My name is Marijke de Jong and I am a horse rider, trainer and instructor.

I teach the academic art of riding and also coach different instructors who are specialists in ‘straightness training’ to improve straightness and balance.

This website might form a useful guide for those who are seeking information on how to ride and train horses and it might be the start of your voyage of discovery.

With the videos, eBooks and other information I share my scholarship, thoughts and insights and explain the meaning, usefulness an appropriateness of the various gymnastic exercises to benefit the horse.

Check out the trainingcenter in Holland

Natural asymmetry

My specialties are my knowledge about natural asymmetry in equine bodies and of course the solution to this: to improve symmetry in the horse’s body by special exercises.  Natural asymmetry is not easily recognized by average riders so that they can not train their horse properly. This could lead to several riding and behavioral problems.

I met my complicated ‘first horse’ Maestro one day,the horse that was – in a way – handicappedby his natural asymmetryand the fact that this was not recognized before.

With this special horse I started to travel the road of academic art of riding that lead us all the way to performing piaffe and more.

But more important, I succeeded in resolving Maestro’s asymmetry problem so that he could he was able to perform comfortably in all that he was asked to do.

The Academic Art Of Riding

Academic art of riding is so much more than simply dressage. It is a joy to travel this path all the way up to an exercise like levade, which I find the summum of ground-based academical riding so far. In this exercise the horse carries all his weight – and that of the rider – on his hind legs only.

To be able to do all this with a horse like Maestro – once a horse that was misunderstood by humans and who did not understand what he was supposed to do at all – is wonderful.

Maestro and I have traveled such a long road but we enjoy our performances in art together now.

When I thought about this, I realized that many more riders and horses could be helped and reach much higher levels than they now expect to be capable of.

This made me decide to develop my new website: academicartofriding.com. It is designed for riders that want to discover everything about natural asymmetry and the academic art of riding.

Academical Riding is for everybody

To pass on my knowledge and experience to other horse owners – who might even struggle with their own Maestro – is very special.

Academical riding is not only for the high and mighty in dressage. It is for everybody. I own and ride Dutch warm bloods, a Spanish horse, a Frederiksborger and a Trakehner horse.

My students bring along their own horses, every breed has passed the venue here, from Tinker to Icelandic Pony and of course many Iberian horses. Everybody and every breed is welcome here.

This website gives you information about dressage and about schooling horses and the academic art of riding can be applied to all of them.

Once you become involved with dressage and gymnastic training more closely, you’ll realize how important it is, and finally, how easy it is to understand!