She’s big on the consent issue. But, like other things in her program, she didn’t invent it. A lot of what she talks about has been out there for a long time, she just repackages it and tries to sell it as something unique.
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and also she collaborates with vets or other equine pro with solid background and knowledge. It’s clever to collaborate with people more clever than you. This is how you develop a business.
People are ready to pay for it because it is well marketed.
Marketing something well does not mean the product being marketed is above reproach or, in fact, has any value at all.
The ability to market a product does not make a person ethical, no matter how hard they spin their tale and claim collaboration with people “more clever than you.”
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I would go one step further and say that in the social media era, the marketing can be the product.
If you can get your YouTube or FB video channel monetized (requires certain level of subscribers viewers and posts), you can get quite a nice stream of ad revenue.
If you post pretty horse pictures, or galloping with no tack on the beach, or even video of your horses playing in turnout, you can get quite an audience of armchair riders who ooh and ah, and add up to a revenue stream. They might have no intention of ever hiring you as a trainer and might live on the other side of the world. But that audience may be more valuable to your income than your actual IRL gigs.
This is also true of many craftspeople online. They will post videos where you keep watching over and over to see some technique, or you have to follow or go to their home page to see what it turned out to be. Each of these clicks raises their value as ad revenue.
They may also sell things online of course. But it’s possible they make more $$ from ad revenue for catchy or intriguing videos. And when people comment “that doesn’t make sense” or “that’s a waste of material,” over some stunt, that counts as audience engagement.
Really busy clinicians and trainers will these days have some kind of social media presence, so you can register online and see upcoming events, and may post the occasional FB or IG post (“gorgeous sunset after a great clinic at Muddy Hills Ranch!”), but they aren’t posting video of My Pretty Pony every 3 days.
It actually takes a long time to film, edit, etc a coherent YouTube video. If someone is doing this a couple times a week, their main job is Content Creator. Not trainer.
Even if the videos are ostensibly marketing for the training program, in this case the ostensible marketing is the revenue generating material.
I don’t follow Celeste enough to know if she is posting enough SM stuff to be able to monetize her material. But it’s just something to keep in mind
Upthread someone figured out that her claim to be on the syllabus of a particular university Equine Studies program boiled down to one of the stable hand grooms for that program being a Celeste follower. I expect that if we could unpack some of her other claims about collaboration we’d fund them equally fraudulent and exaggerated.
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I feel like “consent” is just the latest buzzword in those circles. It sounds good and self-righteous.
The advocaters for the literal definition just don’t do anything they decide their horse doesn’t want to do. And a lot of them decide that their horse doing things for a treat means they want to do the thing (it’s more nuanced and complicated than that).
Then there are others that call what most of us would think of as observational, empathetic training, “consent”. Like, say my horse pinned her ears when I set the saddle on. I’ll check for anything obviously physical causing discomfort, then adjust my plans for our work that day to accommodate whatever soreness/ stiffness/ whatever is going on and reevaluate her reactions as we go. Maybe she played a lot with her friends the previous night and needs lots of stretching and bending to loosen up sore muscles. Maybe she’s in heat and just needs a relaxing, short hack. Maybe she has a stone bruise and is a bit ouchy walking out to the ring, so we just go back in and maybe do some stretches instead. Maybe she just wanted to stay in her stall and eat hay that day, but as soon as we get out to the ring she goes into work mode and all is well. We still do something, but it’s catered to what she needs that day so she is set up for success. She’s not literally “consenting” to work that day, but I’m being cognizant of how she feels.
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There’s a lady at my barn who is into “consent” and “gentle” training. She has two of the worst horses (I created a post about her gelding) I’ve ever been around. Her gelding is so aggressive that our farrier and vet won’t see them because he has attacked both of them (striking, pawing, kicking, biting). It’s not the horses’ fault and they are certainly “not consenting”; the lady did this to her horses.
Maybe it’s the academic cult training in me, but I tend to be wary of these online horse “gurus.” I sense they are trying to sell something or set themselves apart in the horse world, so I don’t buy into their marketing schemes. If I like any online trainers, I tend to follow Pat Puckett or Jeff Sanders. I also just think Pat is funny and worth watching for his story telling. There are a few classical dressage trainers I follow on instagram, but they just post pictures.
ETA: Oh, and I really like Denny Emerson.
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100% this. I was chatting with a friend about this. I see how it’s negatively affecting proper horsemanship (I say that broadly, but I am worried about social media affecting training) since people are all into “woo woo magical horse friendship” now. I have friends at my barn who are worried about offending their horses. If you tie your horse for an hour, they are not going to be offended. Worse, these people won’t get a saddle fitter out to properly fit a saddle, but they will get into healing crystals for their horse.
Friend said it was like when Parelli took over in the early 2000s and everyone wanted to trail ride bareback and bridleless.
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Yeah, like this scam… remember these?
I like the answer-dodge in their FAQs…
What does this wristband do?
The Power Balance bracelet is a performance technology wristband with a distinctive hologram worn by millions of consumers and athletes worldwide. It is based on eastern philosophies.
If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, QUACKs (get it?) like a duck… it’s a damn duck. She’s a scammer.
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Oh man, I ran across this gem the other day… I joined the group hoping to pick up some tips on building my guy’s topline and addressing his slightly wonky hind end, but there’s much more of this than anything helpful.
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What did I just read? 
These people shouldn’t own horses.
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Omg that is the saddest thing I have seen in a long time.
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“I am looking for a solution on the energetic field” is where I busted out laughing. Lordy lordy
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OMG! 
Is that for real? Or is someone testing their stand-up act for fans of equestrian-related humor?
By the way, what is a “heart-wall healer”? I’m going to assume it’s not an equine cardiologist. That’s got to be someone super speshul with magickal powers.
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This has got to be a parody! WT actual F
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I hate to admit I’ve met some people who think this way.
Plus, look at some of the equine influencers online and the rhetoric they’re peddling.
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Or shoveling…
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That horse would encounter the energetic field of my fist real quick.
Maybe she is not wearing enough silver bracelets.
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Same! The energetic field of my elbow! 
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Oh drat – I missed this beauty!! I joined that group for the same reasons you did. They also frequently recommend Celeste for just about all things.
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The sad part is that last I checked, there were 200+ comments and the majority were recommendations for said “practitioners”.
There’s another group called Non Violent Equestrians, of which the general theme is “any method other than asking Pony nicely/using a Vulcan mind meld is literal violence and the horse police have been notified.”
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