Analysis Of The Man Who Listens To Horses By Monty Roberts

World-renowned trainer, competitor, and a leader in horsemanship techniques as applies to modern day methods, the man named Monty Roberts overturned the horse world as it was, and founded a completely new philosophy: that of natural horsemanship. As he writes in his book, “The Man Who Listens to Horses,” Roberts grew up in a very different horse world of “rough and ready” cowboys determined to beat their horses into submission by breaking their spirits. Convinced there was a better, kinder, more natural way of training a horse, Monty set out at the age of thirteen to observe wild mustangs in their natural habitat. Through his quest over his many years as a trainer and world-class competitor on the Western circuits and later in Thoroughbred

racing, he successfully developed techniques that have not only proven the existence of the language of the horse, but also demonstrated how to use it.
A unique and utterly remarkable concept for his time, Roberts based his methods on an understanding of how a horse responds to the body signals of their own kind, and worked to emulate and convey those signals using his human body. Most, if not all, of his methods stem from the basic idea of “join-up”, a term he coined himself. This follows the simple, yet novel idea that a horse’s trust must be earned through compromise on both ends. Roberts emphases the difference between “fight” and “flight” animals, where humans are the “fight” animals looking for the chase and domination, while horses are very much “flight” animals (Roberts 10). Roberts states, “Fear is the tool that allows [a horse] to survive. This has to be respected in any dealings with a horse, or he will be misunderstood” (Roberts 10).
When taught about horse behavior now, the first topic students cover are body signals to indicate how to proceed handling a particular horse.

Some examples of this includes a cocked hoof, which may indicate either relaxation or irritation, the direction of both ears to determine what the horse is paying attention to, as well as tail swishing or teeth exposure (Conant). All of these behaviors are very simple yet obvious signs that can allow a horse to communicate exactly what he is thinking or feeling, as well as give a good idea of how he might react to certain behaviors of the handler. On this topic, Roberts writes that over the years, a mantra he came up with that proved to be true through experience is, “A good trainer can hear a horse speak to him. A great trainer can hear him whisper” (Roberts 46). In addition, he claims that every horse speaks this same communicative, physical language, which he calls Equus, if one can only learn it. Supporting this is Dr. Robert Miller, who writes in his book, “Understanding the Ancient Secrets of the Horse’s Mind”, that certain traits are genetically installed into each horse, and these traits, anatomical, physiological and behavioral determines how each horse responds to different training techniques. Thus, by observing, respecting, and learning the language of the horse, a handler can get through to just about any

horse.
This was certainly put to the test throughout his life, as he worked with and started thousands of horses. This concept of “join-up” though, was utterly unique and it came to him by watching wild lead mare mustangs disciplining the other horses, mainly the young colts. This technique of training stems back to the idea of “advance and retreat” (Roberts 68), or compromising, while also remaining in control of the situation without asking too much or being unfair. Working in a round pen, he begins by squaring his body to the horse, locking eye contact, and extending his arms while opening his hands. This mimics both a direct command to “leave” with his eyes, while the opening of his fingers imitates claws coming out from a predator. This causes the horse to run, and demonstrate a flight response. The flight can be controlled using a soft long line as an extension of the arm to cause the horse to continue running, in first one direction and than the other. The reason for going both directions is so the horse does not think it can escape, nor can it come into the middle with Roberts, or any handler undertaking this. He can also control how fast or slow the horse’s “flight” is by adjusting where he shifts his gaze. Looking the horse straight in the eye is the strongest position to be in, and it very clearly means ‘go away’, whereas shifting the gaze to the neck or shoulder is less severe, so the horse slows down. After an average of five laps each direction, he looks for telltale signs that the horse is becoming submissive and therefore willing to “talk”.
The first of these signs is for the inside ear to lock on to him. Roberts explains that this is a sign of respect, and it says that she is accepting his importance and beginning to consider what he might want. Once this is achieved, the next step is for the horse to start licking and chewing as an offer of both respect and submission. He describes the horse’s thought process, in this case of a filly, as if she’s saying “that she’s a herbivore, that if she can be allowed to eat safely, if she can be allowed to stop running away, then we can come to an agreement” (Roberts 168). The final sign that shows trust is the dropping of the horse’s head so that it hangs low and close to the ground even as it continues to move around the circle. In a demonstration video posted to YouTube, Roberts explains that once this happens, in the next round, he allows himself to “go passive”, which involves moving his shoulders to point ahead of the horse at a 45 degree angle and dropping his eye away from the horse’s eye. It is at this point that join-up occurs, as the horse ventures in to the middle to “join” with him. He emphasizes the need to not look the horse in the eye at this point, since he has established with the horse that direct eye contact means to ‘go away’. Finally, after “join-up” is “follow-up”. During this phase, the horse follows Roberts as he walks away, making turns to prove true connection with the horse, before coming to rest in the center of the pen.
Once join-up is achieved, training can commence in a productive, trustworthy way with the continuation of the body signals the horse just learned from join-up. While this method it is widely known world-wide in the modern day, most of the horse world refused to believe that this kind, humane method of training horses could possibly be true. Therefore, his breakthrough moment into the public’s approving eye was when Queen Elizabeth II invited Roberts for a demonstration of his proposed new methods. Charged with the task of saddling and mounting a young Thoroughbred filly owned by the Queen Mother, he achieved both, and greatly impressed the royal family. Accused of cheating, he was then challenged to do the same with two very large, three-year-old stallions who had hardly been handled throughout their lives (Roberts, 195). No longer was he challenged every step of the way by non-believers, although progress was still slow until much later in the years.
Naturally, over his long years of travel and training, Monty Roberts came across several horses that are of particular interest due to the techniques and creativity he used to help.

One such horse went by the name of Lomitas. A chestnut, sixteen hands high Thoroughbred stallion, he was an up and coming talent in the racing circuit. The problem though, was that after several starts as a two-year-old, he came to be terrified of the starting gate. His refusal to enter resulted in Lomitas actually injuring someone when he turned vicious after being pushed, shoved, hit, blindfolded, and whipped by the track officials who were meant to load him in. He was finally banned from the track for being too dangerous in the starting gate, which is when the owner called in Roberts with a plea for help. Roberts began soon after, experimenting with the horse and learning his nature. After achieving join-up, he tested the stallion’s limits, and discovered that he was incredibly claustrophobic. “He was prepared to blame us for placing him inside enclosed structures such as starting gates and vans,” writes Roberts (212). Thus, although he had always been treated well in the eyes of his handlers, Lomitas interpreted being forced into the starting gate as though his people were treating him unfairly. Robert’s first goal was to load the horse on the van, which after earning the stallion’s trust, was not an issue whatsoever, whereas previously the horse would not go near the van, much less

inside of it. He then began working within a round pen, then a training gate, and finally a real starting gate. Lomitas eventually made it back on the track by passing his reevaluation to go on to become a very successful racehorse as Horse of the Year and accumulated $1.1 million in earnings (Roberts 211-7).
This horse, among thousands of others, was one which Monty Roberts was able to help, not through brutal and cruel “training” sessions that was detrimental to both horse and handler, but through a conversation of trust. His ideas and methods, and ability to stand up for his belief in a kind, humane, working relationship with horses truly changed the entirety of the horse world as it is today. The ridicule he experienced, and the tough times he went through were truly the lowest of lows in his life. Due to his perseverance and determination though, he made people aware of just how wrong they had been to break the spirits of these wonderful animal, and his philosophy of Natural Horsemanship became firmly rooted in society from then on.