Monty Roberts Equus Online University | Monty's Horse Training Post: Join up questions

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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

Join up questions

By:

raena

Date:

2011-May-18 at 11:34AM

Hi all, I have had a few problems with my join up. I have an 8yr old thoroughbred who has spent the last 2 years in a field and before that was thoroughly spoiled. She loves people but likes having things her own way. when i tried to do join up with her I had found it pretty hard to send her away and she didn't want to stay away - she came in on a small circle pretty quickly and even turned in almost straight away - she didn't want me to send her away. when i pushed her to go away she reared and kicked out with her hind legs - i'm certain she wasn't trying to attack me as she didn't move towards me when she did it but was showing me how strongly she felt against going away. when i let her come in she came straight up to me and did follow up just behind me but does it matter about the rear thing in the middle. she always comes over in the paddock and if i'm in the paddock follows me everywhere. But she does nap when i ride her and lifts her front feet off the ground when i ask her to go in a direction she doesn't want to. It's as though she wants to be with me but wants to be boss in our relationship - any ideas to move beyond this? I've only had her a month, thanks

Gen (Queensland, Australia) 2011-May-18 at 10:53PM

Hi Raena
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It sounds like your horse was dominating and rushing the conversation when you were doing join up. One of mine did this to me, and I found that our relationship did not improve until I was able to send him away and keep him going for the required flight distance and then ask him to come in.
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I could be wrong, but I found with my horse, that I had to really push him away to get him to negotiate properly. My horse behaved similarly to yours, and I got scared. My husband (who knows nothing about horses but loves the Monty Roberts DVDs) took over and sent my horse away and achieved a successful join-up within 10 minutes.
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It took me a few tries, but eventually I got my body language right and was able to send him away and we joined-up. I have not had any trouble since and I feel more like Ranger (the horse I had trouble with) are partners now, neither one of us the boss so to speak.
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My husband is also more assertive than me, so I had confidence issues too which didn't help. That may not be an issue for you, but I think you need to make sure she knows you are serious when you send her away.
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It will be good to see what other people come up with :-)
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Good luck!
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Kind regards,
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Gen

raena 2011-May-19 at 08:41AM

Thanks Gen, so pleased to hear someone else has had a similar experience. I shall have another go at join-up, perhaps i wasn't assertive enough as it was the first time i had tried join-up and i didn't expect her to react that way - it wasn't what happened in Monty's lessons online! Thanks for the advice - really appreciate it
Cheers
Sam

Gen (Queensland, Australia) 2011-May-19 at 10:04AM

Hi again Sam,
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Make sure you stay safe. I didn't expect Ranger to act like that either and I was also discouraged because it didn't happen to Monty... It really did give me a fright. The other thing I didn't mention above is that I practiced on some quieter horses to get some confidence and get my body and eyes right and then went back to Ranger and we were successful.
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Hope all goes well,
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See you later,
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Gen