A really good book which educates the reader as well as telling the life of an amazing man
Disadvantages:
None
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
If you have ever heard of Monty Roberts, you will know that many people have labelled him as the real horse whisperer. For those of you that have not heard of him, he is a very famous horse trainer. He is so well known for his ability to understand and help horses that have had a bad start in life.
I have been to see Monty's demonstrations many times and everytime I have learnt some thing new. People take their horses to the demonstrations with many different kinds of problems: the horse bucks, the horse won't load into a lorry, they can’t get a saddle on the horse or the horse can't be shod just to name a few. These problems are almost always caused by something that has happened to the horse in the past, which the horse is now generally scared of.
The book begins by explaining how his life began with horses. His father owned horses so he has spent his whole life with them and studying them. This part of the book explains the way that the horses used to be 'broken'. I use this word, as it is unfortunately a very good description of how they used to train horses to ride them. They would tie horses up, throw sacks and them and basically beat them into submission. This usually ended up with serious injuries to the horse as they fight to get free. I am sure that any animal lover will agree this is a horrible and cruel way of training a horse. People still say that they have to 'break their horse in' which to me creates this horrible image. Monty says that he would 'start' a horse instead of 'breaking' them. This is a much kinder description. I am sure that most people will have seen the horse whisperer. Remember the part where Robert Redford tied the horse up and forced him to lie down so the young girl could sit on him? This created the wrong impression as it showed that this was OK. If you really did this to the horse (as some people do) you are only making the horse submit to you because they are scared.
Monty knew from a very young age that this was wrong. Why would anyone have to force this beautiful creature into submission? There must be another way! The book explains how Monty studied the horses he worked with and the wild horses that lived in the plains around his father’s ranch. During his studies he noticed the way the horses communicated with each other and learnt how to communicate with them in the same way. The language of the horse has been around as long as the creature itself, it is their natural way of communication. It only makes sense to speak to them in a way that every horse will understand. Monty was still very young when he discovered this and no one had any faith in his new found methods. So he worked in secret building up the relationships with his horses.
The book goes on to tell how Monty managed to spread the word about this new way of training horses. Many people did not believe him and thought it would be too dangerous to train horses in this way. He finally got his break in England when the Queen saw a demonstration of his methods. Since this time, Monty has trained thousands of horses in this way. He has helped people overcome their problems with horses and changed their views and attitudes towards them.
This book has had some bad reviews and people have claimed that the information included in it about his father is not true. People are still not sure about his methods and still call him a fake and suggest that the horse he gets to go in the horse box was just a fluke. However, he has trained over 10 000 horses. Are they all flukes??
Many people have been inspired by his work and his methods are now taught world-wide. This man has changed the lives of many horses and educated owners in order for them to have a better life together. The Monty Roberts International Association has got many followers. For more information see www.montyroberts.com or www.montyroberts.co.uk.
This really is an amazing book about an amazing man. When this book was first published in 1996, it got to number 4 on the London Times best sellers list in the first two weeks. It then stayed in the top ten best sellers for over a year. This was Monty’s first book, he has since written others, including Shy Boy, the horse that came in from the wild. A story about the wild mustang that he used his methods on and brought in from the wild. A lot of people disagreed with this but you have to remember that the horse choose to stay with him, he did not force it.
When I read this book, I could not put it down. It has changed my views on horses and how we should handle them. I am now a strong follower of Monty’s methods and am currently working towards my Monty Roberts Preliminary Certificate of Horsemanship. I hope that this will enable me to help and educate people and their horses to make their lives together more enjoyable.
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