Lass is a young bay mare off the racetrack who is being retrained through Monty’s adoption program, and has found a new home with adopter Tess. Monty instructs the horse with his non-violent methods, preparing Tess for her first rides on Lass. In his latest series on Monty Roberts’ Equus Online University , the trainer addresses the needs of a rescue horse in need of a home and new activity.
“Each year, hundreds of thousands of good horses find themselves in transition of career or ownership.” Monty Roberts
For almost 25 years the Monty Roberts International Learning Center has been dedicated to promoting and teaching gentle, effective alternatives to violence and force during the starting and training of horses. And students visiting the MRILC have an opportunity to work with the horses in the Monty Roberts Mustang and Transition Horse Program (MRTHP) learning my methodology and how to practically apply it to working with horses.
By utilizing gentle and effective training techniques including Join-Up, my team at the Monty Roberts International Learning Center (MRILC) gentle and/or start unbacked horses from ASPCA Right Horse adoption partners, and work through remedial issues with others. All of our transition horses are desensitized to a variety of objects and stimuli, and undergo both a ground-based and ridden training program to make them safe and willing partners for their future owners.
Giving the horse freedom of choice, causing him to be happy when he achieves the goal, is intrinsic. Taking the whip to the horse, and then stopping the whipping when he does what you want, is extrinsic. It is my opinion that shouting, threatening and intimidating are also extrinsic in nature.
Join-Up® can be used to improve your body language and your relationship with your horse. If you fail, there will be no harm done, you’ll need to learn the nuance of the language. It is the language of the horse, and therefore he does not concern himself with the reasons for your actions. He will only judge you on the moment in question.
Launched in 2009, Monty Roberts and his team developed the first of its kind Equus Online University; an interactive online lesson site that is considered the most effective educational tool for horsemen on the web. It is established now that this learning system is the most comprehensive globally in horsemanship. It was important to Roberts not only to quantify the language of the horses he calls Equus, but also to share its interpretation with lessons from world renowned horse persons such as Stefan Peters and Jan Ebeling from dressage, Will Simpson from Olympic jumping and Phillip Ralls and Richard Winters from Western Reining.
Since launching, Monty Roberts and many more legendary trainers have contributed their knowledge of horsemanship. “Considered a rosetta stone for horse communication, one of gestures like signing for the deaf, online lessons are available 24/7 have contributed greatly to the encouragement and study of non-violent training of horses.” said Roberts. He wants the global impact to spread in his lifetime and encourages interested persons to log on at http://montyrobertsuniversity.com/library and have a free look around.
When Monty Roberts was invited by Queen Elizabeth II in 1989 to demonstrate his understanding of horsemanship, horse training’s 6000 year old tradition was forever changed. Roberts had cracked the code on the communication system horses used to survive for millions of years before humans had domesticated them. Roberts demonstrated concepts that drew a line at pain in training and his life’s goal is to leave the world a better place for horses and for people, too.
Debbie Roberts Loucks, Monty’s daughter, spearheaded the development, “We are first and foremost advocates for keeping horses in people’s lives. The more than 800 video lessons are in categories of Ground Work, from foundational to Advanced, and Ridden Work, from foundational to problem solving. And there is a terrific forum plus a searchable data base of over 1000 Questions and Answers from Monty with a handy keyword search bar.”
Photos available upon request
MONTY ROBERTS first gained widespread fame with the release of his New York Times Best Selling book, The Man Who Listens To Horses; a chronicle of his life and development of his non-violent horse training methods called Join-Up®. Monty grew up on a working horse farm as a firsthand witness to traditional, often violent methods of horse training and breaking the spirit with an abusive hand. Rejecting that, he went on to win nine world’s championships in the show ring. Today, Monty’s goal is to share his message that “Violence is never the answer.” Roberts has been encouraged by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II with the award of the Membership in The Royal Victorian Order, as well as becoming Patron of Join-Up International. Other honors received were the ASPCA “Founders” award and the MSPCA George T. Angell Humanitarian Award and FEI’s Man of the Year. Monty was recently included as Horse and Hound Magazine’s Top 50 Horsemen of All Time. Monty is credited with launching the first of its kind Equus Online University; an interactive online lesson site that is the definitive learning tool for violence-free training.
Monty Roberts has created Join-Up International, a 501c3 non-profit foundation. With his learning center on his Flag Is Up Farms in Solvang, California, he has produced a growing list of certified instructors globally. These facts insure that Monty will meet his life’s goal which is to leave the world a better place than he found it for horses and for people, too. www.MontyRoberts.com
Media Contact: Debbie Loucks
Monty and Pat Roberts, Inc./Join-Up® International
(949) 632-1856
debbie@montyroberts.com