The Man Who Listens to Horses

[TheUpNorthCowgirl]

I liked the book. Good story. But it's not a training manual.

[miss leanne]

what little I liked about it was the actual FACTS of horses that existed. I always enjoy reading about HORSES lives... I find that entertaining.

it's people's lives that bore me!

[pvf]

I have been to some of his training demos and I can say for sure that one of them I went to he had not seen the horse at all prior to the event. I didn't read any of his books but he has training ones that I have used some of the techniques and they do work. Again, I haven't tryed them all. We actually got to see his place in CA. and got the chance to watch him and his students working horses it was quit informative.
Also, shy boy was trained out in the desert and yes, he did take him back to his herd and he came back to him.

Know he's constrated his work to helping people.
But, like any trainer that I watch, I take a few ideas from one, some from another, and so one. But, I do like the join up part of his training.

[ToveroMom]

Shy Boy was an adopted horse he had for mos first BEFORE he supposedly cut him off from the wild herd and ran him for 3 days.. Sort of NOT what he has portrayed.
He has been sued so many times for "stuff" he has printed in his novels that I just cannot see me ever reading a darn thing he has to say. Sorry but.

[Slim Pikkens]

It's too bad people feel the need to discredit Monty Roberts. He has done some very good work with horses, but folks remember what didn't go so well. Not all trainers are writers or teachers as not all good teachers and writers are horsemen. In order to write books one has to pull the two together and that is not a simple task. There is an old expression "What I said is not what you heard". And if we close our minds we will not hear anything. We have to keep an open mind to all training as it's not cut and dried.

[ToveroMom]

Nope Slim-must disagree there with you.
I feel no need to discredit him-he has done that himself.
Go on out to Flags Up Farm and listen the folks in the community..not his accolytes but the folks who live there.
I am far from feeling guilty over anything I said about him..and it is all true.
Perhaps you do not believe but these topics ARE provable. From him never running down a wild horse to him laming the horse that he rode. Talk to his owners-who had sent him down for training-not to be run roughshod over Monte's buddies ranch. Talk to the BLM that adopted him out those colts that he supposedly "found" running loose.
You are not from the states so I will explain that it is a federal offense to chase or harrass wild mustangs. Wonder why he was not prosecuted? Because they were not wild He bought them from the BLM mos before he filmed his epic.
He needs no help at being discredited.

[pvf]

When we were out in California 2 yrs ago knowbody had anything bad to say about him then, we were in town for about a week and talk to mamy locals, plus we also visited the farm.

[ToveroMom]

Well you hit the right folks.
His fans as well as folks who litigate against him are legion.
I am just not a fan of him at all. For many reasons.
Thanks gawd I do not have to be. There are at least 3 trainers all doing the same thing as him-so between the 4 of them I can find one I can respect
And you guys can all do the same-ain't that a hoot?

[pvf]

ToveroMom don't get me wrong I don't worship him or anything I just haven't heard anything bad at all. But, since I live so far away I don't really know.
Anyway, yes there are other great trainers out there too. Which is nice because every one brings there own style to their training.

[ToveroMom]

I totally understand and he has said a few things I found interesting if not original.
I have a link with tons of info PM me if you want to peruse it.
My old trainer managed the farm next to flags Up when he first took it over. I guess familiarity can breed contempt
I heard he was moving on to TN[?} to a gaited horse ranch. Never heard if he did for sure.

[Shotgun]

I have read it at least 3 times. I can't see why the book is bad. It is NOT a training manual. It is his story. I have a friend who is an author who had a very traumatic childhood and he writes about it in his books. Some of the comments I've read here sound just like the comments my friend gets about his childhood. People believe that since it is so horrendous that it can't be true, but it is. I don't know Monty but I've done Join-up. It works, but it takes time to learn it. He never says that you will be able to do this overnight. He doesn't even claim that HE came up with the language (this is especially true if you were to read his book From My Hands to Yours, which IS a training manual). He says all throughout the books that it was the horses that use it. He doesn't even claim to be the first person to discover the language. If you missed that part you either didn't read the whole book or you didn't read it carefully.
He just does not advocate violence. There is nothing wrong with that. There are also plenty of other trainers out there who are very much un-humble. They also happen to be very big names. Keep that in mind. Every trainer has their good qualites and their bad.

AND I take those so called "truths" that others come up with about him with a grain of salt. It is obvious they don't like him so they are not going to be objectively critical of him. They are going to be very judgemental.

"Judge not least you be judged."

Go ahead and read the book yourself with an open mind and form your own thoughts about it. You may find you like the book, you may be inspired, or you may feel it's a hoax. But that's up to you.

[ToveroMom]

Perhaps reading both the good and the bad would be the way to go?
The only HOAX I can think of is him lying about Shyboy-but that is a matter of record. it is his veracity that is called into question
http://www.montyrobertslies.com/
Joining up does work..it is called hooking on by another trainer and another thing by others-I never said it did not work. Sorry if you got that from me.

[hellokitty41489]

I've never read any of his books. I was going to, but then I met him at Equine Affaire last year and when my friend and I went to ask him a question about cow kicking, he just tried to sell us a halter/bridle combo. Kinda turned me off a little bit.

[Shotgun]

I guess my point is this...
We can probably dig up really bad stuff about anyone...really. But are we taking it all in the correct context? Perhaps what one persons sees is not the way it was meant. I'm sure we could pick any trainer out there and find a terrible thing he/she did once (or twice) or said, etc... But Monty seems to get the blunt of it. I really don't understand why to tell you the truth. He's not a saint so why are we, as horse people, expecting him to be?
For example, there is a well known trainer out there that will hit a horse just because it is standing too close to the trainer. Why is that not being heavily judged? Not to mention that it was taken out of context. I remember reading a quite long thread here about that specific thing.
And the title of the book...?
It's just a title. And he does, in a way, listen to horses.
Lots of people use different terms for similar actions or behaviors. This should not be used as condemnation of him. We all use other people's methods when training our horses, or atleast a combination of them. This is because we use what works, what is proven, even if it is called by whatever name you choose. Very little of any training is original, someone had to come up with it.

Joining up does work..it is called hooking on by another trainer and another thing by others-I never said it did not work. Sorry if you got that from me.

No, I did not get that from you. I got that from other nay-sayers that I've read about.

[Slim Pikkens]

It was Monty Roberts who raised my awareness in how we deal with horses. By this I mean the language of horses, herd interaction and how we can play a role.

[ray]

I have the book Shyboy right here and I think the author is pretty honest about the mustangs being adopted from the BLM. One of his quotes "Consequently, and quite properly, the mustang is protected by federal law. An act of Congress forbids anyone interfering with them in any way. They are under the authority of the BLM and it is illegal to go near them in their wild state without authorization to do so. My only hope for aquiring a mustang was to adopt one."

I also think that even if this horse was not [i]100% wild[i], it is still a pretty amazing thing that happened out there. It is also somthing that has probably been done before with a little less razzle dazzle. As someone said above me it is good to take little pieces of everyone's methods and make them your own. I also think it is great to have an open mind. I am neither for or against but I do enjoy a good tale, even if it's tall.

[ToveroMom]

OK last post here. Yes he did say that in the book. Movie was done first and it got him on the wrong side of the BLM. There was a blurb from the BLM site-question and answer section where someone had asked if they could go out and capture their own mustang "like Monty"
That was how it came out-BLM stated the laws protecting the mustangs and the fact that Monte had adopted 3 mustangs,mos prior-so they were not wild but adopted.
He did include that in the book-direct quote from BLM policy.
It is good to have an open mind to info I agree.

[Gallamist]

I have the book, read it, he signed it...hehe

I LOVED the book and i'm not one to sit and read a whole book!!!

Went to his demo in Vancouver in 2003 and loved it. But then again he also used my gelding for the trailering demo..heh...He did WONDERS with my gelding and ever since he's been a dream to load and unload into the trailer!

I chatted with Monty Roberts for a bit before the show while he was looking at my gelding and *I* liked him...Nice Man IMO.

http://www.geocities.com/myhorses25/sammy2.html

[Jess6092]

Originally Posted by miss leanne

it's an entertaining story, for sure.

just try and take it with a grain of salt.

This is exactly what I thought of that book. It is a good "STORY" but not much of a training aid. I don't know, JMO.

[Gallamist]

Originally Posted by Jess6092

This is exactly what I thought of that book. It is a good "STORY" but not much of a training aid. I don't know, JMO.

It was NOT meant as a training aid!