My passion

Since I was a little girl I have been interested in and fascinated by horses.

Berber and I

My lovely Friesan mare, Berber, brought me on the path of developing straightness in a horse. A lot of trainers advised me to buy a ‘good’ horse instead of Berber. Berber was a very nervous horse. Always rushing and panicking often. She was sweating from ear to hooves after every training. Cantering was a disaster. She had the tendency to bring all the weight on her front legs and pushed tremendously with the hind legs. We both became very unhappy and frustrated. But I love this horse and did not want to give up on her.

I was lucky to find Marijke de Jong’s website. When I read the list of problems which might be caused by natural asymmetry, I realized what my horse had tried to tell me!! More than half of the symptoms mentioned in the list I recognized in my horse.

I started learning about ‘Rechtrichten’ (developing Straightness in a horse in Dutch) and it was a long journey for me and Berber. We had ups and downs and learned to persist and have faith. I learned so much, it is hard to put in a few words, but the learning went far beyond horseriding alone. I am so happy that it finally brought me and Berber to the level of Instructor. I am so proud of what we have accomplished but most important is that we have fun together every day.

Instructor

In 2014 I graduated in the Dutch professional program ‘Rechtrichten’, which Marijke de Jong started first in The Netherlands, and became a Dutch Instructor Rechtrichten. In January 2015 I successfully finished the education to be a certified and licensed Straightness Training (ST) Instructor by Marijke de Jong ®, Grade 3 (D-licence). I have been a member of an awesome international team of ST Instructors (2015 – September 2020) who all share their knowledge with numerous horse-loving people all around the world. Coaching many students on their personal journey. Apart from the lessons, I give to Dutch students in my home country I feel extremely grateful to be invited to give lessons abroad. I have been teaching groups of students with their horses in workshop settings in Denmark, Sweden and Norway and I love to contribute and bring valuable knowledge to as many people and horses in the world.

From September 2020 I decided to give up my licence when the direction of headquarters went more and more towards online teaching which did not really resonate anymore with my further plans. I aim for the upcoming years to follow my own path and develop myself further on the subject of horse biomechanics and rehabilitating horses and broaden my knowledge and skills while keeping straightness and balance as a solid foundation in my work. 

Where am I based?

I live in the north of The Netherlands in Oosterzee with my husband and our three sons, where our own horse training-facility and dairy farm are located at the same venue. Our horses Berber, Linde and Hedzer (Friesian horses), Casanova (Oldenburger) and Ulifia (a.k.a. Jet, Dutch warmblood) live at our farm. All five are being trained by the same principles at various levels. Berber is my very special mare who got this whole ST journey started and Casanova is the most advanced horse in the team. All have their own specialities, challenges, talent and unique character and I am very proud of my four-legged friends! In 2018 Linde gave birth to our youngster Hedzer.  It was such a joy to see this young stallion (since 2022 gelding) grow up to be a beautiful black pearl at our farm. In 2021 we sadly lost our big boy Pyt at the age of 17.

Lessons

I have an indoor riding school available for private lessons. It is also possible to come for a longer period of training. Your horse can stay at the venue and if needed I can give you the details of some great b&b facilities in the area.

If  you are interested in having a private lessson, participate in a workshop or coördinate a clinic with me at your own place don’t hesitate to contact me for further details.
It’s my passion to guide horses towards balance, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually, to be able to enjoy the training with their human, doing the work they want to do together with ease, joy and lightness.
When a horse and a human shine and feel happy, it makes me happy!

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