Well, I used to tell people about what Monty advocates and many would tell me about other "Natural" horse people - so I stopped now. I now show them. The proof is in the pudding. Many people now say how lucky I am to have such a sweet horse - ya right:)

Evyg, I have a friend who says " preach what you believe at all times, and if you have to.... use words"
I can't add anything to that.

I sooo agree that its what and how you do it that others see and remember. I used to preach about all sorts of things and now I know keep quiet and work with the ones that want to and the others can follow or not!
Take an example I chose to have my horses go barefoot (their feet look the best ever now) and my french neighbour dimissed it and said they would be injured. His working partner has quietly come to us to ask how it all works as he wants to try it on his horse! That was after my horse won the local quarter sprint barefoot. Just Do It!

AFter searching many thoughts and emotions within myself about this subject of what to say to the sceptics out there, which sadly includes friends quite often, I decided to keep it simple and found that simply saying 'because it works'has had the most interesting response for me so far. Who can argue with that! It raises curiosity in people as well, gets them thinking. The proof is in the pudding afterall! From gillee, south wales,uk.

My favorite was that monty trains them to join up before he displays them. I just keep my mouth shut.

Oh boy some really wonderful comments here. Due to commitments I have my horse in full livery, he is a rescue who has had a bad time in the past and is what you may call remedial. Well thank God I discovered Monty Roberts, I watched 'experts' use the one thing I told them he doesn't like...force. I no longer allow these people to 'assist'. I watched Montys videos over and over and bought a dually halter. Then asked an approved lady to assist me and, what do you know we both were happy relaxed and working as a team. This is just what I have dreamed of achieving during all my time with horses. This boy of mine is my soul mate I have always dreamed of, so it Montys way all the way.

I don't give a toss what the 'expert' BHS trained people say or do, the happy, relaxed look in my boys eyes, the sniffing of my nose and licking of my hand says everything I ever want to hear. I've been looking for this all my life. Thank you Monty and thank you for getting the message to me. It is high time this training of people wiped other methods off the globe as far as I can see. All horses and ponies as well as other animals deserved this amazing feeling of working with a partner, as do genuine horse lovers.

The dually halter? WOW, a superb piece of kit.

I feel far too passionate about non violent horsemanship to dare to even start a converstaion about it...specailly with skeptical spanish men who believe you have to hurt the horse first before it hurts you .....oh dearie me ..But they do see how beautifuly behaved my gentle boys are!

one of the hardest things is when you see a horse being abused i had one such moment a few weeks ago with a girl who has just got an ex racehorse off the track she was expecting it to be able to jump a course of show jumps this poor little horse had no idea and the more upest the horse got the more she hit it with a whip its a very difficilt situation as all i could do is explain she was asking an impossible ask for the horse and if she would like my help i will help her
whats really upesting is if she was hitting her dog with a stick the yard would be up in arms but hitting the horse with a stick is ok

Oh traciestockton - that is so sad. Around my neck of the woods, some people get ex-racehorses from the local track for jumping - but my gosh - it takes time and patience. These horses need to decompress. Poor horse - his future is bleak. And chica, my horse is barefoot too. The sand in the hunter ring has not worn down or chipped his feet yet:)

This is my favorite comment made so far about the manner in which I train my horse. I was at a party recently and the subject of horses came up. When it was obvious that the person I was speaking with was only concerned with the monetary value of his horse I became curious about his experience with training. As I began to tell him that I use a mounting block he became outraged telling me if I could not mount my horse properly I should not be on her! I smiled and said there are thousands if not millions of disabled people who can sit a horse for a therapy session and even slow trail rides. As I was answering his questions I began to tell him how my husband was amazed how I was able to predict the behaviors he would see in join up. He shook his head and laughed at me and told me "I read too many books!!!", I smiled and just said well life is just one big lesson, and I know my horses and I have been doing this since the age of 8. He made an excuse to get up and leave and I am sure he will never learn much in life if he is so opposed to reading books! Irishwabbit

From a horse trainer......

Dominated horses respond from fear. They give you what you ask but no more. They are relieved when you go away.

Partnered horses respond from desire. They give you what you ask and more. They will happily go anywhere with you.

Which would you prefer?

I'm a conservative guy. That doesn't mean my mind is not open to new ideas or change. The strange thing is that I never thought I'd be quoting Dr. Seuss. He said,"Always speak your mind, because those who matter don't mind, and those who mind don't matter."

GREAT Kansas Jack, that one is perfect for all of us who sometimes think twice before they stand tall or speak up FOR their opinions and against violence !

Ach..... I am still reeling from reading Traciestocktons one ....sad people with whips ...dear oh dear ..not cool.

Today I was having a spot of bother with my mare who didn't want to go down a lane where til last week there were scary pigs. A woman came by & said she thought if I used a whip it would help, no, said I, I dont use those methods, it turned this horse into a rearer a couple of years back. Still she wouldn't let up on me, or accept no, she was on my case for some time, yes but...done correctly etc only good for dog meat unless it was sorted.[just sodoff for your walk & leave me alone] anyway back home flipping through daughters book read of a trainer 400yrs ago who considered use of whips to be 'a confession of failure'
Love that quote....now where's that b***** woman?

Hi everyone, im from Argentina, here is not that common to have a Monty Roberts, there are nice people about horsemanship, but u are very lucky to have him over there!! i will love one day to go and do a clinic wih him.

So many responses here and it makes me feel so sad that world over there are still so many people out there who do not wish to acknowledge Monty and his training methods. I have been amazed that he seems to be so unknown amongst my horsey friends in my local riding club and believed that this must just be an isolated case. Most of the adult riders in my club are women and many have been riding and training horses for years but they seem to all prefer a personalized version of Pat Parelli type training than to consider Monty's methods. At one stage I sent an e-mail around the 100 members we have highlighting the advantages of the dually halter and offering to lend anyone my video on it if they wished to find out more. Guess how many responses I had? None. I have shown my dually to a few members and demonstrated its use on Tricka to them - response "the rope halter is far better"! It seems that I am the only Monty convert so I have given up now unless someone shows interest or asks for my help. It makes me frustrated when I see so many of these women chasing their horses around in small circles with a wip prior to riding. I guess it is meant to be lunging but in my view the circles are too small and the horses are too stressed for it to be regarded as lunging. Sadly I started doing this with Tricka too before I discovered Monty and the dually. It seems so hard for horsey people to accept a different method than that which they have been taught to use in the past - very few seem to be open minded about different possible training methods! How do we make a difference without being ostracized? I am hoping that Tricka can provide a demonstration for others but then after I have had a riding session with an instructor who insists on me being more forceful and demanding of Tricka I just feel disheartend and sad. One womand whom I spent hours with trianing her horse to float with the dually did buy a dually halter and joined Monty's Uni but I fear she too has abandoned his methods as her instructor rejected Monty's training methods! So I guess my success rate in getting converts to Monty's methods and helping to make the world a better place for horses is zero. Do hope other students around the world have more success!!

For many people seeing is believing - until they physically see another way, they will not believe in it; and even then they may need to see it many times; for those people usually believing is not seeing.

Keep working in the wonderful way that you are with your horses, be responsible for yourselves, and your own horses, let others SEE what you are achieving, eventually they do come round.

I work with horses and humans, using very similar techniques, and I am often ridiculed and shunned; but the last laugh is when those people's horses prefer being with me, than with their owner. I am not responsible for what others think of me nor how I work, I can only be responsible for who I am, for how I think and for how I work; that is all that you can ask of yourselves my friends.

People will take notice - even begrudgingly, they will take notice.

best wishes Chantal

Hi,
I personally don't like this kind of war between followers of different methods.
The important thing is that the horse is treated like a horse and not like a child or just an object that has to satisfy my ego. If you get along well with a dually or with a rope halter does not matter wich you use, as long as a tool is used in the right way to permit to learn through it. Either the dually and the rope halter are made to give the horse a certain discomfort in the case they don't follow. Also with the dually one can do damage if not used properly, if the horseman/woman doesn't know exactly when to put or release pressure.
Using a whip does not necessarily mean to hit the horse. I also use one, but I use it without exception only to gently touch the horse in order not to change my position (working from the ground) or to chase flies for example. If my whip falls on the ground, my horse even will pick it up for me, because I never have hit him, so he does not know, that a whip can also be used in another way.
The same thing happens with a bit. I hardly use one, but still I like my horse to have a positive experience with it. I can educate a young horse to open his mouth and let me put in the bit, but the bad surprise can still follow. I might be gentile with the horse on the ground, but if I am not a good rider I can do harm to the horse's mouth without being conscious of it. Than I will be wondering why my horse does not open his mouth anymore to receive the bit.
We always have to seek the problem in ourselves. I agree that it is important to read books about horses, but we can't learn a certain sensibility from written words. Only the practice can teach us. And we always need to reflect about the sense of what we are doing. It is not enough just to follow categorically an instruction of a method. Methods are meant to be a skeleton to give support to our common sense. Sometimes the solution is closer than it seams.
I think preaching is not the right way. Maybe one should listen first to the person you like to reach, asking him questions, maybe he also can teach us something. I'm sure he will be more willingly than to listen to us. (for persons and animals).

Cristina
Well written comment. I agree that Monty is a wonderful trainer and can teach us so much but there are other trainers that approach horses with the same attitude as Monty and are considered natural horseman. Not everyone will accept the concepts that Monty puts forth and so it is not going to make a bit of difference in what you say. The only thing that you can impress on people is that horse need to be treated with respect and patience. If people will follow that principal it really makes no difference what technique they use to train their horse as long as it does not involve force or anger.

The advantage that I see with Monty's methods is that I will achieve the results much faster and I think that the lesson will be retained longer. It also does not involve using gimmick.

Cheers

Good comments Cristina and Dennis. Apologies if I responded too strongly without much thought. I certainly don't preach and I am very aware that there are many different but also very successful ways of trianing horses. I guess I use a combination of them myself. However I have been surprised that Monty seems to have few followers where I live and that the dually halter is relatively unheard of. I do get concerned when I see horses being treated cruelly but I am mindful that the owner of the horse is responsible for the their horse and how they treat it. No one appreciates someone interfering with their own approach with their animals so I am pretty tolerant.

It's amazing how all over the world the stories are the same people who look at you as though your crazy, my best friend told me it was obviously a hoax :P but sometimes you just got to leave it. I must admit im not wholly only monty or only other types of natural horsemanship I totally believe in adapting to the horse im with. I focus with Monty's methods as the best to see results and getting that understanding between horse and rider. However i have also found other methods have helped and i do draw from other sources of information i have found both imprinting techniques and parelli techniques do work in some situations. Its all about the horse but yes the amount of skepticism around still amazes me!!!!

So we're looking for best quotes.
I have one from Richard Winters: "I don't think there are too many people with horse problems....but I have run into a few horses with people problems."
Ronda

Ronda
I just reread all the comments and really found them very inspiring. I have a plaque in my office of two horses and below it it says
"Horse Sense - What a horse has that keeps them from betting on people"
This has been a great post, with so many stories.

Cheers

Hi, I'm a new member and it's my first day. I'm having lots of fun and have already completed 8 lessons. I just read Joe Camps book "Soul of a Horse" and it inspired me to go barefoot. I was just wondering if any body else believes in going barefoot?

Hi perrierspal,
There are many of us that have our horses barefoot.
My mare is almost 4 now and has never had shoes on. Her ferrier says she has great feet and I have them done about every 6 weeks, not so often in the winter.
I found out why they don't seem to grow as quickly in the winter.
Because they have winter hair, their nutrition seems to go to keeping them winterized, lol.
That is what an old ferrier told me this summer, interesting, ah.
Welcome to the forum.
You will learn so much here, I have. And it is inspiring to chat with other horse lovers of like mind.
You have a great day,
Ronda

Thank you Ronda:) That is helpful. I hope you have a great day too:)

My horse and I were a team for 28 years.He taught me loyalty and gentleness as a 16 yr. old kid.He saved me from many foolish moves that kids do. We showed gym kana , trail.etc.He took care of our kids when they were wanting to ride..as early as two years old..with Mom or Dad of course.He helped mares teach their foals their manners. We had many horses over the time of 30 years.And so many good ones.All we're handled with gentleness and respect.
There certainly were ones that proved more challenging than others.....oh boy......only to have known Monty Roberts then!!
In June this year I went to Flag Is Up Farms for the introductory course..with Courtney and the gang...an experience of a lifetime and Monty was there most of the time..and our class was so fortunate to watch him work with a very remedial stallion..amazing to watch this man.Maya also had another stallion..remedial too.".progress was mind.boggling.To see the theories in action would make a believer of anyone.....well all but those too foolish or stubborn not to believe.
If the opportunity arises."go to the farm and see the real deal.All are friendly and just love to talk horse and horse handling..
Just as a P.S. to this..in the 28 years with my Equine partner..he never had shoes and we rode the roads and the show wrings for many years..he was never lame and never had hoof issues.
Let's keep spreading the word about Monty''s methods and make the equine world a better place.

The late and great Dr Reiner Klimke, talking about his olympic dressage horse Ahlerich: "I don't want to change his person. I just want him to go more beautiful."

"The Bad Master Makes the Seeker into a Slave"

Lovely quotes Mal and beryl