Horse

What is the best thing the Queen has ever done for British horses? -introduced Monty Roberts to British breeders and trainers. What happens when a top racehorse refuses to race? - they call in Monty. What can get a wild horse happily accepting a saddle and riders in half an hour? - Monty Where do senior executives of Disney go for a brainstorming weekend? -Monty's California ranch. Who was Elizabeth Taylor's rider double in National Velvet? Who was James Dean driving to see when he was killed? Who communicates with horses better than anyone else in the world?-Monty Roberts. (amazon.de)

Amongst my friends who include vets, trainers, riders and equine body workers, the book is somewhat controversial. One of my early mentors in horse rehab (both emotional and physical) knew Monty Roberts and swore he was a genius. Others have sworn that some of Roberts stories were not true.

The book is definitely self-serving in Roberts' claims that he single-handedly brought horse training from cruel horse "breaking" practices to more humane training methods.

Er um. There's a long standing tradition of trainers like Ray Hunt, Buck Brannaman or Linda Tellington-Jones, to name a few, who have always incorporated kindness and understanding into their work. Less self-serving than Monte Roberts, their clinics, books, videos and demonstrations have helped educate several generations of horse owners, riders and trainers.

With all that said, Monty Roberts' book still has enough fascinating horse encounters to make it a a worthwhile read. ( )

I recommend readers do a little research on this man's reputation. I enjoyed the book as a teenager. As an adult horse person I recognize a/ the severe flaws in his "training", 2/ the lies and 3/ the abuse this man perpetuated on undeserving horses. ( )

Monty Roberts is an American horse whisperer. He started riding at the age of two. His father was a violent horse trainer, breaking the horse's will until the horse was afraid to make him upset. Monty thought that he could gentle a horse without violence. When he was thirteen he went into the desert to study wild mustangs. He studied the herd's behavior, and how the lead mare acted torwards the young colts in the herd. Once, he saw a young colt going around, and making trouble. The colt was scaring the newborns, and causing tension in the herd. The lead mare went to him, and drove the colt out of the herd. For hours, the mare would not let the colt back into the herd. Without protection, he was an easy target for cougars and other predators around. Finally, the colt started to apologize by hanging his head, so that his nose was almost touching the dust, and clapping his mouth to say, "Please let me into the herd. I'm not a threat." After seeing this, the mare lets him rejoin the group. After studying various herds, seeing things from mares with newborns being accepted into the herd, from rogue stallions challenging the herd leader. He learns all about their body language, and uses this to gentle horses in a nonviolent way. He travels around the country, making friends, and entering rodeos. He finally settles down with his horse rescue ranch. He takes the most difficult horses and gentles them in less than thirty minutes. No matter how much damage the horse does, either to him, or others, or his property, he always ends up being able to communicate with them.