June 2007 E-Newsletter

Contents:

• Dear Friends: My “Get Acquainted Test” with Baipas
• Ask Monty: Can I do a bad Join-Up® and destroy my horse?
• Monty's Principles for People: Two of My Horses are Boarded at Flag Is Up Farms
• Monty’s Challenge: Can I do a “ruinous” Join-Up®?
• Whitelist Monty’s E-Newsletter to ensure its arrival!
• Monty’s Special Clinic: Attend this once-a-year opportunity
• Where in the world is Monty on tour next? Click here!
• Upcoming issues

Dear Friends

I promised to share my procedure during what I term my “Get Acquainted Test”.

When I meet a horse that comes to me with a reputation suggesting the potential for abuse in the past, I execute certain procedures to help me better understand the mindset of the animal involved. Recently, I worked with a horse in Finland called Baipas. He was brought to me as an un-rideable adult horse. I was told that he had been ridden but at the moment it was impossible to achieve a reasonable performance out of him. The owner said that he would bolt in one direction or another refusing to listen to requests from the rider. I was told that bucking was often his way to gain control if bolting was unsuccessful.

In addition, I heard that rearing was a possibility, but that typically he would just take flight and force the rider to go with him in whichever direction he chose without respecting the rider’s wishes in any way. As he came into my round pen I observed a horse that was wide-eyed and worried. His head was high, and every part of his anatomy suggested fear and trepidation.

As I moved about Baipas, I raised my right arm rather quickly. Immediately I could see the white of his eye and witnessed a head swing into the air as if he expected to be struck. I ran a kick test on him when I swung my leg as if I was going to kick him in the abdomen but stopped my foot half way between the ground and his rib cage. Baipas jumped sideways about 10 feet, obviously taking flight to avoid what he believed was going to be a swift kick in the belly. I called for plastic shopping bags on a bamboo cane, and when I presented it to Baipas. He went ballistic attempting to get away from the plastic bag and me too.

Within three to five minutes, I had a very strong opinion of what Baipas had been through with some former owner. This is my “Get Acquainted Test”. Sometimes these procedures may vary depending on what words I get from the owner prior to the onset of my working with the horse. He could be head-shy and only one ear has been affected, usually the horse’s left ear. There are lots of possibilities unfortunately, but the reactions help me understand and empathize with the horses’ mistrust of people. It makes me a better trainer ultimately.

Monty

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June 13 , 2007 Question and Answer

Question: Can I do a bad Join-Up® and destroy my horse while I am trying to learn the concepts?

Monty's Answer:
Traditional ways ruin horses too, so don’t worry about trying to perfect your Join-Up.

We all make mistakes everyday. I start off every day making mistakes of some sort. I can’t find my glasses or I misplace something. I make mistakes; we all make mistakes. Grievous mistakes are more difficult to throw away but if you have been a traditionalist don’t blame yourself for using traditional measures.

My father forced me to. I was beaten half to death if I didn’t, so I did it. That is what gave me the opportunity to say that I had tried it both ways. I could ask, “Have you tried it my way? No? And you don’t want to?”

Okay, then I would say “If I’ve tried it both ways and you’ve only tried it one way, you know less than I do about the whole situation.” That’s a fair assumption at least. The traditionalist doesn’t know my way and I do know his way.

I don’t want my students to beat themselves up over it. To continue to let it eat at you is counter productive. Does it bother me? Of course, but throwing it away becomes easier every time you succeed at throwing it away. I have a strong feeling that nobody who’s acted in the traditional way really sat down and thought that it was really what they wanted to do. Given a choice and there was a better way, I am sure they would re-think it. They train that way because it’s a peer influence. There’s no question. It’s influenced by those around us and we do what other people do.

When I think of the mistakes I made with Brownie! How he ever won a championship, I’ll never know. The only reason he won championship after championship for me is because he competed with horses that were treated the same way. Maybe I was learning to treat him better all along the way and he was born a champion so he stayed a champion and stayed in front of a bad pack. We likely wouldn’t win much today because horses are better, people are better, things have moved on.

-Monty

Monty's Principles for People

Dear Monty,

Thanks for the thought on being "kinder than necessary" in last week’s E-newsletter. We have two horses at your facility in Solvang and it reassures us as to their care, both physically and emotionally. It reminds me of some advice I received once that meant a lot: "Never regret an act of love". Sometimes we are made to feel foolish for extending love to someone that does not reciprocate or who does not respond as planned. But rather than be discouraged from continuing in a loving way, realize that showing love is never wrongly motivated. As with being kinder than necessary because we don't know what others are facing, we don't often know why people react as they do to some act of love.

Jane-Claire Robinson

Watch This Column! Soon Monty answers the question: How can the Join-Up approach be used with Autistics?

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NEW FEATURE!
Monty’s Challenge: Next Week’s Question to Answer

How can I get people to change their traditional ways with horses?

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 newsletter@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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Look for these upcoming issues!

• A beautiful Join-Up® story from Claudine Elisabeth von Kessel of Eastern Germany
• Announcing the inaugural Monty Roberts’ Join-Up® Corporate Training Certification program
• Upcoming dates in Europe and the United States

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