I have not seen any real professionals say anything about her in a negative light. So I don’t know who has trashed her or if someone just questions something. And it seems like she’s going to be pretty sensitive to any type of questioning.
I’m mostly just seeing professionals that were already kind of on the fringe promoting her and a lot of adult amateurs following. It’s a phenomenon that has happened again over and over just with different things.
I didnt mean it in that way or any trashing way. I meant it as if she is marketing this so heavily and people are eating it up how do professionals not into it keep up good marketing such that if a client had to choose between tthw and professional they went with the traditional pro. How do you make your marketing better than hers?
Oh yeah I see. I only brought up trashing because Celeste brings it up a lot.
For me, I appreciate down to earth marketing (or just word of mouth) more than what Celeste is promoting. Surely others are out there…but I understand that social media like this is a powerful tool. Probably even more so with younger equestrians.
Yeah, my last trainer was one of this woman’s acolytes - I spent a year and a half being told my horse was in constant pain, neurological, and would never be able to do anything other than walk under saddle because he liked to run and play in the paddock and act like a goofy 4 yo horse. I had my vet check him - not a single sign of any neuro problems. And definite signs that it was her training and lack of care/management that was causing most of his supposed “problems “.
The gaslighting was intense, and now that I’m out of it I feel really stupid for not jumping ship sooner.
Edited to add: upon further reflection my horse possibly was in pain but it wasn’t neurological it was probably laminitis.
Interesting. Thank you for sharing your experience and I’m sorry it went so poorly.
Don’t beat yourself up. The skill of the person gaslighting is directly related to the time frame it takes for us to step aside and look at the situation from the outside. The better they are, the more our self-monitoring gets warped, the more we see ourselves through their broken lens.
And thank you for sharing!
Just listened to this podcast…yeah, I’m turned off even more. She declares that no one is better at her method than her. What a statement. I don’t know any trainer (regardless of level) who would say that.
I have tried to read that post for comprehension at least five separate occasions and I still don’t understand what the hell is going on
The horse was in massive pain (for…how long?) until she finally hired an animal communicator who through the phone line diagnosed things that she, the great bodywork guru, caring for him daily and the vets she presumably had out for at least routine maintenance totally missed, so then she gave him a massive dose of painkillers (for… one day? or?) and then concluded he was in near constant pain, in addition to lethally (her word !!!) attacking other horses apparently, so rather than considering him a euthanasia candidate here is an after photo and we have Receiving energy now.
We just skipped straight from “the horse’s daily existence is a 9 on the pain scale, right under our bodywork expert noses” to the after photo without detailing any changes we made in our care program (other than one massive dose of painkillers) that would elicit this transformation.
Why was she not releasing his braciocephallus before??
How long was he in her care while she the great body worker missed that he was apparently in constant misery??
And then, how exactly did he go from 9 on the pain scale under her care to Receiving energy under her care???
Exactly. I don’t know how this story paints her in a good light or inspires confidence in her judgement. Wow.
I saw this post today perplexed me in multiple ways.
I agree that some classical dressage people get too stuck on the poll being the highest point. This is a topic that has been discussed quite a lot on coth and various Facebook groups. So overall here, I don’t think that idea is new.
But I swear before on her website or at least her Facebook I know somewhere she stated she had a background in classical dressage and show jumping. Then in this post, it sounds like she’s very new to these ideas and just now seeing the comparison. I did notice that I cannot find any reference to classical dressage as her background on her website anymore.
The rest of the post is very long. Longer than it needs to be in my opinion. There is nothing new or mind blowing that I can make it through this post. If anything this post just reiterates that a lot of this can absolutely be achieved through good dressage. Good, correct dressage. Overbent and ran off their feet while wearing draw reins? No. Hollow with hind legs trailing but poll high? Also no. But good Dressage is out there.
Also am I the only one that thinks these photos have nothing to do with dressage?
I’m really not trying to pick on her. It just seems like a lot of slick marketing for something that’s pretty simple and a little bit of reinventing the wheel. I do think if it gets people to pay attention to their horses posture and not go around bracing in their under neck, then there is positive uses for this.
I’m rehabbing my horse right now and sure, I’m making sure in the little we do he’s not bracing his under neck. This is something I think I’ve always done to a point but it’s good to have in mind at all times as well I suppose.
There seems to be an infiltration in many groups that is starting to feel like an MLM type deal. I am assuming no one (except maybe experts) get compensated but it sure seems like it is encouraged to “spread the word” of her work. I’m in multiple type of horse groups and some are open to this and some have had to get really loud that it is against the group rules. And still they constantly are promoting.
Now they’re advertising classes to teaches pillars for the riders. I can’t really find anywhere that Celeste is more qualified than any other riding instructor to teach these rider focus classes but not surprised. I do know that one “classical dressage and biomechanics expert” has since deleted some videos of her riding on the internet. I definitely was very surprised upon seeing these that she was considered the classical dressage and rider mechanics expert. But people learn and grow I suppose.
I have noticed a continual pattern to rewrite and change things and remove wording constantly from the website and even Instagram posts.
She’s definitely taking the equine world by storm. It’s an interesting phenomenon and perhaps they will study it one day about the power of social media! Of course we’ve seen it before but I do think social media makes it all more powerful.
As someone who is in the group, I can assure you no one is being asked to “spread the word.” I think a lot of the participants are just really, eh, passionate, shall we say 
It’s not a magic bullet, but for some folks, it is a good tool to have in your toolbox. I have also recommended it in some situations, but exactly that way - as a tool to keep in your toolbox, along with your other tools (and I’ve also recommended other methods/authors in the same breath - Hillary Clayton’s books, the KS group, etc.).
I don’t think Celeste is teaching the rider biomechanics portion - that’s another instructor. Although I thought I read somewhere that Celeste was a human bodyworker before switching focus to horses, so if that’s the case she does have more knowledge about the body’s physiology than your average instructor (but again, she’s not teaching it). As someone who has a lot of body pain and postural challenges, I’m intrigued, but figured I’d let them sort out their online teaching methodology first before seeing what its about 
I think the “classical dressage” expert they have is not an upper level rider/trainer. Kinda how a lot of dressage trainers in the US have never ridden above third level and are really only teaching training, first, and second level flatwork. But, let’s be honest - second level is more than enough of a goal for most people. So a lower level “expert” that doesn’t ride FEI, but isexcellent at teaching is probably a better fit for this group of people (caveat: I don’t know that she’s excellent at teaching, as I’ve never taken a lesson from her). Kinda like how a nobel prize winning physicist, although a great physicist, may not be the best instructor for a college freshman course.
I dunno, I don’t really see the need to hate on these folks for building their community in a way that seems to fit their needs. I’m still learning stuff from the group so I lurk, but leave the stuff that doesn’t fit my life and move on.
That’s good to hear. I just know that when people get asked to please stop what is basically advertising in other groups that get pretty nasty quickly. But if it attracts a certain type of personality I guess that just makes sense. Especially if it’s lower level riders that think they’ve “seen the light.” Passionate is a good word for that and of course we’ve seen that before (thinking back to Pat Parelli followers, Art 2Ride and other such a groups those folks got pretty passionate and spread the word strongly.)
I do find it all very interesting from a psychology standpoint. Again I’m glad that some people are finding the group helpful though and I do wish the best for everybody’s horses. I have definitely heard a lot of mixed reviews. Although I don’t think I’ve ever heard that anybody found it harmful for their horse. Any complaints I have seen is only a personality complaint about Celeste herself or just content lacking for the price.
Except for that one of Çeleste’s that she sold and then took back and was going to “save” and it turned out she [didn’t] see how much pain it was in 
I wonder how many other people are prolonging suffering because Celeste has an answer to everything? People do this all the time because they refuse/cannot see the truth of their own animal in pain. How many of those are being egged on, I wonder.
Otoh, I suppose that can maybe happen in other woohoo groups too, so maybe that sort of person would just look for another answer and another, etc.
That is actually a good point. It’s something in a lot of these programs that are so sure that they are the solution to everything. And don’t forget, if you do admit that her method did not work for your horse and end up putting it down you may very well get shamed publicly!
Also, check out the latest on the Jean Luc Cornille thread on here. Former members who said that it started with some actual good knowledge from somebody that does have talent and turned into an ego trip that is denying horses of the help they sometimes do need.
And I guess that is the thing for me here. I think that the method seems fine. I’m a person that pays attention to all the details and what’s said between the lines. I have gotten some private messages from people that were or are currently members of the group. They basically have said that it did start out wonderfully and there is still good stuff but there’s definitely an ego there. Sometimes people with egos are the best manipulators. Most often maybe. They said that while there is a wonderful, feel good front, disagreement ends in a prompt blocking. And some things just contradict themselves within the group I guess.
To me it seems like if the group is simply about the body work and in hand exercises it would be better. But again I’m not in the group. But it seems like to me they’re trying to veer into every aspect of horse keeping. As we know, there is not a person in the world that is an expert at every aspect.
I really dislike misinformation or manipulation. It’s just kind of my personality. Even if something aligns with my values and views on things if I know it is wrong I do feel like I have to acknowledge it or speak out in some way. To me it just feels important in society in general to not let incorrect knowledge slide on by just because it fits our viewpoints or our emotions.
I know that maybe I could just join the group and maybe feel completely different. But the problem is it’s $150 when it all looks like I’m contributing to somebody I do not want to contribute towards. I recently heard there was like 2,700 people in the group in just a year since it’s started. That’s over $400,000 in a year from a Facebook group. That’s not including clinics, phone calls or any cuts from the other experts… there is a reason any disagreement is handled so harshly!
https://youtube.com/shorts/HgLFaxhc6ew?feature=share
Just going to drop this clip here which Celeste shared I believe yesterday on her Instagram. Make of that what you will.
I have yet to see any public “haters” but I do see people asking questions and clarifying things.
Yuck is my take.
well, isn’t that klassy!
Interesting that on her website, she lists that her method (assuming her) is featured on Chronicle of the Horse. I haven’t been able to find any articles that feature her or her method, only this thread. A bit disingenuous if that’s the case.
I have not seen anything other than this thread associated with COTH either. Interesting.
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