get this info, to become better horse trainers.”
Susanne Hansen | Læsø, Denmark
I found it really helpful to have a little reminder in my inbox to help me keep momentum with the studying. It's like having a personal trainer to encourage me - it really helps me make an effort to fit in some extra STudy time because I know the next step will be arriving in a day or two.”
Fiona Tyson | Ysbyty Ystwyth, UK
"The Email Coaching is brilliant purely because you can watch and rewatch, it is indispensable to my mind.”
Sally Lugg | Belper, United Kingdom
"The 101 Step Email Coaching helped me a lot in the first months of the program. The emails can motivate, show what and when to do, can be stored for later. They are like remote hands helping at the beginning to keep direction and pace.”
Ivana Kovaříková | Prague, Czech Republic
"I love this - and have been saving all the emails. Having the emails in your inbox makes you feel motivated to continue the studies of ST and that you have invested into something where, even though it is online that you still have access to a larger community and support group."
Anthea Myburgh | Winelands, South Africa
"The Email Coaching is a tool which gives hands-on support on a daily-weekly basis. At the beginning of the program, I felt overwhelmed by the amount of materials available for me to study. Marijke’s emails motivated me, gave directions, helped me to stay focused and engaged. I come back to them every time I lose the direction and always find valuable tips."
Ela Pryka | Krakow Poland
"The Email Coaching took me by the hand and accompanied me step by step through the Mastery program. I saved the emails so I could work in my rhythm and if I needed a little longer, nothing was lost"
Nadja Schmid | Bubikon, Switzerland
"The 101 STep Email Coaching helps me to stay on track. Sometimes I could follow the emails, if not, I saved it and took one at a time. But every time a got a new one it reminded me to stay on track and follow my plan."
Julia Vögl | Vienna, Austria
"The 101 Step Email Coaching helped me organizing my study time. The Mastery Program is a wide encyclopedia with a lot of material, but with the Email Coaching, you'll always know what the next step is!"
Chiara Mineo | Reggio Emilia, Italy
"Getting started and create a new routine with ST could be very hard, but through the Email Coaching, I could keep disciplined to carry on. This way Straightness Training systematically sneaked into my life and after the Email Coaching ended it kept rolling on like if I had never done anything else. "
Marleen Saarloos |Vittsjö, Sweden
This Email Coaching Has Helped Riders Just Like You
"The 101 Email Coaching gives you good guidelines to start the next exercises or gives you that extra motivation everybody can use, especially like me since I am the only one at the barn doing ST. I save all the emails and walk through them when my horse is ready. And I feel no pressure because the fun thing with ST is that you can not get behind!! Every horse gets a tailor-made approach in the ST Journey."
Imke Smit |Ootmarsum, Netherlands
"The Email Coaching was a great motivator and reminder to step into and try the next pillar. My first year has been an exploration of the pillars. Even though I wasn't ready to submit touchstones in the previous pillars I moved forward in an exploratory state of mind to get a feel for and hands-on experience to coincide with the material that I was reading. It was great fun and refreshing to try new things but also eye-opening in that it is very apparent how one pillar builds on the next. After getting through all of the pillars, I was ready to go back to square one to begin again, to build on, improve, to add more layers and depth to what I have learned over the last 10 months. I did not do the riding pillar as my horse is too young but plan to work through all of the pillars as many times as needed in preparation for when she is ready to be ridden."
Tracy Betteridge | Ada, Michigan, United States
"The Email Coaching is a valuable part of your ST journey. IT is laid out to help you follow the process in the right direction at your pace. I have logged all my emails in a folder for easy reference. They are also full of useful tips that help you dig deeper into the program. I am continuously referring back and always finding something to help me.”
Liz Groves | Faulkland, United Kingdom
"There are so many frameworks, and insights in the Mastery Program and the philosophy is life-changing. The amount of it can be a bit overwhelming or challenging in the beginning, so it is very helpful to be guided through it. The emails guide you through every module, so you don`t miss something. It is very helpful, that the mastery begins with a "theoretical" part, because then you set up your personal path for success, knowing the end goal in mind and expecting some minor setbacks or plateaus. The emails let you know, what to do first and what to do next, so this helps a lot to start in a logical order. I loved to open my inbox expecting an email from Marijke!”
Simone Reindl | Gondelsheim, Germany
"The great thing about the emails is that they always seem to come at the perfect time to help you keep on track. If you go slower, just file them and look at them when you're ready. You can use them at any point in time. Even if you start again after a break they are always there to guide, motivate, encourage and help you on your journey."
Helen Wallis | Marlborough, United Kingdom
"The Email Coaching helped me to keep on track and to gain a sense of orientation through the course. I didn't follow it exactly as I wanted to work through things at my own pace. However, it was useful to be able to refer back to Marijke's emails to gain a sense of where I should be heading next and to get sometimes much-needed injections of motivation from her. I must say that I thoroughly enjoy reading her emails and insights and find her advice inspiring."
Gisela Marnewecke | Cape Town, South Africa
"Motivation arrives in your inbox and anticipation for the next coaching session keeps you committed. "
Nadja Steil
Fouriesburg, Eastern Free State, South Africa
"It gave me the discipline I needed because after a working life I didn't study in years."
Heleen van Tongeren-Bouman
Job Title
"The Email Coaching is a great tool to keep the Gremlins at bay! "
Lynley Bolt
Masterton, New Zealand
"It helps you not to get lost but guides you step by step through the ocean of knowledge!"
Gita Andersone
Riga, Latvia
"The emails keep you on track and focus your attention."
Liz Ward-Holmes
Shoreham-by-Sea, UK
"I love the Email Coaching! Finding little notes from Marjike in my inbox almost daily really helped keep me focused and excited, especially when I was slogging thru a rough patch."
Lara Burau
Cherry Valley, United States
""I swear that Marijke is psychic as she always seems to touch on a topic just when I really need it."
