I’m excited to report that I am now a Certified Basic Grade 2 ST Instructor!
- Posted by Cynthia Adams
- On December 15, 2022
- 0 Comments
I started my journey in Marijke de Jong’s “Straightness Training” program in 2017 and this month (December 2022) I completed all the requirements to become the FIRST EVER Basic Grade 2 ST Instructor in Canada!
I am excited to offer instruction on this amazing program to my fellow Albertans. The ST program is super helpful in developing our horses in both Mind, Body and Spirt. Through its logical system of exercises and concepts, the ST program helps both horse as well as their humans.
ST has been a godsend for my personal horse “Dominique” in rehabilitating her from some serious injuries (see story below videos).
Straightness Training offers 5 pillars of work which include: Riding, Groundwork, Work in Hand, Lunging and Liberty. Here are two examples of some of my Liberty and Lunging work with Dominique.
Below is Dominique’s Story and my Journey doing ST with her …
The Straightness Training program has been an amazing program in helping Dominique overcome her previous injuries.
As a yearling, Dominique sustained a severe back injury. I found her spinning on the ground unable to stand up. At two, she had a relapse and my vet told me to euthanize her. Which I could not!
I started her under saddle, but riding was too much for her. On the other hand, if she did not get any exercise her legs would swell up (sometimes like posts), so light exercise was good for her.
At 4, Dominique severed her extensor tendon in her right front leg while at the breeding facility. Suddenly bucking was her new talent. I would later come to realize that there was a direct relationship between how much she bucked and how much her back hurt.
Dealing with a horse with chronic soundness issues and pain can be very frustrating. It was heartbreaking to see Dominique’s struggle with pain and stiffness. My goal with Dominique was for her to be as comfortable as possible and euthanasia (as the vet suggested) was not an option in my mind so I continued to give her exercise to keep her discomfort down.
I discovered Straightness Training after watching a video of Marijke de Jong on Facebook. I was blown away by the beauty of her liberty work and ended up joining her Mastery Program. The exercises on the ground appeared to be something I could do with Dominique to keep her active and looked MUCH more interesting than the traditional style lunging that I had been doing with her (which was rather boring!). I was very excited to try out of the variety of exercises in the ST program. Taking the ST program was the best decision I made for both of us!
I started taking the logical steps of progressive exercises. My original goal with ST was to keep Dominique active to help keep down her swelling. Each pillar (such as groundwork, work in hand, lunging, liberty and riding) help each other out. Once you go through all the pillars, it is interesting to see how each pillar contributes to the other pillars. For example, having a good liberty helps improve our horse’s mental state and helps riders become more aware of their own body language. This can result in better communication and a better relationship with our horses that can transfer into all other areas of our work with them (including riding).
After the first year of ST, we completed all our pillars on the ground in Grade 1 and Dominique was in much better shape. She didn’t have the typical swellings in her legs that she previously had and she was significantly stronger. Unfortunately, she would still buck when she picked up a canter out in the field and on the lunge. I thought I would test fate and try to ride her. To no surprise, she did buck me off. Lol. I decided I wouldn’t attempt to ride her again until she stopped bucking in her field and on the lunge.
After two winters of ST, Dominique suddenly stopped bucking when I worked her and I was able to successfully ride her. Shortly after that decision, I had to quit riding due to my own chronic knee problem. But that’s okay as we continue to enjoy our time together.
Fast forward to 2022 … We have now passed all the pillars on the ground in Grade 2 and Dominique is in the best shape of her life! And still no bucking when I work her!
Even though Dominique still has some bad days once in a while with stiffness, she hasn’t had any real issues for several years now. She used to get massage or chiropractic treatments 1 to 4 times a month to help her compensate with her pain. However, in the past couple years we have been able to reduce that down to only 2 times a year!! I can say with certainty that ST is a great way to help rehab horses that can’t be ridden. I highly recommend it!
If you would like to learn more about Straightness Training, I would love to help you out.
0 Comments