Student Stories
When Experience Exceeds Expectations
MasteryMembership Testimonials
MasteryMembership Testimonials
MasteryMembership Riding Foundation Program - Mette Johansen Testimonial
MasteryMembership Riding Foundation Program - Annie Testimonial
Mastery Membership Testimonial - Cordelette
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Caroline Beste and her Amazing MasteryMembership Program is not for everybody... it is for those of you for whom: The horse is more important than you > The relationship is more important than your agenda > The moment is more important than result. The feeling is more important than thinking > The understanding is more important than knowing > The being is more important than doing > The awareness is not only a word, but way of acting every day > The acceptance is real space you give to another to be > The "walk away" does not mean failure... it means· need more time > The question "who I am" is not an difficult one.
If Horses just could say how they feel when work with Caroline's student, they would say one thing... "I finally feel that You(human) See Me". Caroline Beste, Thank you. #taoofhorsemanship
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Wow! Thank you Caroline for offering this amazing Course. Your compassion, knowledge and way of presenting information was concise, easy-to-follow and empowering! Your way of teaching and the materials presented are not only innovative, they were inspiring and motivating, giving me and my horse a new sense of direction and confidence. You’ve given us a great guide to follow now as we continue to evolve in our relationship and our riding partnership. I recommend Caroline’s Mastery Riding Program to anyone looking to develop a solid and correct foundation with your horse, from ground to riding. – Monique, Switzerland
WOW! So, I wasn't going to write you yet, as I'm sure you are inundated-so don't feel like you have to respond. Just couldn't help it. The course is a steal at the price you offered. I've only looked at the first couple from the workshop bonus. Already have learned a ton. I spent this much on several clinics from some other trainers. I learned one percent of what I have learned from just this little bit. And these aren't even the course videos yet!!!! I'm having to go slow to process, which is NOT like me. I can plow through 6 hour long lectures on physics and cosmology with no problem. I do hope I will retain all I'm learning. Hopefully, I'll have time to watch multiple times so I can make sure I've absorbed everything. Your comments on learning to meditate to deal with panic, and the law of attraction mention, really resonate with me. There is much in this course to learn about human interaction as well (show up, focus, be clear, ground when there's not connection), as well as for me with my baby (dog). I cannot express how much I appreciate this course and the bonus vids! I wish I'd had this info forever ago. However, I realize to my chagrin, when the student is ready... Thanks so much! -Laurie Capparella
Thank you Caroline! I finally found the right horse training program for me and my horse! Your teaching approach and video presentations are easy to understand, inspiring and full of great content. Each time I reviewed a video I found so much more to learn. It really taught me how to slow down and practice the steps closely. Because of this my horse and I stayed connected and confident throughout our learning process. Your Module has given us the relationship and ride of our dreams! Thank you from the bottom of my heart! – Pam, MA
Dear Caroline, Thank you for discovering this most extraordinary path to a horse's heart. You not only have an amazing gift, but you chose to share it. And I am so thankful for that and feel very blessed to have had the chance to work with you. You are a phenomenal teacher, and the work I've done with you has not only helped me with horses, it has helped me in life. One of the most valuable things I took away is that horses don't lie. If you are not putting your whole mind, body and heart into what you are doing, and if you are not totally present with them, they let you know. It's hard to still the mind sometimes, and be really present, with horses, in life, etc, but when you finally get there, and when you can have this most extraordinary back and forth conversation with your horse, through your intention, your position, your movement, through your whole mind, body and heart, it's a feeling that can't really be described in words. What I took away is the opportunity to have a new relationship with my horse, which will enrich every day I spend with my horse from here on out. So thank you for opening up for me this whole new world and new realm of being with horses.
– Tracey, MD
I am about to start my second young horse with Caroline, which says a lot about my trust and belief in her methods. In 2009 I was considering buying an unstarted 3-year-old Arabian-cross mare – my first horse in 20 years. Caroline didn’t exactly try to talk me out of it but she gave me a lot of good reasons why it might not be the best fit. I was separating from my husband and was an anxious, shut down mess. But my mare was love at first sight, a much-needed rekindling of passion and purpose. I bought her thinking after 90-120 days we would go home and all would be fine. We were not fine. Caroline talks a lot about working with energy, being more aware of our own and tuning into our horses energetically. While some of my work with Caroline was technique – what I think of as the “how to” – much of it was learning emotional & energetic “agility.” Self-awareness and emotional honesty are part of it, but the other part was learning how to ground my energy or to bring it up when needed, and to relate to my horse from my heart and not my head. I have worked with other trainers and tried other methods. I also got stuck a lot, and hurt – either my horse didn’t like it & had a strong reaction, or I took offense to the way they handled my horse or what I was expected to do in order to achieve a result. Caroline has never let me stay stuck. The mare she started for me in 2009 had to be re-started after going through nine months of dressage training with a different instructor – it ruined our relationship. My new gelding stopped coming to me in the field after ONE lesson with a different trainer. Now, after starting Caroline’s on-line course & returning to her approach of working from a heartfelt and spiritual place he is once again coming to meet me in the field, he is offering things to me when we work together, and he even hugs me back when we are quiet & I am praising him. We are still working on boundaries and respect from a place of love and leadership rather than force, which was only feeding into his natural opposition. I know that when the relationship is there anything is possible because I have seen what happens when it is sacrificed. It all starts there. The mare who rammed herself into the round pen panels to get away from me in the beginning was the same mare I later rode bareback in a halter through the woods and would walk out of the fields to the barn with me without being led or haltered. She would walk to the mounting block and wait for me to come & get on. I had people ask me how I got her to do these things. The only answer was, “She wants to be with me.” One of my favorite campaign slogans is from Jerry Brown, the Governor of California, who declared himself the candidate was “most qualified to wing it.” This is perhaps the most accurate statement I could make about working with Caroline. She brings a broad range of qualifications to her work and regardless of who or what “shows up” she is prepared to work with that horse in that moment.– Nancy
I am love, love loving the videos! Please tell Caroline. She may not like the "guru" status that I would like to give her, but as I've heard in the past, "when the student is ready, the teacher will appear". I must be ready and am so delighted that my guru has appeared (or maybe it's gurus - both Caroline AND my horse!). My life and my relationship with my horse (and with my family) has already shifted dramatically and we've only just begun. There's hardly enough time in the day for all that I wish to immerse myself in with all this new information. I just want to go live in the pasture with the four-leggeds! The family's not too happy about that part! But don't worry, the'll get over it, and when I'm happy and content, so are they! Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you! – Sally
I am on a journey to finding the way with horses that is most suitable for me... I have been studying a lot of what is out there, and find that many clinicians either aren't able to explain their method in an understandable way, or don't have accessible materials for studying them. Most people that I have looked into are either too "mechanical" or too "spiritual" and when I recently happened to come across one of Caroline's Youtube-clip I was completely blown away because it's just what I'm looking for BOTH spiritual and practical :)" - Katarina, Finland
I learned so much, more than I thought possible! The Tao Method Course was comprehensive and results oriented. It showed me so many new techniques to achieving the level of relationship, partnership and horsemanship I was seeking. I also loved that I had 24/7 access to all-of-the Module videos, discussion board and supplemental materials. I now have a better, more fulfilling relationship with my horse and a new approach to working with my horse at liberty, during ground work and when riding. Thank you again Caroline! – Libby, New Zealand
Thank you, Caroline! It is wonderful to SEE the evidence of the relationships you have developed with your herd. The things I noticed most:
1. Your groundedness – I can actually watch the energy you project when you move, both your palpable connection to the earth and the clarity and direction of your energy as you communicate with the horses. I loved the demonstration of “opposing energy” with Smokey. This gets me thinking: when I am unconscious about whether the direction of my energy is “agreeing” or “disagreeing” with the larger flow of my intention, I will create discord and confusion without knowing it. Awesome clarifying moment for me! When we are working from such a “quiet and subtle” place, mastering my own energy is critical and the first step to establishing the foundation of the “language” we are developing together. I love watching the invisible “cords” of energy between you and the horses. Awesome!
2. Your presence and responsiveness – I can see how present you are with your horses, even when you are speaking to the camera, you are “with” them; you stay connected. When I think about this in terms of your explanation of the stages or parts of developing a relationship: acceptance, trust, respect, and leadership, I really have to look at myself and the ways in which I relate to myself and others including my horses. How consistent am I? How congruent am I? How clear is my intention, or is my energy split in two directions? Am I sending mixed messages? When I look at how I have lived my life in the last few years that has led to my need to take a break, I have to say that if I were a horse, I’d have really mixed feelings about me as a leader. It makes me question the common misconceptions about leadership; that if a leader is strong and powerful enough, then others will fall into line. In reality, this work seems to be about putting in the time to learn how to embody the qualities of leadership that a horse or another person would feel inspired to follow; in short, it is a path to BEingness and becoming the leader that my horses can’t help but feel drawn to. When I observe you, you clearly have developed true friendships with your horses; they love you and want to be with you. – Ginger
So I would like to share that I really enjoyed and learned so much from a private coaching call with Caroline recently. And I'd like to encourage my fellow students to take advantage of the wonderful opportunity. A couple of things or big takeaways for me. Number one that it's good and okay to go slow and to circle back to the early lessons. As Caroline says there is so much depth in everything she does and I really didn't appreciate that, though I thought I did, there was still even more! It is not linear. There is not this first, then that, then the next step. One lesson like grounding, or backing, or sending, is multidimensional, many layered. Each is a container with keys that unlock the biggest doors and what you see or practice the first time isn't going to be what you see and learn the second time, or the third, etc. And I just want to echo that it is a very personal and transformational experience. There is no other way to describe it. Although it's about horsemanship and position and energy and the language of equus, it is also so much more. I admit I was reluctant to spend money for personal coaching when the online program and live webinars are so great and offer so much already, I thought what more could coaching offer me? Well, haha, a lot!! I cannot explain what is unexplainable because it is experiential. So, if you haven't done personal coaching yet with Caroline, just do it! Thank you Caroline. My personal lick and chew release continued all evening as I processed what may have been only one minute of our 60 minutes, but began to help me release years of personal trauma, betrayal, and the grief of deep losses. All because my little Frejya fjord paint filly was telling me she needed me to show up for her, to stand up tall, be in my body, and not be so timid about triggering her trust issues. This is a long post, but I hope it helps others know what to expect in a coaching call. And just for fun, here's a video of me taking my Frejya for a walk after our coaching session. And pictures of my Montana view as we are finally emerging from winter. – Sheri Scurr
Hello Friends
In spirit of Caroline’s ask of us to be more involved and to share … here I am sharing ….
I joined the mastery membership program at the beginning of lockdown in South Africa in March 2020. My mom had passed away 3 months earlier (Dec 2019). Looking back now (March 2022!) I realised I was more lost than I could ever comprehend , dealing with grief and a worldwide pandemic all at once! I followed the program diligently for a year - achieved amazing changes with my horse and to this day many of the principles we learned has become second nature to us. More so, I realised how this program truly became my coping mechanism and my lifeline through my grief - something to be part of, to follow, to learn and to connect with my horse.
Fast forward, I took a LONG break from MMP last year (2021) up until now. My yard where I stabled went up for sale unexpectedly and I had to look for a new stable basically overnight. For me this was hugely traumatic as I was basically part of the furniture at this yard and never thought I would need to leave , ever! We moved to a lovely new facility but it is quite traditional in its practices (mostly show jumpers and traditional dressage riders). The magic thing is my horse and I arrived there as ME and PC (his name) along with my Caroline-infused ways and I’ve been lovingly accepted as “the flower girl” at the end of the barn everyone treats me well and sometimes asks for help!
What I’m trying to say is; I didn’t realize how much I actually needed the break from this program; ONLY because after a year of finding myself and figuring out my new life without my mom (even though she visits in spirit from time to time - more on that another time); I’m able to return here with new insights and a fresh energy to absorb and go DEEPER. The first attempt at this program was merely getting through my trauma. I only realise this now. Now, I feel like I’m coming back ready as an excited and happy student, perhaps this is the intended journey of this program - to return each time with deeper meaning!
So, with that said, I feel I am ready to re-start the program and I would love to re-introduce myself to you, and leave a few little sayings here which resonated with me….
My name is Hayley - turning 30 (!?) in October this year , from sunny South Africa . My horse is PC (full name Power Cut), but now fondly known as Peace by my new stable yard (people misheard “PC” as “Peace” so it just stuck!). The funny thing is, his spirit name (to me) is Moonshine. He has a moon shaped marking on his face and his personality matches it - a quiet, deep soul like the evening stillness, yet touches all living things with a silver softness like moonlight …. He is my moonshine
~ Go slow, to go fast ~
~ When the student is ready, the teacher will appear ~
Love to you all looking forward to connecting ! Hayley Kruger
Hi! Today is my two year mmp anniversary!!! I’m not done with the program but I have come far. I’ve had a lot of breakdowns, breakthroughs, I’ve learned a ton and I’ve found this is what I want to do for the rest of my life; my passion and where my dreams are based. I’ll probably take another year before I finish the program because this whole time I’ve only seen Shiloh once or twice a week, unfortunately, but In March I will get my drivers license and see Shiloh as much as I’d like!!!!! Which means we will have a more consistent way of being and we’ll be able to make the work more solidified. We will be rocking and rolling!! So excited!! But in the mean time me and Shiloh have come so far and learned so much. She’s my heart horse!! And I’m excited to achieve the relationship and ride of our dreams! Thank you so much Caroline! You’re the best mentor and horse teacher I could ever ask for!!
Sarah