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. The horses do not resent me for this, and they soon come to me as a friend. The horseman who does not understand why I send horses away has not yet learned the language of the horse. It is a part of their natural communication process. If I regarded it as violent, I would stop it at once, but it is not.

If I can help remedial horses with this method, as I do for approximately 500 each year, then why would I ever stop doing it? These horses often come to me with the statement that if I can’t fix them, they will go to the slaughterhouse. I am successful with virtually all of them, and if you read the horses, they will tell you that they appreciate the work I do. Remember, Lomitas was banned from racing worldwide, and the best people of Germany tried to overcome his problem for months before they called me. He raced successfully ten days after I met him and has been a friend of humans since that time. Lomitas is one of the most successful Thoroughbred stallions in the world today; ask him if he agrees with my methods?