March 2006 E-Newsletter
Contents:
• A letter from Monty: “Working with Their Will Instead of Breaking It.”
• Article: A visit by Monty to the Equine Health Centre, The Beeches
• Q&A: How do you really know what the horse’s gestures mean?
• NEW SECTION: Monty's Principles for People
• Catch Monty on tour in Scandanavia and Germany Click here!
• Upcoming issues
A Letter From Monty: "Working with Their Will Instead of Breaking It "
Dear Friends,
I recently had the opportunity to visit an unusual training center while in the UK. I have to share this with you because I am excited to see, in my lifetime, intelligent and successful trainers becoming partners with their horses to work with their horse’s will, instead of breaking it. It was wonderful to witness barefoot training and shoeless racing. I am a huge advocate of this whenever possible. I enjoyed watching Simon Earle’s method of letting four horses work loosely together, under his direction, to run and compete as they naturally love to do. Simon is a dedicated trainer with a talented, caring staff. And he is getting results! You will too, dear reader, if your work is connecting with the horses, working with the herd and letting the horses teach you. You’ll enjoy the article below describing my day at the Equine Health Centre.
This week’s question below is one I am often asked. It is essentially about my ability to learn a language. My first language is English and I know a little Spanish, but I have studied Equus for many years. My teachers are the horses and their language is silent, like signing for the deaf. I see dialects around the world but it is still a universal language of the horse. If you are also learning Equus from the horses, please read my answer below and write to me about your experience with the vocabulary.
For many years I have advocated whipless racing. Next month I will Tour in Scandinavia where whips are either banned from use or is extremely limited. They are progressive in the world of racing and we need to catch up in other areas of this globe. Next month I will share my vision to bring back the philosophy of the fastest horse wins the race as opposed to the most often struck. Please help me continue to make the world a better place for horses and for people by sharing this information with your friends and colleagues.
- Monty
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Article: A Visit by Monty Roberts
It is not every day that a true legend from the horse world pays a visit and on Monday last week we had both the great Monty Roberts and also his UK representative Kelly Marks who is a significant talent in her own right. We invited them, along with a small group of their team and Amanda Sutton, an interested UK horse enthusiast. Meeting them was a tremendous honour and listening to Monty talk of his work and his life was remarkable and inspiring. I would invite all of you to read his books and find out about a man who has made unrivalled changes in the way we work with horses. Upon arriving his first comment was about our Horses First sign in reception "its always horses first, that way you get the best possible results."
Within minutes of sitting down Monty was talking about what he believes is an outstanding immune boosting supplement. He felt we should try this with any of our horses that aren't fully recovering from a viral challenge. He's personally been on the supplement for years and the man looks exceptionally well and I'll be trying it myself for sure (and will publish the results in the weekly news section on the website for anyone interested). After chatting in depth about natural methods and racing barefoot (Monty has been bringing his racehorses along for years without shoes and is well versed in the benefits of keeping horses unshod) we headed off to see some horses canter around a 30 acre training grounds on the farm that we call the 'bowl'. We were able to drive alongside the horses and really get a perfect view of them working. After that Simon schooled Northern Valentine over hurdles and a few went for a steady canter up the aa-weather tended track with our guests again alongside.
Over lunch Monty talked about his life's work and how the care of horses and 'breaking' them hadn't changed much in 8,000 years until his work over 50 years ago. He lamented how slow the world is to change and even though he has worked with many great trainers around the world there is still resistance to working with the horse’s spirit rather than breaking it. He gave some specific feedback on a number of horses here and in his book The Horses in My Life he left with us he wrote "To Simon, All the best. Keep up the good work. I would love to get together soon to really work. Monty" - something we are obviously delighted about. After lunch we all made our way down to a paddock and Simon went out with the horses as Monty and Kelly looked on. Simon jumped up on Saucy Night with just a rope as a head collar and walked around with the herd and allowed them to come up to him and be relaxed and open to whatever was going to happen. Monty was delighted with this "This work connecting with horses is right up my street, working with the herd and letting the horses teach you is always the best path." Simon made the point as we walked down to the paddock that he didn't really know what was going to happen at the time Monty seemed pleased with this and it was only days later that we received a note from Kelly saying that Monty had been telling all his teachers to be in a space of being open to what might happen rather than trying to control everything. He then talked about spending time with the herds here on foot and listening and watching them and learning as much as possible about every horse. As we walked up to the school he commented "you should have 90 horses here the way you are working with horses!" Even though we want to stick to a maximum number of 45 horses here in training it shows we need to get a move on!
One of the most staggering stories Monty told us was of a horse he worked with for over 80 days and as he put it "not just for an hour a day, I mean all day everyday for 82 days." Simon was amazed to hear this and asked how did Monty have the patience and determination to keep going on day after to day? Monty's answer spoke a lot about how he see's the process of working with horses "I knew the horse had something important to teach me and that if I stuck with it I'd learn it". He then went on to explain that what he learned with that one horse changed the way he worked with all the others that followed and that it was "well worth it."
After watching the horses in the field interacting with Simon we went to our outdoor school to watch the horses being worked together. This involved 4 horses cantering loose together and watching them buck and jump around as they jostled to get into herd running order. Simon would get them to reverse direction with a shout and arm movement and stop at his command. Its worth mentioning here that Simon had flatly refused from the moment we heard from Kelly about the trip to do any "join up" in front of the great man. Simon has developed his own method of working with horses both young and old and was happy to show he gets them working under his direction. He did some special work with Saucy Night on foot that culminated in him leading (at speed) Saucy over a few small jumps which was great fun to watch if a little tiring for Simon. Simon then had the horses continue loose while he jumped up on Saucy and both led and drove them on over obstacles. Its a method that Simon is a big fan of as the horses get to jump without a rider and be part of a group in an exercise that they clearly hugely enjoy.
Watching Monty was very interesting, he is very affable and generally quite laid back with humans but the moment the horses were being exercised he became very still and focused. You could see him spotting little incidents of interest, he mentioned at one point how much he liked a certain horse, when we told him it was Play It Again who we had saved from being shot he smiled and nodded. As soon as the work was over he went up to Simon to chat about what he was seeing and what more could be done.
As we walked back to the office Monty popped into a paddock to say hello to White Butterfly and Eleanor Eloise two of the youngsters from Kentucky. He didn't make a fuss just a quick pat but it was beautiful to see and you couldn't help but feel they were lucky to meet him. We walked on in silence for a while and then he turned and said "I don't know of any other trainers in the world that are doing what you're doing here". I was a bit shocked and didn't manage to say much in return and then he went on to say "a lot of people will be against you, that's the way things are, when I first started I had death threats and lots of anger against me, even now some people are greatly challenged by how I work with horses. Don't be deterred, you gotta just keep going".
In a flurry of books being signed and handshakes the day was over and we were left feeling we had been in the presence of greatness. A few days later his daughter who works with him was kind enough to write: May I reprint your article and link our newsletter to your website? We’re excited about, and profoundly behind, your work! She also confirmed Monty will be back, to as he put it, "really do some work." We are extremely lucky to have his support and very much look forward to having Monty with us again.
By Eamonn Wilmott, director, Equine Health Centre, The Beeches
www.simonearleracing.com
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March 15 , 2006 Question and Answer
Question: How do you really know what these gestures mean? Are you putting words in the horse’s mouth, or is there some explanation for their translation?
Answer:
This is a very legitimate question and I believe that you will be slightly surprised by the answer. It is a translation and one that I am doing of a second language to me. Is my translation absolutely correct? I have no idea!
I know that I came to my conclusions after about eight years of working primarily with mustang horses, backed up by approximately 55 years of experience. My interpretation of their gestures is based on a trial and error system because I knew of no other way to decipher the meaning of their gestures.
I am constantly advised by well meaning people around the world that they have slightly different translations for various gestures. I keep an open mind and I investigate these possibilities with the horses themselves. The translations that I have written about are my best efforts. They will remain in place until someone shows me that there is a more logical translation for an individual gesture in question. Remember that I often say that I want no other student to be as good as I am: I want every student to be much better. With that in mind I encourage continued investigation as to what horses mean by their gestures and what makes their lives better.
- Monty
NEW SECTION
Monty's Principles for People
“Animals use a sophisticated interspecies communications system in order to survive. They assist each other, protect and communicate in a way man has yet to learn. Animals do not form subversive groups that terrorize the neighborhood as humans have learned to do. To be isolated is not to be a part of a community, not to belong. Isolation is a revolt against all the things society has to offer. The more people find themselves in situations where isolation is encouraged, accepted and endured, the more anger, shame and fear they will feel. And reactions such as violent crime will surely result. We need to improve our communication with the less fortunate of our society and learn to speak the language they understand, as I have with the horse.”
Excerpt from Horse Sense For People
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Look for these upcoming issues!
• An Army Chaplain shares his experience from Kuwait where 500 chaplains stationed in Iraq, Afghanistan and other areas of Southwest Asia came to train how to illustrate the idea of the power of gentleness in relationships using Join-Up
• Marlou Bakker and her horse Walle from Maastricht, Holland, share their experience from Monty’s tour
• Click here to see a video preview of the DVD Gentling Your Spooky Horse: a young, unhandled horse.
• Calendar dates added in California, Ohio (Equine Affaire), Europe and Australia
• Read Monty's answer next week to the question: My horse has difficulty taking the bit. It was recommended I use a bitless bridle for her but I don't know how to use one and no one will help me. They will only help with a bit. My horse has never bitten, reared, bucked or been difficult in any way. She just gets very scared of the bit.
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