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Watch Monty's horse training videos to learn how he demonstrates communication through horse training techniques that the amateur and professional alike consider to be the trainable skills of a horse whisperer yet Monty calls it horse gentling.
Monty's horse training techniques are non violent with intelligent natural horsemanship. In addition to video instructions, Monty has written many books related to natural horsemanship. Monty trains safe horses for nervous riders called Willing Partners. Monty trains world class race horses for sale.
“I am very proud to be a part of Her Majesty’s horse training and her passion for their welfare. I believe she is the leading monarch for the advocacy of horses in the world. She is a thought leader in this field. Her Majesty's horses are trained using the Dually Halter, making a difference in the training of sensitive animals by giving the horse the choice to partner in the training.” ~ Monty
“I communicate with a horse in what I call the Language of Equus; a silent language of gestures that is discernible, predictable and effective. Now you can learn from my videos, audio and notes to help you understand the horse as I do. This language is really quite simple, but simplicity becomes its greatest strength.” ~ Monty
Monty Roberts is a renowned horse trainer known as the man who listens to horses and the original horse whisperer. Monty's horse training instructions are accepted worldwide.
Monty has helped thousands of people globally through his Monty Roberts Online Videos to learn how to Join-Up with horses, training young horses, spooky horses, horses that bite. His mustang , Shy Boy , is his most famous horse.
Join-Up methods help horse and trainer to establish a bond of communication 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
Monty says, “We hear that ‘actions speak louder than words,’ but generally we do not live by it too successfully.” Now Monty has taught thousands of people worldwide how to build trust in animals through our actions and body language.
Monty’s principles really amount to common sense and immense patience. He believes that children and horses have the same behavioral patterns. They are both naturally “flight” animals. "If you frighten them and resort to confrontation, you’ll lose their trust." ~ Monty
"Simple one-on-one reassurances and praise reap long term dividends that can all be undone with the quick slamming of a book on a desk or shouting back." ~ Monty Roberts
"No one of us was born with the right to say 'You must or I'll hurt you' to any other living thing, animal or human". ~ Monty Roberts
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Horse Behavior and Training

Starting slowly a myth?

By:

Rudi - Pratteln, Switzerland

Date:

2010-Dec-27 at 08:49PM

Everyone who is working with horses is telling that you have to start slowly. First ten minutes walking, then trot, then canter. Is that really true? What about the horse some million years ago when a tiger tried to catch him? Did he first walk for ten minutes? In the Join-Up procedure the horses also start with the canter. What is your opinion?

Lily 2010-Dec-28 at 11:03AM

Dear Rudi, It is my belief that starting slowly with a good warm up helps to reduce the possibility of joint problems, especially in later years. Also, I have found with my mare that it helps both of us if we start in a calm, relaxed way with gentle walking. This is because I used to be a very nervous rider and a quiet start enables me to lose the tension in my body, gain a deeper seat and thus feel more connected to my horse. As you point out, there will be occasions when there is no slow start for a variety of reasons, but these tend to be isolated instances and as such I imagine they would not be putting the horse's joints under undue repetitive stress.

Miriam (Holland&Germany) 2010-Dec-28 at 03:52PM

Hi Lily and Rudy, as an Introductory student I work with a lot of trained horses to get my skill-level up. This includes also doing Join-up with older horses, that actually don't even need it. I found prepairing horses for their work in the roundpen very useful, the hyaloronic acid, that smears the joints only starts to form after a certain amount of work. Many say 20 minutes. So warming-up before Join-up is the least I can do before taking the older horse into the roundpen. In the wild horses don't live as long as our domesticated ones do, still "cold-starts" will cause problems in joints and tendons. One other thing to consider is that in the wild horses are moving (grasing) constantly, so their joints are not as cold as our paddock- and stable-horses' are in most cases. An older horse with arthrosis benefits from being turned out immensely. Here comes the hyaloronic acid again!