Monty Roberts

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Monty Roberts (born 1935 in Salinas, California as Marvin Earl Roberts) is a horse trainer who became world famous when his autobiography, The Man Who Listens to Horses, became a best-seller.

Roberts reacted against what he describes as the abusive rearing he received as a child and rebelled against the allegedly harsh horse training methods used by his father. He wrote in his autobiography that by personally observing horses in the wild, he learned to "listen" to their non-verbal language. Based on these observations or realizations, he learned that when horses understood that they can trust you, they will decide to be with you. Roberts called this moment "Join-Up" in which a trainer negotiates with an untamed horse to form a voluntary relationship with him.

The father of Monty Roberts was Marvin Roberts [1] who demonstrates his methods of horse training in his book written in 1957 and according to Monty:

...trained horses to carry riders in the traditional way -- "breaking" horses by breaking their will, almost torturing the animals into submission.

According to other sources, such as Roberts' aunt, Joyce Renebome, and cousin, Debra Ristau, in their book, 'Horse Whispers & Lies', Marvin Roberts was a kind and compassionate man.

[edit] List of accomplishments

• 1939-1944 Stunt double for Mickey Rooney, Roddy McDowall, Charleton Heston, Elizabeth Taylor in National Velvet and others
• 1948 Tracked wild mustangs and learned “the silent language of Equus”
• 1950–1969 Regional NIRA All Around Championships

• 11 National Championships in Show Ring
• National NIRA Champion Bulldogger
• NIRA National Team Roping Championship
• NIRA National All Around Championship

• 1954 Worked with James Dean on East of Eden

• 1966 Founded Flag Is Up Farms

• 1966–2004 Started and trained hundreds of race horses; produced champions including:

• Cathy Honey, An Act, Aladancer, Walk in the Sun, Tobin Bronze (United States)
• Alleged, Dajur (Europe)
• Lomitas, Quebrada, Risen Raven, Macanal, Lavirco, Silvano, and :*Sabiango (Germany)
• Sharivari and Bahroona (New Zealand)

• 1973–1986 Leading consignor to Hollywood Park/Two-Year-Old Thoroughbreds In Training sale

• 1985 - Gold Card Lifetime Member, PRCA, Professional Rodeo Cowboy’s Association

• 1986 - First public demonstration of Join~Up® in Vancouver, BC, Canada

• 1988 - Named “Stock Horse Man of the Year” by National Reined Cow Horse Association

• 1989 - Queen Elizabeth II invites Monty to Windsor Castle to demonstrate Join~Up® and train her staff

• 1996 - "The Man Who Listens to Horses" is published

• 1997 - Book remains on New York Times best-seller list for 58 weeks
• 1997 - Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) awards Roberts their Equitarian Award at their Washington, DC International Horse Show

• 1997 - National Horse Show Association’s Award of Merit

• 1998 - BBC/PBS documentary Monty Roberts: The Real Horse Whisperer airs

• 1998 - First Join~Up® demonstration tour visits more than 40 states in the United States

• 1998 - ASPCA honors Roberts with their “Founders” award

• 1998 - Roberts creates the Western Equitarian Awards Banquet held annually for trainers in the Western riding disciplines who choose to train horses in the absence of violence or pain

• 1998 - The British Horse Society bestows their Appreciation Award

• 1998 - Santa Barbara Wildlife Care award for “Lifetime of Dedication”

• 1999 - Monty’s book, "Shy Boy: The Horse That Came in from the Wild" is released and hits the best-seller lists

• 1999 - Documentary "Shy Boy: The Horse That Came in from the Wild airs"

• 2000 - ASPCA awards Roberts their “Man of the Year” award

• 2000 - MSPCA bestows the George T. Angell Humanitarian Award

• 2001 - Monty’s book, "Horse Sense for People" is published

• 2002 - Awarded honorary doctorate from the University of Zurich, Switzerland in animal psychology

• 2002 - Monty’s fourth book and first textbook, "From My Hands to Yours", is published

• 2002 - Monty demonstrates Join~Up® as part of Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden Jubilee at Windsor Castle

• 2002–2003 - Monty, Pat, and Shy Boy ride in Tournament of Roses parade

• 2004 The Girls Scouts commission a special Join~Up® badge and training program in honor of Monty’s pioneering work

• 2004 - Monty’s German bred Sabiango wins the Grade 1 $350,000 Charles Whittingham Memorial Handicap at the Hollywood Park Racetrack in California, followed shortly thereafter by the $200,000 Kentucky Cup Turf

• 2004 - Monty’s fifth book, "The Horses in My Life" is published in Great Britain, Germany, and Australia

• 2005 - Awarded honorary doctorate from the University of Parma for his work in animal psychology

• 2005 - Monty’s "The Horses in My Life" is additionally published in the United States and in many other languages.

• 2005 - Roberts awarded the Silbernes Pferd (Silver Horse) Award in Germany for lifetime achievement for outstanding contributions to promoting the love of horses. He is the first foreign-born and first American to receive this award.

• 2005 - Documentary completed about Monty’s work with the wild horses and the aboriginal youth of Palm Island, Australia

• 2006 - Monty’s DVD Series A Backstage Pass! is completed with 17 episodes filmed in ten countries

[edit] See also

• The Man Who Listens to Horses - autobiography
• Horse Sense for People
• From My Hands to Yours:Lessons from a Lifetime of Training Championship Horses - textbook
• The Horses in My Life
• Monty Roberts: A Real Horse Whisperer (1997) - video documentary

[edit] External links

• Official website
• Horse Whispers & Lies - Book that alleges that 'The Man Who Listens To Horses' is mostly fiction