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Monty Roberts joins Horse & Country in this 13 part series. Filmed at Monty’s stunning Flag Is Up Farms in California, this series takes you on a journey into the mind and memories of one of the most influential men in equestrianism. Meet the inspirational man who listens to horses, and find out how he gains their trust and understanding. Click on this link to see the video: http://bcove.me/394f93jh
Question:
My husband would like to know if there is such a thing as a “coldback horse”. In other words “one that you have to lunge before each ride”? We think not, but there are others who tell us yes. Robert says he’ll take your word before anyone else’s.
Monty’s Answer:
The Coldback horse is a phenomenon generally referred to by horse people whereby the horse tends to want to buck with the saddle or the saddle and rider in the first minutes of any given day. The inference is that when the back is cold the horse wants to buck. When the back warms up, the tendency is to accept the saddle and rider. When assessing this phenomenon, one wants to be very careful not to confuse a physical problem with a psychological problem.
Many Coldback horses will generally outgrow it and resolve the problem pretty much on their own. One should be careful to exercise moderately before mounting. If we are dealing with a physical problem, the odds are that it will not resolve itself without dealing with the physical malady before expecting a resolution to what we term the Coldback problem. At this point in time I know of no other diagnostic solution than to X-ray the dorsal processes of the spinal column.
Once the X-ray is completed, the competent vet will diagnose normality or abnormality of the dorsal processes, their spacing and their alignment. Should there be the problem of misalignment, it is likely that the vet will determine it to be ‘Kissing Spine’. I am discovering that many horses who have heretofore been termed buckers or horses with many negative labels are actually horses with anatomical abnormalities that can cause extreme pain with the weight of a rider. One should be sure to investigate the potential for physical problems before labeling the horse as having psychological problems.
What can you do to help this horse? The vet might use an anti-inflammatory between the dorsals or even the removal of some processes with no ill effect with the horse being able to carry the saddle and rider.
Question: Hello, I have a little problem when I’m riding: I can’t keep my toes in. How can I fix my problem? Thank you, Candi
Monty’s Answer:
Beginning riders have to train their muscles to get their riding position right. To achieve the leg position that I practice, you will want the center of the stirrup to be in the middle of the widest part of your foot. The goal is to have your toes pointed toward the horse’s ears, but straight ahead is acceptable. Your body should be aligned in a line from your head straight through your heels.
The ‘correct’ riding position varies depending on the riding discipline that you practice. A good student will also note that the correct riding position has changed through the times. When I was a young boy taking riding lessons, my riding instructors often reminded me to ‘grip with the knees and keep the toes in’ and this is the way that I ride even today.
The critical factor is that your body is well aligned so that you can be centered and balanced. The center line of the horse and the center line of the human should be matching exactly. Achieving the correct riding position takes a lot of practice. The goal is to be balanced on the horse at every gait, ensuring the safety of the rider and setting the horse and rider up for good performance.
Watch Monty explain and demonstrate his riding style in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUjnGsuv1f8
In November 2011, Monty paid a visit to Horseworld, a charity that works to heal young people with emotional issues by helping them establish healthy and safe emotional bonds with horses. Children and horses are subjects close to Monty’s heart. John Newman, chairman of trustees at Horseworld, said: “To have Monty Roberts join the Horseworld team as patron is a huge honour for our staff, volunteers and supporters.”
More here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-16476235
Question: My lovely appaloosa mare, Leggs, and I enjoy rambling round the countryside (hacks/trails of 10-20 miles) and a few long distance rides each year. Leggs’ current saddle pad is a bit too long, rubbing slightly over her lumbar spine/loin area. The problem is that we live in the UK and ride western. Well, Leggs is Western and has been a great teacher so now we amble along happily understanding each other. The point is that there are no Western saddlers anywhere nearby to go and explore suitable saddle pads. Instead I’ve done some research online and come up with two possible options and wanted to see if any of you have experience of them. I am considering the Cavallo Western All Purpose – Performance Enhanced and the Horsedream Products 30mm pile merino lambskin western pad with a twill outer. I think the outer is a bit like a normal English numbna. I hope anyone with a Cavallo saddle pad could let me know what you think of its performance as to import one to the UK costs half as much again on the usual price – very expensive! Or if you use a merino wool pad without all the extras, like felt and woven exterior, how does it work? I want Leggs to be as comfortable and happy as possible, so if you’ve got any comments on the above or even another saddle pad idea it would be good to hear. Liz n Leggs
Monty’s Answer: Recently, I filmed a series of lessons for Equus Online University called ‘The Science of Saddle Fitting’ with saddle tech, Robert Ferrand. Our findings confirmed that no saddle can fit perfectly under all circumstances, but we can optimize the effect of a proper fitting saddle accompanied by an effective saddle pad cushion.
Since 2007, I have been working with a Canadian company, Cavallo Inc., that has reached out to assist us in this effort to maximize the effect of the saddle pad in the area of protecting the horse’s back. In this video, you will see me reviewing the qualities and benefits of Cavallo pads as I work with my horse, Nice Chrome.
Question: What do you do with a mare that pins her ears when you feed her?
Monty’s Answer: If a horse should own any part of the day, it’s when they’re eating. When you feed a horse, leave them alone. Get the feed to them as easily as you can without mixing in at all, and then leave them alone. If they tend to get impatient when you feed them, take them out of the stall first, feed the stall and then return your horse to the stall. This is not a time to train your horse.
This is not a time when they ought to be pleased with having you in their lives. Horses that are cranky when they’re fed are cranky because they want you out of their territory and they want the tranquility of being able to eat without being bothered by a human being. You wouldn’t want them coming and hanging their head over your table when you’re having lunch, and they feel the same way. So, it is best to leave your mare alone when you feed her.
Get free training tips from Monty by email or submit your question for his weekly question and answer column. Email: askmonty@montyroberts.com
Watch this fantastic video about Monty’s experience working on stage with the War Horse cast. Monty advises the puppet operators on how to move like a live horse at the National Theatre in London. The main equine character of War Horse, Joey, interacts with a live horse, American Pie, owned by Kelly Marks, and Pie seems to believe that Joey is alive!
From Monty: The request for me to assist the authors of War Horse, the play, came as a huge surprise while I was on tour in England. The message said that the authors had used my books as a road map to the stage production which chronicles the challenges horses faced in assisting English armies to fight World War I. It was an exciting message and one which opened a subject for me that I had never dreamed would come my way.
The request was to train the cast regarding how to operate the 1 ½ life size equine puppets created to play the roles of the War Horses. One should know that the cast was 100% city raised individuals most of which had never even touched a horse. I remember the first day so well and the feeling that this was an impossible task and that I never should have accepted this challenge because after one day I was convinced that it would end in failure.
After 3-4 days, while we achieved some progress, I strongly felt that the best outcome would be a short play run, completed without extreme embarrassment. I kept telling myself “We can get through this but it probably won’t be pretty.” In the second week of my work (another 3-4 days) I saw something happening. These young men were beginning to understand the language, Equus. I thought, maybe we’ve got a chance.
These were fit young men; three puppet operators per horse. What became obvious was that they came into my life as a clean slate. They didn’t have any preconceived notions about how horses moved or what motivated them to act in any particular way. They began to operate as a unit and as one actor put it, “Monty taught us the language and we began to move organically.” He was so right, as I watched them depart from the script.
In the third week I asked them to visualize in their minds a school of fish and how this cloud-like structure took on different shapes, silently and without great fanfare. These young men began to work without cues. One was on the head, one on the shoulders and four legs while the third operated the rear quarters. Imagine the challenges of putting that all together and making it look like a real horse. I saw it happen. I didn’t make it happen.
Later I was asked to do a platform performance with a live horse called American Pie owned by Kelly Marks. The theatre was sold out when Pie met Joey, the star puppet. It was incredible to watch Pie believe that Joey was a live horse. The ears moved, the legs moved, the neck got longer and shorter, lower and higher and Pie reacted exactly as if he was with a real horse in a field somewhere. I was blown away with the sense of reality the cast had created.
After the platform performance and I met theater goers in the lobby for a signing and to answer questions. They consistently said that 10 minutes into the play they discarded all ideas that these were puppets. They told me that they came to believe they were real horses on a real battlefield. Please put yourself in my place and try to imagine how gratifying this journey was becoming. Time would prove we had a runaway hit on our hands.
Subsequent to the opening, I have seen about five full performances with three separate casts involved. In every instance I saw people crying big tears down their faces. I recall saying to one lady “They’re just puppets.” She told me to be quiet and leave her alone with her thoughts about this wonderful species called Equus. I gave her a hug and followed her advice. She was giving me the greatest gift I could imagine. I was quick to apologize.
While I was not involved for one moment with the movie, it is my hope that Mr. Spielberg will experience the same level of gratification that I did with his production. Before my experience, I would have easily said that it would be far more challenging to do on a stage with puppets than to do with real horses on open fields. I am not so sure about that statement at this point in time. With that in mind I plan to see it as soon as possible.
- Monty Roberts
Free workshops with Monty Roberts for veterans. Monty Roberts has developed an equine assisted program for veterans with symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The three-day workshops take place at Flag Is Up Farms. It is provided by the Wood-Claeyssens Foundation. Please share this news today so veterans will benefit!
Upcoming clinic dates:
January 20, 21, 22
Download the PDF flyer for more information: http://www.montyroberts.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Horse-Sense-for-Veterans-10-13-2011.pdf
Question: How would you clip a big horse who is terrified of the clippers without doping him?
Monty’s Answer: Thank you for sending this question to me. In the past two years my menu of procedures has grown tremendously where this problem is concerned. Yes it’s true; at 76 I’m still learning. There was a time when I recommended Join-Up® schooling to the Dually halter and then the use of the hair dryer to cause the horse to be more comfortable with electric motor sounds and the feel of the air on sensitive areas of their body.
These early procedures worked well and have served to improve the lives of countless horses all over the world. Some of my instructors came up with an additional procedure that I have found to be extremely effective. It is the use of a battery powered toothbrush. There are no sharp edges and you can get ones that have a very low volume so far as the electric motor is concerned. For the extreme case, taping the toothbrush to a bamboo pole can help one be more incremental in their approach.
Recently, I discovered all on my own, the addition of a gentle gelding that I could ride while massaging my equine student with the electric toothbrush. It seems that frightened horses will allow you to do much more from the back of another horse than they will when your feet are on the ground. We have been calling it the Monty Roberts Centaur effect. It has been an extremely valuable addition to the list of procedures I already had in place.
I am not asking a student to eliminate any of the early procedures. I am only suggesting the addition of those that I have listed here. Please do not use clippers while mounted on your quiet gelding as clippers have sharp edges and many have attached electrical cords. I do not recommend the use of an electrical cord until your equine student is perceived to be around 90% cured of the clipper phobia. The use of battery powered clippers should be employed before any cord is brought into play. Good luck. Keep us informed as to the outcome of employing these measures.
There are times when biting is a behavioral sign of hindgut sensitivity caused by ulcers in the colon. Ulcers can lead to colic, so it is critical to get a complete vet check on horses showing these signs. Please take time to review this explanation from John Hall, the President of Freedom Health, in view of studies recently conducted on horses and hindgut sensitity leading to colic.
Communication from John Hall, President of Freedom Health:
In reference to the blog post on the young lady that wrote about her horse “starting to bite when asked to canter”, it is worth asking if there have been changes in the way this horse is fed and managed. Cantering requires more collection, which puts pressure from the hind legs on the abdomen, plus the horse appears not to like having any lower leg pressure from the rider. These are signals of hindgut sensitivity.
Usually, the horse will somehow put up with some discomfort, then finally rebel (which is totally against its instincts) as conditions worsen. When it does rebel, someone has to find out what is causing this, rather than assume it is simply a newly learned “bad behavior”.
Monty mentions spurs as a possible cause. We would suggest that, while we totally concur, it’s less likely if this hasn’t occurred previously (unless the young lady has just started with spurs). By far the most prevalent issue is colonic ulceration. Based on our most recent study, 88% of 262 horses had colonic ulcers.
Please study our White Paper on “Colic & Colonic Ulcers”. Most colics are “idiopathic”, the term used by vets to describe that they have no idea of what caused the colic. This covers virtually 19 of every 20 incidences. Tasha’s horse appears to be exhibiting some of the early signals of hind gut dysfunction: the paper is worth reading. Click here to view it as a PDF. Read more about Freedom Health and Succeed here: http://www.montyroberts.com/succeed/
I hope this helps, and that Tasha stays in touch.
John Hall
President
Freedom Health LLC
65 Aurora Industrial Pkwy
Aurora, OH 44202-8088
www.freedomhealthllc.com