It was announced today that Monty Roberts was selected as one of four finalists named for 2022 Equine Industry Vision Award sponsored by Zoetis to honor the winner at American Horse Publications Equine Media Conference to be held in Lexington, Kentucky on May 13, 2022.
“Equine visionaries see beyond the present to a better future for horses and the people who share their world,” according to the committee tasked with naming the “individuals and organizations that exemplify outstanding visionary achievement or sustained contributions that have profoundly impacted the equine industry.”
Monty Roberts is an internationally respected horse trainer and founder of Join-Up International. Roberts is committed to improving the traditional ways of treating animals and the people around horses. For over 80 years, he has advocated for and demonstrated the many qualities of our equine partners and athletes.
The announcement was timely in that Roberts is getting set to announce new ways he will improve the lives of horses and the people who love them.
“When Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth put me on the road in 1989 to share kinder, more effective ways to train horses, I was excited to share how the horses didn’t need traditional, often harsh methods of making horses accept our wishes.”
Roberts shared with a recent group of students at his Monty Roberts International Learning Center that the latest scientific findings prove that the way we stable and feed our horses needs to evolve. When managed correctly, group horse keeping with separated functional areas constitutes the most horse-appropriate method of stabling. Many domestic horses are sedentary and obese due to confinement to small paddocks and stables and a diet of infrequent, high-energy rations. Severe health consequences can be associated with this unnatural lifestyle for grazing animals.
Horses are social animals and their basic needs are geared toward life in the grasslands where most of their daily ritual revolves around feeding which requires covering long distances daily. The constant social interaction within the herd provides them with the necessary safety in the wild, where they are always out in the open air and often exposed to extreme climatic fluctuations. Although the domestication of wild horses has, to some extent, had a significant effect on their outward appearance, their natural behaviour and basic needs have remained virtually the same for thousands of years.
Confined in stalls with dust particles in their hay and bedding, horses have begun to develop a greater incidence of asthma and respiratory issues. Stall vices are also on the rise with boredom, lack of social interaction and little room to move as they would in natural conditions, traveling up to 15-16 miles per day.
Not only is this trainer committed to change the traditional ways of forcing horses, but now Roberts is adding the next challenge to more naturally solve the way we house, feed and exercise our horses. Watch for great break-throughs to happen at his Flag Is Up Farms in Solvang, California.
MONTY ROBERTS AVAILABLE FOR SELECT INTERVIEWS:
The New York Times bestselling author and world-renowned horse trainer Monty Roberts is available for interviews.
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.
JOIN-UP philosophies can be seen at work with both humans and horses across the world, from farms to major corporations. To learn more about Monty Roberts or the many applications of his Join-Up training methods, visit www.montyroberts.com. Horse Sense and Soldiers aired on Discovery Military in 2010 highlighting the therapeutic effect horses and Monty Roberts’ Join-Up® have on PTSD. Soon after Monty and his team developed the Horse Sense & Healing program for veterans and first responders. Lead-Up International was officially launched worldwide at the Monty Roberts International Learning Center in Solvang, California, in February 2017. The purpose of Lead-Up International is to reduce violence in the community by creating peaceful leaders from vulnerable youth utilizing equine-assisted therapy and non-verbal communication, building trust-based relationships.
Media Contact: Debbie Loucks
Monty and Pat Roberts, Inc.
(949) 632-1856
debbie@montyroberts.com