I was fortunate enough to have tickets to the sold-out demonstration presented by Monty Roberts, Kelly Marks and Martin Clunes at West Wilts Equestrian Centre last night.
For those unfamiliar with Intelligent Horsemanship, it is a fairly new concept that was conceived by Monty Roberts, an American horseman. It is horse training that is based on the notion of non-violence – Monty has spent years in California studying the natural behaviour of wild horses and has applied it to his own training methods to eliminate the use of fear and violence. Kelly Marks is a British horsewoman who has assisted Monty in spreading his ideas and methods and they have worked closely for the past 22 years. Martin Clunes is a British actor (whom you may recognise him from the entertaining Doc Martin) and is a close follower of Monty’s work.
Taken from ‘Simon Palmer Wildlife Photography’ Facebook page
The evening began with Flora, a skittish 4 year old mare who had never experienced a bridle, saddle or had anyone sit on her bareback. Monty initially worked with her to see what she knew, and it was immediately clear that she hadn’t been handled a huge amount – she panicked at the thought of picking her feet up. Monty then began to ‘Join-Up’ with her – a training method that encourages the horse to freely choose to trust the trainer. Flora was introduced to a saddle (as narrated by Monty: ‘My uncle told me about saddles. He told me to buck ’em off. They tickle.’) and true to form, the girth was loosely fastened and she began to buck. She soon settled though and Monty tightened the girth, and again, she bucked, but with less gusto. Monty then began to attach a dummy to the saddle so that Flora could become accustomed to weight in the saddle without putting a real rider at risk. Flora, again, slightly stirred, but calmed very quickly. Monty and his team then added height to the dummy (so that Flora could accept an actual rider’s height) and then later, a pair of ‘legs’. All of this was done in gradual steps so that Flora could have a good first experience of her working life. Finally, Monty’s rider, Jake, was legged up onto Flora with gradual steps again to build her up to accepting his weight onto her back. Within half an hour, skittish Flora had had her first saddle on, and her first rider. Jake then quickly dismounted so that her experience could end on a high note without frightening her.
Next, we were introduced to Trojan Spirit, a tractor-phobic horse. Martin Clunes worked with this horse with Monty’s assistance, partly using Kelly’s methods of bribery! A tractor was driven into the round pen with Trojan, where he soon realised that there was a bucket of food on board. With the engine off, Trojan gathered his courage to start picking at the bucket. When he was comfortably eating from the bucket, the tractor’s engine was turned on. Again, Trojan was encouraged to find the bucket by himself, and he was happily eating in no time. Finally, the tractor was driven around with Trojan quite happily chasing after it to continue eating! This is a method that could reasonably easily be applied to most tractor-phobic horses, with the help of a local farmer.
Next on the agenda was the interval, giving people the opportunity to buy refreshments, merchandise and to meet Monty himself. Monty very kindly signed my copy of From My Hands To Yours, a comprehensive textbook covering psychology and training methods. He claims this is the last book he’ll write, seeing as he’ll be turning 80 years old in May! I also had a photo with him and Martin Clunes. The audience were then seated and then witnessed Monty doing 80 press ups to match his age – 80 at 80! He then reminded the audience of the importance of fitness to both an individual’s health, and the benefit to the ridden horse.
Following the interval and Monty’s fitness regime, we met Pinot, a fabulous 19 year old with great paces that was incredibly spooky. Monty waved a flag and Pinot resembled a kite, flying in the air on the end of a 30ft line! Monty then took it back to basics, rubbing a plain stick all over Pinot’s body, beginning with his withers and finishing with his vulnerable jugular. He then had a stick with a bag tightly wrapped on the end of it and did the same. Pinot was a bit startled by the rustling but didn’t overly react. Once he was comfortable with this, Monty loosened the bag off and did the same, and again, Pinot was startled but settled quickly. Finally, Monty waved the initial scary flag all over Pinot’s body and neck without any reaction from Pinot at all. Pinot also braved a ‘lake’ (aka a tarpaulin sheet) filled with ‘crocodiles’ (this was according to the same uncle who knew so much about saddles). Monty gradually made the tarpaulin sheet bigger and bigger so that Pinot wasn’t overfaced by a vast expanse of scary plastic sheet. This is an easy exercise that all horse owners can apply to their own horses.
The night was concluded with two tricky loaders. Both chunky Merlin and fine Alice were difficult to load into a lorry, with Alice’s owner stating that she was recently stranded at a show for three hours with Alice refusing to load. Kelly worked with anxious Merlin whilst Monty worked with pretty Alice. They both walked the horses through tight areas to make them less claustrophobic and walked them over wooden boards to help them accept the noise that their feet make on the lorry ramp. Both horses were individually led to the lorry in their Dually halters and 30ft leadlines, and told that they were not allowed on board. Monty’s logic with this was that if a child is told they’re not allowed in a room, they will go in that room. Equally, it reduces the pressure of expecting a horse to load first time. Monty asking Alice to go up the ramp, but only with her front feet. This was repeated a few times, until she was allowed her front feet and back feet on the ramp. These baby steps were repeated until she trotting into the trailer with no pressure on her Dually halter at all. Monty acknowledged that there was still a lot of work to be done, but he had Alice trotting onto the trailer within 20 minutes.
At the end of the evening I asked Kelly why my horse, Domino, didn’t like his nose being stroked and how to get him over it. She explained that most horses dislike their nose being touched and actually, it’s probably best left alone. Upon further thought of this, it made so much sense – horses in a herd wouldn’t touch noses, they mostly scratch each others withers! This is a perfect example of why Intelligent Horsemanship works – they put the horse’s natural instincts first. She also kindly allowed me to have a photo with her despite the growing crowd around her!
Two things have really stayed with me from that demonstration: firstly, Monty said to set your sights high, and if you can achieve your goals, they’re not high enough. I think it’s so important to have goals which may be unrealistic or may take years to achieve, and Monty really enforced this by recognising that each horse is an individual. Secondly, some of the things that Monty told the audience of his past were quite difficult to hear, and occasionally harrowing. It is clear that Monty is looking for horsemen and women to improve the lives of equines, which people often declare to love before popping on a pair of spurs without looking at ways to make the ‘right’ choice easier for the horse.
If you ever get the opportunity, do see Monty Roberts’ demonstrations live when he visits the UK. They can easily prove cynics wrong! Equally, if you’re interested in Intelligent Horsemanship it is worth taking a look at some of Monty’s literature, particularly his autobiography, The Man who Listens to Horses. It gives a great insight into natural horsemanship, though can be quite upsetting to read at points!
Set your sights high – if you can achieve them, they’re not high enough.
Natalie
UWE Riding Club 2014-2015 