Monty Roberts | Join Up Ask Monty

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Question 1: What is Join-Up and why do you send the horses away from you when you begin to work with them?

Monty's Answer: Join-Up is the training of horses using their language to establish trust. As I do Join-Up, I am dealing in the language of Equus. I have learned that horses use 'sending away' within the family group. I have concluded that they do not regard this as an act of violence, but a use of temporary isolation as a form of discipline. There is no hitting and there is no force. Click here to read on.

Question 2: Loading a horse seems to be one of the great problem areas. Why can't you just put some food in the back of the trailer and wait for the horse to go in?

Monty's Answer: One could certainly do that, and horsemen often do. It is a problem if one never teaches the horse follow your requests to load. There will be times when the horse is not hungry, and it might take hours and hours before it decides to go in. With my system, the horse learns to load as a partner with you and allows the horseman the opportunity to enjoy a relationship with a horse that will load every time and with no stress.

Question 3: As I go to mount my horse, he blasts away in fear... not a safe way to start the ride. Do you have any learning tools to help me?

In my educational DVD called Fix-Up has a part of three hours and 15 minutes actual footage of a horse that wouldn't stand for mounting. You will see that a Dually Halter is most effective in the schooling process for horses that won't stand to mount. I recently worked with a Tennessee Walking Horse that had injured a man in his sixties who was a good rider for decades. It took me about a half an hour to get this horse 'bomb proof' regarding mounting.

Question 4: My horse is absolutely terrified of bicycles and becomes quite dangerous in the presence of one.Can you help us?

Monty's Answer: My recommendation is to school to the Dually Halter so that you have full control of your horse. One needs to stop down any desire to blast away from you at the sight of a bicycle. Once you have achieved complete control, then you can begin to present sights such as bicycles passing by and begin desensitization. Should you choose, you can get the DVD Gentling Your Spooky Horse and by executing these procedures you can change the mindset of your horse.

Question 5: My horse is fed well and cared for, but I still wonder if she has digestive health issues. Is this possible? What can I do?

Monty’s Answer: Yes, horses have delicate guts, and even pleasure horses can have problems, because they can’t graze constantly, or we keep them in stalls. There is a product called SUCCEED that can really help. It’s natural and helps keep the horse’s stomach and colon working like they should. I asked SUCCEED to develop a version especially for the leisure horse. Click here for more information.

Question 6: I can’t do Join-Up because I don’t have a Round Pen.

Monty’s Answer: The round pen is not the critical factor in applying these concepts. It is a convenient place in which to work. Should you use a square pen, horses will tend to “stop down” their energy in the corners. If you take a square pen and panel the corners off (or use jump poles or bales of hay) you effectively create an octagon. This nearly round enclosure will work very effectively.

Want to learn even more? Click here to read on about Monty’s most comprehensive learning tool ever; his Equus Online University.

February 3, 2010 - Ask Monty Question

I was looking at the pictures of the snaffle bits you use and would like to know if you are familiar with double jointed mouthpieces, and your feelings on them verses a single jointed bit. Kind Regards, Isabel V. South Africa

Monty's Answer: Thank you for your enquiry. It pleases me to enter this world of analyzing bits. I have been infatuated with them since childhood. I am not terribly fond of double jointed snaffles, but I must hasten to add that I think there are good ones and ones that aren't so good. The way they are constructed and their shape as it pertains to the anatomy of the horse is all important. Materials used as well as the actual outline of the mouthpiece is critical. I have seen double jointed snaffles with sharp center connections that made no sense to me as they tended to irritate the tongue of the horse.

Quite to the contrary, I have seen double jointed snaffles that were made of black iron with copper inlaid that appeared to me to be quite user friendly and anatomically compatible with the horse's mouth. It is very difficult, without the aid of diagrams and anatomical drawings, to reach deeply into the area of my recommendations on how these bits should be constructed. The only fair way to assess the bit in question is to observe closely the horse's reaction and performance. If the subject horse responds beautifully and reacts in a contented fashion, the bit is obviously appropriate.

Having made the statements that I have just written, there is an overriding statement that must be made where all questions are concerning equine equipment. That statement is, "The most important part of any equipment is the hand that holds it." Give me the worst bit in the world and allow me to put it with the best horseman in the world, and I will show you satisfactory performance. Give me the best bit in the world and the worst horseman and I will show you unacceptable performance, without any question.

The moral of this story is: learn your lessons well, become a good horseman and you will amaze yourself by realizing how good you've become at choosing the right equipment. In the world of carpentry, it is amazing how the good carpenters virtually always have the best tools. It is my opinion that this is because they know their subject well and therefore understand what equipment they need to do a good job. I am extra pleased to study all innovations with regard to horse equipment but hold the above quote as absolutely essential in judging the subject of equipment.

Did you know? You can now access the entire Ask Monty Q&A archive in the Equus Online University!

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We also encourage you to explore Monty’s book, “From My Hands to Yours,” a comprehensive how-to manual on his Join-Up® training philosophies which includes detailed illustrations of signs and reciprocal gestures on the language of Equus.

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