An extract from his homepage....

Monty Roberts identifies himself as "the man who listens to horses." In fact, this is the title of his book which is a best seller in England and is scheduled to be released in the U.S. and Canada in August of 1997. Using a method involving kindness and communication he can start a horse to saddle, bridle and rider in an average of 30 minutes. Monty has also produced a video tape entitled Join-Up in which he teaches his techniques and shares many of his insights.

Monty believes that the violence involved in the traditional method of horse breaking is unnecessary and counterproductive. "I don't 'break' horses in 30 minutes, I 'start' them", he says. "I want the horse on my team."

Experienced horsepeople, including Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, have called Monty's method incredible. Traditional methods aim to teach the horse to DO AS I SAY and involve the use of pain.

"We start yearlings using 'advance and retreat', " Monty said, "which is a psychological syndrome whereby one animal or one person advances on the other, and one withdraws. And they reverse. One withdraws, and the other advances. The purpose of this is to bring the horse together with you, so we use advance and retreat to bring that animal in and make it realize you're on the same team." Monty calls his method: "Join-up".

Monty has developed an amazing venue for demonstrating his method of Joinup. He uses an enclosed 50 foot round pen. Around the outside of the pen is a platform which permits over 200 people at a time to witness the demonstration. Monty, standing in the center, applies his technique while explaining every step to the spectators. In approximately 30 minutes Monty will have the horse to approach him in the ring; stand in the center of the ring without being tied; follow Monty around the pen with no lead rope or other restraint; allow a saddle and blanket on its back while it stands unrestrained; accept its first bridle; allow a rider to mount; and carry that rider in both directions around the pen.

Monty's method involves horse and trainer establishing a bond of communications and trust. "You must somehow understand that we as horsemen can do very little to teach the horse. What we can do is to create an environment in which he can learn." Monty says, "We hear that 'actions speak louder than words', but generally we do not live by it too successfully. The horse has a very effective, involved and discernible non-verbal language. The incredible thing about this language is that these animals need no interpreters. Around the world they are understood by all of 'EQUUS', one common language that has been around for millions of years."

The message of "join-up" and "advance and retreat" goes well beyond horses. The lesson is also about philosophies of communication. Monty has consulted with corporations, translating his theories about rewarding positive behavior. He puts on corporate communications clinics, using the horse as a model, teaching people how much more can be accomplished with kindness and non-confrontational behavior-shaping techniques, than can be accomplished with harshness and aggressiveness. Executives from Disney, Ford, Merrill Lynch, Jaguar, John Deer and other major corporations have taken time out of their retreats and conferences in Santa Barbara to gather around the corral at nearby Flag is up Farms and experience the join-up demonstration and listen to the philosophies of Monty Roberts

Educators are looking into applying the Roberts technique. Recently school administrators, teachers, and psychologists have been visiting the Farm in increasing numbers. Applied to humans, Robert's technique is to always offer alternatives, with no fear of pain, or punishment. Make it easy for the child or adult to "join-up" to with you, instead of against you. As word of Monty's work has spread, people who know nothing about horses have become interested in studying how his approach to communication may help people to deal with other people.

So, what do you think of Monty's theories? Mail me with your thoughts:

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