The intersection of a friendship between trainer Peter Schiergen and Monty Roberts was created when a talented Chestnut colt, born in 1988, became the troubled champion, Lomitas. Although he won two races as a two year old, he made it clear that he was terrified of the starting gate. So much so that this grandson of Nijinsky was taking 30 minutes to accept the loading and also attacked those who struggled to load him while the other horses waited.
“He was the most talented horse I’ve ever ridden,” says the renowned champion Jockey Peter Schiergen who has gone on to be a seven times champion Trainer as well.
Walter Jacobs, owner of Gestüt Fährhof brought in American horse trainer, Monty Roberts, who concluded that the colt was misunderstood. Roberts retrained Lomitas with trust and Join-Up and created an equine dynasty that may be difficult to ever equal. Lomitas went on to stand as a stallion in 1995 and our story picks up in 2009 when a Lomitas-sired yearling daughter was offered at auction where she was purchased by Heiko Voltz who, with trainer Peter Schiergen, thought she might be promising.
Danedream was sired by the German Horse of the Year Lomitas whose career was saved by Roberts after he continued to successfully get him to load into the starting stalls at the racetrack. Lomitas then sired the winners of more than two hundred races, one of the most notable, before the arrival of Danedream, being the Arlington Million winner Silvano.
Roberts remembers meeting Lomitas for the first time after the horse had been banned world wide from racing because of his refusals to load, “I remember telling myself that I’d better get my work right because I was standing in the presence of a champion.”
Peter Schiergen, holder of the European winner-riding record and the second member in the German “Club 1000” twice, 1000 ridden winners and 1000 trained winners, won his third German Derby in 2008, riding Kasmin. Then as a horse trainer, Schiergen trained Boreal, winner of the 2001 Coronation Cup and had three starters in the 136th running of the Deutsches (German) Derby. He has several times been the German flat racing Champion Trainer and is known for training Danedream, winner of the 2011 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
On December 27, 2022 Monty Roberts and Peter Schiergen once again met at Monty’s Flag Is Up Farms in the Santa Ynez Valley, California. It was an opportunity to share the highlights of two amazing careers that go on even today. Roberts is in his 33rd year of demonstrating methods of nonviolent training of horses, both in the saddle and from the ground.
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Photos of Monty Roberts and Peter Shiergen together available upon request.
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./Join-Up® International
(949) 632-1856
debbie@montyroberts.com