Monty Roberts Equus Online University | Monty's Horse Training Post: Farriers Tale

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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University Suggestion Box

Farriers Tale

By:

JoHewittVINTA

Date:

2018-May-31 at 11:49PM

Hi Folks. I'd like to share an experience with you. I have a young farrier, Harry, who is gentle & understanding with the ponies. However, Kirk, being a youthful five year old gelding, has developed a naughty habit of pulling his feet away. I was pretty sure he was just playing, especially as Kirk never tries to kick & Harry indulges him in a wrestling match, as his mentor taught him - the horse mustn't get away with that! Now, as Monty says, it's not the farriers job to train the equines so when Harry came last week we had a conversation. I said I would pay him 50p a minute ( that's £30 an hour - not bad wages even these days ) to help me train Kirk to behave with his feet. Harry looked aghast! He had other clients booked for later that afternoon. I said I was confident he would not be making huge sums from this & it wouldn't make him late. He agreed that, whenever Kirk tried to pull his foot away Harry would simply drop it & walk a few steps away. So there's Kirk, in the Dually, anticipating flexing his muscles & showing off. Harry picked up a front foot & within seconds Kirk is getting ready to yank it away. I said "drop it" which Harry did whilst I backed Kirk up 3 strides, albeit somewhat woodenly, before returning to the original spot. Each time Kirk resisted we repeated the same response, with greater cooperation as time went on, whilst Harry worked round all 4 hooves doing an initial paring. The total time was 6 minutes by which time Kirk had decided that standing still for the farrier, like he did as a foal, was his best option. The rest of the trimming session was a doddle. Harry got his fee plus £3. He was really impressed & said he will ask clients to adopt backing up rather than him trying to wrestle his subjects into submission - easier & safer for him & more effective for the horses. I'm very proud of Kirk, who performed exactly as I had hoped & expected, to provide a poignant & effective lesson. Hopefully Harry will use it to good effect elsewhere. Cheers, Jo.

bahila73 2018-Jun-01 at 02:54PM

Thanks for posting this Jo. As a farrier, I run into this behavior at times. Backing the horse-up after the break in concentration by the horse works wonders.
Bud

JoHewittVINTA 2018-Jun-05 at 12:05AM

Hi Bud. Thanks for your career based support. I hope you will also agree that if your farrier is accustomed to his clients moving their horses/ponies just a few steps as each foot is released, unless a shoe is only part nailed on, offers a more comfortable experience, avoiding muscle cramps & allowing the horse to prepare its stance to give the next foot. A win, win situation for all. Cheers, Jo.

bahila73 2018-Jun-05 at 05:36AM

HI jo; I absolutely move the horse around after I finish with one of its feet. When working with other people`s horses, I never quite know for sure is at where the horse is at physically or mentally. By the time that I am finished with all four feet, I usually have a pretty good idea where the horse is with their body and their mental approach to life as it pertains to them at the moment. If things are not quite right during my time with these horses, I will take the extra time that it takes to bring about a relaxation in the horse that is needed to produce compliancy. My greatest wish is that the horse doesn`t want me to leave when I am finished with their trimming.
Thanks for asking
Bud