Marijke de Jong's ST Academy
Mastery Student Reviews - AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND
They Did It. So Can You.
Hear from Mastery Students from who made their dream with their horse come true!
Reviews From Students From Australia & New Zealand
"My young gelding had no balance and couldn't bend. In an arena if we trotted or cantered we would get faster and faster - motorbike - and fall in on the corners. It was awful. He would brace against attempts to slow or bend him under saddle. His anxiety saddened me, and so I resigned myself to only riding him out on quiet trail rides. By accident I found ST. Now, when I change from one seat bone to the other, I feel his whole body change bend! The in-hand exercises have brought us closer together and opened up a whole new way of interacting. Sometimes we just walk out together, but when we accomplish something new in our lab, it is so fulfilling for us both. Our partnership develops daily, and it is cool what he can do now!"
Linda Ketteridge | Perth, Australia
Earl, gelding, 6 yo
"The ST Mastery Program has opened my eyes to training - both from having better communication with the horse and also the biomechanics for the horse's physical well-being standpoint. I've always thought I had good basics, but the ST Mastery Program has expanded my knowledge of these and also mapped out the path to take to the higher levels of dressage, which now seem achievable and clear."
Carly Reid | Castella, Australia
Ruby, WB/TB Cross, mare, 13 yo
"The Mastery Program is a Priceless Gift, to me and to my horse. The questions that I am asking myself now inspire me to really dig deep, to search and observe. It really amazes me how deep the Mastery Program is; I'm not sure there is a bottom to it.
My horse Lucy, is a highly emotional and often explosive, after I got her as a three year old I sometimes wondered if I could ever obtain the ability to work with her, but learning through the modules and paying attention to the 2mm changes, within both of us, is proving to be a fantastic journey.
The Mastery Program has opened doors to my mind, with so many little successes in Lucy's strength, her flexibility, how she has learned how to learn, I have to really up my game. My life is now lived without limits, but I am certainly not saying it is easy, but it is invigorating.
The Mastery Program is fine-tuning my awareness, it is giving life to horses that were being tossed out because of competition injury or human agendas.
The posture changes my horse has made through Straightness Training, and the posture changes I have made are quite dramatic.
The emotional changes we both are working on and depth of feeling I am searching for every day are awesome.
The communication skills I am growing, while I work with my horse will help so many horses in time.
For me at this moment in my journey of the Mastery Program, it is not about the exercises, the reaching of Touchstone passes, or completing a module, as I never seem to complete a module, no matter how many times I can read and watch the videos, I write the same notes each time, but often they will have a different meaning for me today.
My horse now has the feeling that the work we do together is, for her, with her, and not to her, she plays in the paddock with an elegance and not the stiffness she had as the nearly 4 yr old I purchased, the postural and conformational issues will soon be lost to the eyes of others.
I thank the internet for bringing Marijke and the Mastery Program to the underside of the world, and for showing me the way to see."
Lynley Bolt | Masterton, New Zealand
Lucia de Kai (Lucy), PRE, mare, 5 yo
Mastery Students on the the 1st Straightness Training Practice Day for Victoria Australia.
Horse Given Up By The Vets Back To Work
Sarah Orr is a Mastery Student from New Zealund - but based in Scotland - and her horse Limerick had deep digital flexor tendon damage on both fores, as well as collateral ligament damage. Sarah had been told by the vets that he was unlikely to come back into full work. See how Sarah made a positive difference for not only this horse, but also for her other horse Fernando:
Sarah: "I’ve really found the program very, very helpful for me and my horses. And it has helped me in my relationships with friends, with colleagues, home life, everything. I can’t recommend it enough. It’s a fabulous program!"
A Journey of Growth
Mastery student Bronwyn de Beer is based in Melbourne, Australia.
Every year, Bronwyn experiences the next layer of improvement in herself. She treats her riding arena as a laboratory, where she loves to figure things out and widens, broadens and deepens her skills, knowledge and experiences:
Bronwyn: "If you enjoy problem-solving with your horse, ST is for you!".
"All those who work with my 9 y.o. horse Duke have noticed his improved suppleness and his happier interaction with the variety of people who work with him every week."
Ruth Holmes - Centre manager of a Riding for the Disabled Group
New Zealand
"Loving all this new learning! Such fun!"
