Monty Roberts Equus Online University | Monty's Horse Training Post: A horse that won't go.

Learn all about Equus • Dually Halter • Shy Boy Mustang • Jumping Horses
• Story of a Horse Whisperer • Riding Horsemanship • Dressage Horses • Willing Partners
• Horse Training • Round Pen Lessons • Performance Horses • Join-Up

Watch Monty's horse training videos to learn how he demonstrates communication through horse training techniques that the amateur and professional alike consider to be the trainable skills of a horse whisperer yet Monty calls it horse gentling.
Monty's horse training techniques are non violent with intelligent natural horsemanship. In addition to video instructions, Monty has written many books related to natural horsemanship. Monty trains safe horses for nervous riders called Willing Partners. Monty trains world class race horses for sale.
“I am very proud to be a part of Her Majesty’s horse training and her passion for their welfare. I believe she is the leading monarch for the advocacy of horses in the world. She is a thought leader in this field. Her Majesty's horses are trained using the Dually Halter, making a difference in the training of sensitive animals by giving the horse the choice to partner in the training.” ~ Monty
“I communicate with a horse in what I call the Language of Equus; a silent language of gestures that is discernible, predictable and effective. Now you can learn from my videos, audio and notes to help you understand the horse as I do. This language is really quite simple, but simplicity becomes its greatest strength.” ~ Monty
Monty Roberts is a renowned horse trainer known as the man who listens to horses and the original horse whisperer. Monty's horse training instructions are accepted worldwide.
Monty has helped thousands of people globally through his Monty Roberts Online Videos to learn how to Join-Up with horses, training young horses, spooky horses, horses that bite. His mustang , Shy Boy , is his most famous horse.
Join-Up methods help horse and trainer to establish a bond of communication and trust. “You must somehow understand that we as horsemen can do very little to teach the horse. What we can do is to create an environment in which he can learn.” ~ Monty
Monty says, “We hear that ‘actions speak louder than words,’ but generally we do not live by it too successfully.” Now Monty has taught thousands of people worldwide how to build trust in animals through our actions and body language.
Monty’s principles really amount to common sense and immense patience. He believes that children and horses have the same behavioral patterns. They are both naturally “flight” animals. "If you frighten them and resort to confrontation, you’ll lose their trust." ~ Monty
"Simple one-on-one reassurances and praise reap long term dividends that can all be undone with the quick slamming of a book on a desk or shouting back." ~ Monty Roberts
"No one of us was born with the right to say 'You must or I'll hurt you' to any other living thing, animal or human". ~ Monty Roberts
"My life's goal is to leave the world a better place than I found it, for horses and for people too". ~ Monty Roberts

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My Join-Up® Experience

A horse that won't go.

By:

JustDucky

Date:

2025-Apr-29 at 07:58PM

I have tried to do join up with a two year old filly several times now. I have successfully done join up with two other horses several different times. This filly does not want to go away or run. She is sound and healthy. She isn't scared of much. The round pen has had lots of distractions around it and even had some weeds she wanted to nibble at. Even when in her normal pen she is usually hard to send away. An open hand doesn't hardly phase her, nor does a rope. I tried using a flag and it worked for the first try, but she never joined up. She is becoming desensitized to the flag too. How would you send a horse like this away and keep her moving?

JoHewittVINTA 2025-May-11 at 03:56PM

Hi & welcome to the Uni. It seems you have fallen into the trap of not recognising the difference between 'violence free' & 'work'. You have inadvertently desensitised your filly to the flag. By not working this tool hard enough when she first failed to react appropriately - in very much the same way my Humphrey was extremely laid back & ignored stimulus, you have trained the wrong response. The thing is this, when you introduce stimulea & it doesn't have the desired effect you must not be gradual in your approach as that causes desensitising, you need to go from very little stimulation, immediately, to a lot albeit it great pressure which is immediately removed/released when your horse acts appropriately so she knows she's done the right thing. I had to chase Humphrey with a plastic feed sack that I cracked in the air like taking out creases from washing before hanging it on the line. Yes, it sounded like a whip & he certainly moved but it was a totally pain free very chapter in our journey to Join Up & incredible mutual trust. I have gone into potentially dangerous situations to help Humphrey in the certain knowledge that so long as he knows it's me we will both be safe & I can say the same thing for Kirk so it's no fluke - tried & tested.

I suggest you add something noisy, like a loud referees whistle. In the round pen, wave the flag & if she ignores you then aggressively sprint at her sharply blowing the whistle. This should prompt her to move & when she does lower the pressure so as to only encourage her to keep moving not continue to flee in panic. Remember, a horse cannot come to you unless it has 'gone away' & as Monty stresses "don't go away a little, go away a lot"! Keep the flag waving a lot in front of you to avoid sprinting into a kick & keep this short, sharp shock to a minimum if the filly cooperates. Good luck. Cheers, Jo.

JustDucky 2025-May-11 at 04:01PM

Thank-you so much for the advice. I will try it. You are right that I forgot to remove the stimulus when she responded appropriately. I will remember to keep that in mind.