Dear Friends,
This month I bring you details of an experience I had working with a filly that wouldn’t have anything to do with trimming her feet. Preparing your horse for the farrier is one of the most important responsibilities of a horse owner. I give you my experience in the words of Harmonia CEN’s owner, Eva-Lisa Myntti
Ann Lindberg holds a relaxed Harmonia CEN while Monty trims her feet. Read about this hard-earned accomplishment below. Monty will tour again in Sweden in May 2008.
It all began because, after quite a few years' break, I decided to get a pure bred PRE to ride and for breeding. The grey (dapple) horse chosen is a filly named Harmonia CEN. She is a 4-year old PRE (Andalusian) from Yeguada Centurion. She had come from Spain just a month earlier and had been living out doors in a herd of fillies all of her life. She is bright and beautiful, explosive, curious and friendly, BUT, there was NO WAY that you could lift her feet. I got as far as brushing her legs all the way down and it was all too obvious that someone was going to get hurt if we tried to "force" her any further. I had asked them to trim her hooves before sending her here, and I had noticed that the right front was longer than the left; we guess "something" happened.
Monty worked her on the Dually halter in her paddock, with our stallion in the paddock next to hers. To be honest, what happened there, right in front of our eyes, was mind-blowing. She went from wild protest, to some kind of surprise and confusion, to listening- with a few tricks to see if he was truthfully honest- to relaxing, trusting Monty with her feet. And as you can see, he actually trimmed her front hooves! Ann stepped in at the very end to assist Monty as he was doing the actual trimming.
Monty equipped Harmonia with a Dually halter and type of long line and went at the fixed pace set by her. She looked at him but that was all. As he reached the end of the line he put pressure on the halter .i.e. the running line over the ridge of the nose, and her reaction was immediate. Harmonia completely exploded backwards. All my fears about her power and speed had been demonstrated. Monty, who was turned towards her, first calmly let the line run out of his hand, although maintaining pressure and he held against it like a stop. During these two seconds, Harmonia tried to flee but noticed she hadn’t come free and decided to make the choice to stand still. The instant she stopped, Monty eased the pressure over her nose and Harmonia stood still to think about her experience. She seemed to realize that there was no physical discomfort and that this two-legged animal of prey was still there and wanted clearly to converse with her. Now pressure over the nose; a choice to move toward Monty. From the whole of Harmonia’s body language you could see that she was confused, what should she do now? Monty continued with the same practice; to go away from her and invite her to follow him. Step by step she got the melody, when I follow it’s good; when I am not being disagreeable. It was rather easy to read Harmonia’s body language and the understanding developed quickly.
At the same time, our stallion Llaneti gave his most fantastic leap in the air in the adjacent field, but finally gave up when no one paid attention. By turns, Harmonia took small steps forward as she refused-chose to follow, refused-chose to follow. I got a blinding laser-focused image of Monty then, do you get me? I lifted my eyebrows and nodded weakly. She followed for a moment, even though she clearly showed that she wasn’t entirely happy with the whole process. Suddenly, she heaved forward in a weak arc past Monty. He let her run past for a bit, then he took the line with one had behind the thigh and made a stop. Harmonia was not as focused in her protest as the first time, but most of us would have let go of the lead rope or had been left dragging behind her. So he began patiently with the same leading exercise until all went well again.
Mostly he had been quiet until then, but now he stood and elucidated what had happened for us. He asked us what we had seen in her movements and continued talking about important details of the techniques. First he stated that when she had broken away, he could have held her but this is something that could be dangerous when she throws herself backwards.
With a little smile he continued, “You understand that when a horse tries to break away most people try to oppose it immediately, just when the horse is in full power. You can work out what will happen. Let the horse jump first and then take back control. Have a really long lead rope and always work to train your muscle memory.”
He is enthusiastic when he talks. He has humor but I see focus. The next step is to show her personal space using the halter’s help to back her up and move her forward. When she goes too far forward, or voluntarily doesn’t give him his space by backing up when he goes towards her, he schools with the Dually halter. She is comfortable when she is positive by choosing to do what he has invited her to do. She gets an immediate reward in that the pressure from the halter is released and he rubs her forehead and turns away. He says, “Harmonia understands that a human is an animal of prey because our eyes are placed in the front of head. A horse understands that.”
“Some say that I behave like a dominant mare. I never will be a dominant mare; I am an animal of prey. But when a horse responds to my communication and I stroke its forehead, one of the places on its body that she cannot see, the horse understands that I am not going to hurt it.”
When he has established his personal space, she learns quickly. So he moves round, sometimes purposefully, sometimes seemingly strolling, he stands, he turns and she remains glued into a position with the forehead raised to his shoulders as he asked her to do. She clearly starts to relax, lowers her neck and her eyes begin to point here, there and everywhere and towards Monty. Now he places her on level ground in the field and starts on working with her legs. First, he just stands in front of her with a loose line to see if she will choose to be close to him. It’s not long before she gets the feeling of high electricity in her body and demonstrably lowers her neck and looks away. He schools her with the halter.
Immediately before he looks away he says, “Now, she’s having negative thoughts again – but I don’t care.” Quietly, he waits until she has revealed her thoughts and he schools her again. He says that when she moves her head away, this can be a negative indicator. The third time it seems as if reality freezes for a second and she chooses herself, halfway through the move, that she will return to him. Stroke on the forehead and then it is a deeply relaxed Harmonia who stands there.
Harmonia now seems smaller than before. I say quietly to my friend Tobias, “She seems very…” “Smaller”… he fills in. We look each other in the eye for some long seconds. We know animals, hunting dogs, shepherd dogs, half-domesticated reindeers, horses…we are used to looking at them when they move freely. What has happened?
Monty continues letting the line glide over her back and she jerks a little but chooses to stand still. Then Monty lays the rope on the ground in front of Harmonia and systematically begins to lift her hooves, left side first. He holds her tendon to ask her to lift her foot. He alerts us to all her subtle reactions, jerks in the body, flexing in the muscles. All this he coordinates with what he is asking her to do, to give her the chance to not only learn to lift on conditioning, but also to understand what she is doing and that it is her choice to trigger the consequences.
He lifts her hooves and wraps his fingers under them. He goes calmly from side to side, strokes her forehead when he passes in front of her, and not once lifts his gaze and looks her in the eyes. “All of this is body language. If a horse does anything when you are with them, you can be certain that they are reacting to something you have done, whether you meant it or not. You can say any word you want to make the horse lift its hoof but it is your body language that it reacts to. Test it.”
Quickly Harmonia learns that when Monty moves in beside her, bends down and shakes an index finger against her fetlock, then she lifts her hoof, high. You only need to catch it. He can even lift the back legs. It doesn’t upset her and she gets a gentle rub on the nose.
The remainder of Harmonia’s front hooves are, as they say, history. Ann holds the line and Monty works away with pliers and rasp. Monty pointed out the importance of training your horse for the blacksmith’s visit. It is you who are responsible for the consequences for your horse and it should remain with your actions and you should avoid trauma and violence. In addition, he thought it was unreasonable to ask the blacksmith to train the horse; he is neither trained nor paid to do it.
“O.K. That’s it.” Oh! It was all over. And the brain was almost in overload.
After the session we went to town to have lunch and some rest. As I passed the horses on my way home, I went into Harmonia's paddock and stroked her entire body. She relaxed, resting one hind leg, which had never happened before. We (Eva-Lisa and Tobias; Camilla is a neighbor, horse owner and good friend who helps us out with our horses) tried to understand and learn as much as possible so as not to ruin what Monty accomplished at once... (have read all the books, seen all the films; Camilla and I are taking the Join-Up course from Ann this spring). Fact is, Harmonia remains "Monty-fied" as we call it! Tobias trims her feet indoors or outdoors, even on his own, just using the Dually and a long line. She is so beautiful and so communicative and she really blossomed from that day on. Everybody who visits falls in love with her. I have nicknamed her "Donna Juanita"...
Monty also instructed Ann as she did some Dually-work with our stallion, Llaneti, the kind of cinnamon-grey. He is also a PRE, 6 years old, from Yeguada Antonio Moreta. Harmonia CEN was bought as a "wife" and companion for him... Monty sat outside the paddock and instructed Ann very closely on what to do. Llaneti reacted very differently- he is schooled the "Spanish" way, although not too brutally since he was never meant for bullfighting but for dressage. Llaneti turned out to have a very cooperative approach to things, phew! But he was not sure he was allowed to communicate. We have come a long way since. Ann has also visited and worked more with Llaneti. We are now preparing for Monty's demo here in Umeå. As you can understand we feel deeply committed to spreading Monty's message. We have seen it working, first hand. The rewards seem endless.
Best, Eva-Lisa Myntti
Editor’s Note: Look for the full story in a future Join-Up® Journal
Question:
Is it possible to Join-Up two horses at a time, the two together?
I have two horses (a mare and a gelding) of 3 years old and it is very difficult to isolate one from the other.
Monty’s Answer:
It is quite possible to do Join-Up® with two or more horses at one time. The degree of difficulty is far higher than with a single horse. I believe that it is much better to create Join-Up with a single individual.
In your particular situation I would suggest that it is first advisable to separate the horse until they are no longer strongly bonded with one another. I would suggest that you visit my chapter on separation anxiety in my textbook From My Hands To Yours and follow the recommendations made there. Once you have individualized your horses then Join-Up can be accomplished in a far more meaningful way than attempting it with both horses at the same time.
An Equine Affaire
By Kathryn Brim, Editor. Reprint permission from www.myequinenetwork.com
After many months of an exceptionally cold Colorado winter, the warm California sunshine that accompanied Pomona’s 2008 Equine Affaire was a refreshing change. The event was pretty awesome, too.
Packed full of vendors, infamous horses and horse people, eager equine enthusiasts, and horses of every size, make and color, there was most definitely something for everyone. You name it, it was there. The latest and greatest in equine ingenuity littered the exhibition halls – including everything from ground breaking nutritional additives to a state of the art pitch fork complete with battery operated vibration and blowing fan to ensure manure was the only thing going in your wheelbarrow. What else could you ask for?
The highlight of my trip was the hour or so I spent observing a Monty Roberts’ demonstration in which he worked with a variety “troubled” horses. Unlike many horse people, I am not a loyal follower of any one trainer’s methods. But, watching this man - who is easily my grandfather’s age – show his stuff and woo the rather large crowd was pretty fun. Plus, the guy is surprisingly hilarious, and given his numerous world titles (9 to be exact) and enormous successes within the industry, you can't say the guy doesn't know what he is talking about.
Roberts’ famous mustang, Shy Boy, was also there, along with a variety of other well known horses all on display in the “Breed Pavilion.” Friesians, Miniatures, and even my childhood favorite, the colorful Knabstrupper, lined the halls for visitors to admire. And admired they were. Appearances and demonstrations were also made by Craig Cameron, Richard Shrake, Stacy Westfall, Linda Allen and many other well respected equine professionals.
Although initially the $15 entry fee seemed a little steep, in the end I know it was worth it. Whether or not you are a die hard horse fan, or simply looking for a new saddle pad, events like the Equine Affaire are worth your time. Bring the kids, or grandkids, or simply make it a day out with the girls. Either way, at least you’ll get some good exercise perusing the many acres of vendors and horse barns. Hey, you might even learn a thing or two!
Dear Monty,
By The Cummings Family
One more thank you!
We were blessed with our horse Rocket being chosen for your "Trailer Loading Techniques" Demo, at the Equine Affair '08 Pomona. We did not think at this point in Rocket's training, that it would be possible to load him in under half an hour, as you had stated would occur during the demo. It had taken us hours to load him, but you did it! You got Rocket to load, and in under the half hour! When we got Rocket, he did not load at all. After many hours of work, he was still a loading nightmare! It is almost unbelievable what you were able to achieve, in so little time!
Although we still have more hours of load training ahead, Rocket, Emma and the Cummings family can not thank you, Monty, Debbie, Thommy, and crew enough, for Rocket's advanced progress in trailer training! We can now dream that some day soon, he may even load himself! You and your team have blessed us with more than we could ever have imagined. Now that the training demo is over, if asked, we would definitely undertake the whole process again. We will be studying, applying and recommending Join up and your Gentle Training methods! Please keep up the good work!
Many Thanks,
Rocket and the Cummings Family
P.S. Our first chance to continue Rocket's trailer loading lessons after Pomona, was yesterday (Thursday) evening. Emma turned Rocket out for a little while, then we went over to the trailer (the slant load) to start load training. I took the lunge line and started for the trailer, Surprise! Rocket walked right in no fuss, no refusal! I loaded and unloaded 5 times, then my son Daniel wanted to try. We changed to a shorter lead line, and he loaded and unloaded 5 times, also no fuss! Then Emma wanted to load, She loaded and unloaded approx 8 times. I then told her to tie the lead line around his neck and walk in with him, and see what would happen. Rocket still loaded no fuss! They did that 2 more times then Emma wanted to go ride. It looks like Rocket is now OK with trailers, at least with slant loads. I can't try the step up-straight load as it is no longer at the stable. We will continue to reinforce his loading weekly. Hopefully our trailer will get completed soon and we can see how he does with a ramp-straight load. I still can't believe how much his trailer loading has changed!
To all of you,
Many Thanks,
The Cummings Family
Monty’s New Educational Tools for 2008
Dear Readers: We really appreciate the suggestions that you have been sending in and we are exploring every idea to bring you the most unique equine learning tool on earth! Monty is developing a monthly lesson that sends Monty’s comprehensive knowledge of the horse to you in video form one theme at a time. As an advocate for gentle training and Join-Up principles, we want to know what you would want to see in Monty's subscription. Please continue to send comments to Debbie@montyroberts.com.
Monty's Challenge
Next Week's Question to Answer
I just received two horses for Christmas and one has just had a little mule colt. I would like to learn everything I can about breaking and taking care of these horses. I read your book and have listened to some of your tapes and want to learn more and more. My mule baby is 1 month old and I don't know anything about training him....Help!
Test Yourself!
I want all of my students to learn to be better trainers than me! Test yourself each week as I challenge you to answer the question from below by writing to askmonty@montyroberts.com. I mean this. Sit down and write an answer. Don't wait for my answer next week. If you have been reading my Weekly Questions and Answers for the last six months, you should be in a position to do this. Why should you bother? Because it will help you focus. There is probably a comparable question in your life that needs answering – or will be. If you can gain insight into how to go about answering a practical question that is loosely related to your problem, this exercise will help you answer your nagging question. Then read my answer. Then read my other answers at this link: Ask Monty. The closest answer to mine each week will be awarded a DVD but more importantly you will learn! That's good for you! That's good for horses!
-Monty
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To all of our friends:
Thank you for your interest in my non-violent Join-Up methods. The positive feedback from the E-Newsletter readers has been very gratifying. You can help me continue to make the world a better place for horses and for people by sharing this information with your friends and colleagues. Forward this on and invite them to sign-up before next week to receive my free weekly email. Your friends can also sign-up at www.montyroberts.com by entering their email address in the ASK MONTY sign-up box.
- Monty
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