Following the news that outstanding horseman Monty Roberts has passed away, aged 91, we dip into the archives to revisit one of his appearances in Horse & Hound. We travel back to May 1989, when Monty demonstrated his methods at the Royal Mews at Windsor Castle with one of The late Queen’s horses. H&H editor Michael Clayton finds Monty “quietly impressive”.

Monty Roberts’ “advance and retreat” method uses the horse’s natural curiosity and its need for support and friendship when suddenly left alone in a training pen. He prefers a pen at home with solid sides to aid the horse’s concentration, but succeeded in this country with a lattice work frame with an audience all round at ground level, although this clearly distracted some horses a little.

I attended the Royal Mews at Windsor Castle on a stormy, blustery morning. The Queen had made the magnificent indoor riding school available and she attended this demonstration, having provided several young horses of her own for “starting”. They had just been brought up from grass at Hampton Court paddocks.

Monty says he aims to compress three weeks of “conventional methods” into 30 minutes. An audience including some distinguished and very knowledgeable horsemen waits for it to happen.

My diary of his first demonstration was as follows:

11.38am. Marmaduke, a 16.2hh hunter or eventer type, three years old in June, starts his training. The horse, which has a skewbald head and white body, has a distinctly worried, suspicious look in his eye and patrols the pen nervously, wearing only a webbing headcollar.

Monty Roberts “advances” on the horse: shoos him away and then flaps some webbing long reins to encourage the horse to lunge loose round the pen.

The horse then stands quietly, perhaps a little tired. Monty puts a hand on its head, strokes its muzzle, and speaks quietly to it. He takes care always not to look it in the eye. He sniffs a little at its nostrils.

Shades of the late Mrs Woodhouse, I thought! But Monty explains later that breathing into the nose does not work with all horses and it is only a minor method of being friendly. It is not a system in itself.

Then Monty walks quietly away from the horse.

The horse tentatively follows him. Monty stops. The horse stops. Monty quietly moves away – and the horse follows him.

Amazingly, the horse is soon following Monty round the pen, without being led.

“We've got join up,” Monty tells us.

The horse stands quietly without being held while Monty gently pats its back, its girth area and its flanks. He talks soothingly, and picks up all four feet in turn, patting each hoof reassuringly.

“He now thinks I'm his friend, but I'm now going to put a little strain on the relationship,” says Monty.

11.48am. Sean McCarthy comes into the pen and places a saddle, long reins and bridle on a square of canvas. McCarthy leaves. The horse looks most alarmed. It walks up to the tack, puts its head down and blows nervously and loudly.

“It will be interesting to see if he flees, or comes back to me, his new friend,” Monty comments.

The horse goes back to Monty, who pats him “to get back what we had”.

Then, incredibly, the horse stands quietly while Monty puts a numnah on its back. He is impressively deft, quiet and sure in all his movements. If the horse flinches he reassures it with his voice and his soothing touch.

He places a saddle, with stirrup irons at full length, on the horse's back. Then he quietly reaches under its belly and fastens the webbing girth.

The horse suddenly explodes. The stirrups flop against its side. It bucks half a dozen times. Then it stands quietly.

“It is my absolute obligation not to let my pulse rate go up one tick” Monty explains calmly.

Again he pats the horse’s muzzle and talks to him. Then, with great economy of movement, he slips a bridle on the horse, carefully inserting a rubber-covered snaffle bit without fuss. It goes over the webbing headcollar.

“He’s stopped worrying about the saddle. He’s busy thinking about the bridle now,” Monty comments.

He leads the horse a few paces. Then he fastens a strap under the girth to secure each stirrup iron. He loops a long rein through the stirrup iron on each side and fastens it to the ring of the snaffle bit.

11.58am. Making shooing noises, and clicking his tongue, Monty encourages the horse to move ahead on the long reins. Then he flaps the reins on the horse’s flanks and encourages it to walk, trot and canter on long reins round the pen. He quietly halts the horse and carefully makes it rein back one step.

12 noon. Sean McCarthy comes into the pen, wearing a skull cap. Monty Roberts holds the horse by the head and keeps talking to it.

Without hesitation McCarthy pats the horse on the shoulder, and then swings into the saddle. He sits securely while the horse gives three or four small plunges. Monty continues to talk soothingly to it and pats its muzzle.

“He wants to hear your voice too,” Monty says to Sean.

Sean speaks encouragingly and clicks at the horse.

Monty leads the horse a few paces. Then he unclips the lead rein from the headcollar. He uses the headcollar, not the reins, to lead the horse, and explains later that he is always very careful not in any way to hurt nor harm the horse’s mouth.

Sean quietly exerts some leg pressure, and soon has the horse walking, trotting and then cantering round the pen. He keeps his hands high and wide apart. He halts the horse and changes direction.

12.08pm. Sean dismounts. He and Monty make much of the horse, patting it approvingly, and telling it that it has “done a great job, pal”.

They take off the tack and the horse stands quietly by Monty.

We clap and the horse starts and makes off. Then it returns to Monty.

Normal schooling

“You see, he comes back to his friend. That’s a very good thing,” says Monty with warm satisfaction.

The horse is taken from the ring. We are assured that it will have two more such sessions on Wednesday and Thursday and will be ridden in the open, accompanied by mature horses on Friday. Thereafter its riding groundwork and schooling can continue normally.

Monty tells me he dislikes lungeing on a lunge rein; he thinks it can injure the horse and is not good for its movement. He prefers a limited amount of long reining, and quiet riding at all paces, with the accent on careful and sympathetic handling of the horse’s mouth.

He likes to use a loose school and jumping lane for horses being schooled over poles with a jumping career in mind.

Next Monty “starts” a much more difficult case, a two-year-old chesnut filly with four white stockings, belonging to the Queen. The filly is destined to be a polo pony, perhaps to be ridden by the Prince of Wales.

The filly rolls its eyes nervously and is very mistrustful. Monty admits that fillies can be much more difficult: “they can be crabby and their attention span is much shorter”. This one looks an exceedingly difficult case.

Monty is even more sympathetic and sensitive in his handling. He starts at 12.24pm and goes through the same phases described previously. He is concerned because the filly constantly declines to move away. She tends to freeze, standing with a humped back in a corner. At one stage he scuffs sand from the pen surface with his foot, and flicks it at her to make her retreat. She moves away, quite affronted. Then she comes back all the more readily for assurance.

Amazingly, in six minutes she is following him round the ring and allowing a “hands on” friendship to develop. Sometimes she licks her lips.

“That’s a good sign,” says Monty. “She likes me in spite of her fears.”

At 12.38 he has the numnah and saddle on. He keeps the lead rein clipped on to the headcollar this time, in order to give the filly added reassurance, but he does not get into a tug of war situation. If she moves away he hardly pulls on the rein and lets her move readily. She always comes back.

At 12.54 the filly is long reining but will not move on easily, and needs gentle encouragement to get into a trot. Yet two minutes later Sean swings into the saddle, and quietly rides her round the ring at a walk and a trot, but hardly at a canter.

“That’s enough” says Monty; barely three minutes later, at 12.59, only 35 minutes after the filly started her training, it is all over. She is a baby and will clearly need a lot more careful handling and schooling, but she has made a giant stride forward in her training, and one that could have taken weeks by conventional methods.

“If we press her any more today, she’ll go bad. That’s all we’ll ask,” says the relaxed and smiling Monty.

He says he can do this sort of thing with mules, sheep, deer and even fish. We believe him.

• The original feature was published in Horse & Hound magazine on 4 May, 1989. To access more of the Horse & Hound Archive, visit themagazinearchive.com

The man who listened to horses for over eight decades, changed collective thinking and touched human and equine lives across the world has died aged 91.

Tributes have flooded in to Monty Roberts, whose lifelong goal was to “leave the world a better place than I found it, for horses and for people”.

Monty was born in California in 1935, the son of a horse trainer who used methods “often violent and rarely fair to the horse”, in Monty’s words. Having watched wild mustangs and learned how horses communicate, he realised using their body language in training would be more effective and humane, and build better relationships.

Monty developed his “join-up” method, which became used all over the world, worked with racehorses and wrote articles about his non-violent methods. These came to the attention of The late Queen, who invited him to Windsor to work with some of her horses. This was the start of a 30-year friendship, and Her late Majesty encouraged Monty to travel the world to share his methods and write a book, both of which he did.

Monty described The Queen as “the wind beneath my wings”; he told H&H in 2016 that she was “responsible for allowing me to go global”.

“Without her I would still be in California dribbling along as a cowboy, telling people not to beat up horses,” he said at the time.

Monty’s autobiography, The Man who Listens to Horses, has sold more than six million copies. His Dually halter is designed to reward horses for working in partnership with their handlers and his starting stalls blanket designed with Sir Mark Prescott to protect vulnerable areas has helped hundreds of racehorses.

Terry Pendry, former stud groom to Her late Majesty and Household Cavalry senior instructor, and his wife Sue were friends with Monty and his wife Pat for decades, and Terry has used Monty’s methods to train hundreds of horses.

“What an incredible, incredible man he was to share his concepts with the world,” he told H&H. “The horse world is going to be a sad place without him.

“But thank goodness he was courageous enough to show his methods to the world, and that he has now enough disciples, for want of another word, around the world, who will carry on his concepts.

“I remember once, in my living room, he said to me: ‘You can’t actually teach anybody anything. But what you can do is to provide an environment in which people choose to learn. And I’ve never forgotten that.

“He knew no bounds; whether he worked with royalty or the lady with the happy hacker down the road, there was no side to him. Monty Roberts had time for everyone.”

Terry paid tribute to the breadth of Monty’s work, with charities, in prisons and with armed forces veterans.

“He was mainly equestrian but he also helped an awful lot of people,” he said.

Terry added that he and his wife are in constant contact with the Robertses; there will be a private family funeral followed later by a celebration of his life.

“Everyone in in the horse world, our hearts go out to the family,” he said. “But how privileged we were all to have met and known such an incredible man. What a wonderful man; he has left the world a better place for the horse.”

Monty Roberts: “the horseman’s horseman”

Kelly Marks of Intelligent Horsemanship met Monty in 1992, wrote the first courses using his methods and was the first teacher of them around the world.

She told H&H Monty was “the horseman’s horseman”, and admired by so many.

“But what set him apart was his extraordinary curiosity as to how to make things better ‘without violence’,” she said. “He had a great gift as a communicator and also a love of sharing ideas; after a long morning working horses, whether with just three of us over lunch or later, as people warmed to his huge charisma, with an audience of nearly 5,000 at London Arena.”

Kelly said Monty was always good company and passionate about many things, citing his work with charities and armed forces veterans.

“He was just as enthusiastic with or without an audience,” she said. “I remember a stable lass turned up one day because there was an unrideable youngster at her yard. Monty went off on a few spare afternoons to help her get this horse right. What made him happiest was not only the horse improved (that was a given) but that the horse had taught him something new.

“Monty touched an extraordinary number of lives. He changed how many of us understood horses, but perhaps just as importantly, he encouraged us to stay curious, to question what has always been done and to look for a kinder way. He is greatly missed.”

A man of “extraordinary kindness”

In 2011, The late Queen made Monty an honorary member of the Royal Victorian Order, which she gave people who have served her or the monarchy in a personal way. His many other honours included honorary university doctorates and humanitarian and welfare awards. He had a long association with H&H, from the days the then editor Michael Clayton asked him to back a horse, whom Michael named Monty.

Monty died on 31 July, surrounded by his family. He had been married to Pat for 70 years and they had three children.

His daughter Debbie Roberts Loucks is to carry on Monty’s work at his training centre in California and his online “university”.

“For the world, he was known as the man who listens to horses,” she said. “To me, he was simply Dad, a man of extraordinary kindness, unwavering integrity and an unshakable belief that trust could accomplish what force never could.

“For more than eight decades, he dedicated his life to changing the way people understand and work with horses. His mission reached far beyond horsemanship. He believed that true leadership is built on communication, patience, empathy, and respect; lessons that have touched the lives of countless people around the world.

“Our family is deeply grateful for the love, friendship, and support you have shown him throughout his remarkable life. Your letters, visits, stories, and shared experiences have meant more than you could ever know. Together, you became part of a worldwide community united by a common belief that both horses and people thrive when they are treated with kindness and understanding.

“While our hearts are broken, we also find comfort in knowing that his legacy lives on every time someone chooses compassion over force, listens before asking, and seeks a better partnership with their horse.”

● Do you have a special memory of Monty Roberts that you’d like to share? Let us know at hhletters@futurenet.com, including your name, nearest town and county, for the chance to have your thoughts published in a future issue of Horse & Hound magazine and on the website.

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Use of a Dually pressure headcollar does not result in more compliant behaviour by horses that have not worn it before, recent research has found. But the headcollar’s designer and founder of Intelligent Horsemanship, Monty Roberts, has hit back saying the halter it has helped him to train some 4,000 horses “labeled impossible to load” to do so.

The study, Dually noted: the effects of a pressure headcollar on compliance, discomfort and stresses in horses during handling by Carrie Ijichi, Shelby Tunstall, Ella Putt and Keith Squibb, published in August 2018, was conducted on 20 privately-owned horses in the UK who had not previously worn a Dually headcollar. The study aimed to determine whether the use of the headcollar improves compliance during handling in horses that had not worn one before, and whether it increases stress or discomfort.

The Dually is a patented training halter, which is described as “effectively rewarding horses for acting in partnership with their handler”.

The study involved horses completing two three-minute handling sessions: one walking over a pole and obstacle and a second walking through hanging streamers. In both tests horses were recorded wearing the Dually with a line attached to the pressure mechanism and with the line attached to the standard ring of the Dually acting as a control test. All 20 horses undertook both tests.

In both handling tests the horse’s crossing time over the obstacle was recorded and the horse’s movement away from the obstacle were recorded as indicators of compliance. Based on this, the study showed that the Dually did not result in more compliant behaviour compared to the control group.

The study found use of the Dually did result in significantly higher horse grimace scale (HGS) scores (used to measure discomfort when pressure was applied), but did not result in a stressed response, measured by infrared thermograpy (a stress measurement indicator which records the core temperature and discrepancy in temperature between a horse’s eyes).

Study author Dr Ijichi, a senior lecturer in equine science at Nottingham Trent University, told H&H the results were surprising.

“I’ve used the headcollar myself for years, I think it’s a very interesting design and potentially a good product. My interest was to measure how effective it was in helping the horse understand what it is what we want them to do and looking at how it effects them emotionally,” said Dr Ijichi.

“We can say it didn’t improve their behaviour on their very first exposure to it, but it doesn’t mean it wouldn’t work in a horse who has previously been trained in how to respond to it.

“With the Dually the HGS scores didn’t indicate the horses were in pain, but it did indicate they were experiencing some discomfort compared to a normal headcollar. The interesting thing is increased discomfort didn’t appear to be enough to cause a stressed response in the horse, which is a good thing.”

Monty Roberts told H&H he would accept a chance to engage with the scientists in a “fair and just test” of the Dually halter.

“The fact is these people have done their best to cast my Dually halter in a negative fashion. However when one completes the findings, the only negative they attempt to justify comes down to subjective equine facial expressions,” said Monty.

“In 30 years I have done approximately 4000 horses which come to me labelled impossible to load. Many are ridden to my venues with stories that would chill one.

“Each owner is told that if I can’t load their horse I have to ride it home. I have not ridden one home and the Dually halter has been the centrepiece of the equipment I use to accomplish the task. Each horse has been worked with for less than 30 minutes and then, when asked, loads in less than five minutes.”

What is a Dually halter and how does it work?

The Dually training halter, designed by Monty Roberts can be used in a number of different situations from leading, loading

Monty Roberts’ Join Up put to the scientific test

British scientists are studying the Join Up training method devised by Monty Roberts

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Dr Ijichi said owners shouldn’t look for a “quick-fix” solution in training.

“There is a culture of spending money on a product or aid that will fix the problem we see. People think they can buy an item, put it on their horse and it will magically alter their behaviour,” she said.

“Ideally people will first ascertain whether there is a physical reason or source of pain for the horse acting in an unacceptable way and if that’s not the case look at our behaviour, how consistent we are with them, our timing and the appropriate use of pressure and release, but all of that takes a lot of work and commitment and some people think its easier to buy something that will solve the problem.

“Of course there are aids that can make training more effective, but it’s down to homework at the end of the day. Owners need to think carefully whether you need to purchase an additional device to improve your horse’s behaviour or would you be better to seek the advice of a qualified equine behaviourist.

“If you’re struggling with riding you call a coach and get a lesson, and we need to develop the same culture for problems that we’re having on the ground.”

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Super-mule Wallace The Great is to be reunited with “horse whisperer” Monty Roberts in a demonstration this autumn.

The long-eared equine celebrity, who rose to international fame this summer after he became the first mule to be registered with British Dressage, will be strutting his stuff with Monty at Hartpury College on Friday, 19 October.

It will be a second meeting for the pair, who first worked together four years ago.

“In 2014, a mule who had been rescued from roaming the streets of Ireland was brought by the Donkey Sanctuary to a Monty Roberts demonstration,” a spokesman for Monty’s Intelligent Horsemanship said.

“Wallace was nervous of the saddle and they were struggling to get a rider on safely.

“Monty worked with Wallace and declared him highly intelligent, ending the session with the mule being calmly ridden around the round pen.”

Monty recommended that work with Wallace be continued at home, adding that he was sure Wallace had a “happy ridden career” ahead.

“But little did anyone realise how far that big-eared mule would go,” the spokesman said.

“Fast-forward four years and Wallace The Great has become an internet sensation.”

The October event will cover the progress in Wallace’s career, including a demonstration of his dressage to music skills.

“Who knows what else they may learn together?” the spokesman said.

Continues below…

Carl Hester backs Wallace The Great’s dressage career

‘I started riding on a donkey so I’m glad BD has taken this great opportunity’

H&H’s dressage editor’s blog: why Wallace the mule is the best thing for British dressage since Valegro

If you’re not sure who Wallace The Great is, where have you been?

Showjumping yard shocked by birth of ‘white’ mule

Yard owners Di and Pennie Cornish have been left baffled after the filly made an unexpected appearance

Monty and his Intelligent Horsemanship colleague Kelly Marks will also work with other horses with “problems or tricky behaviours”.

“Take the chance to come and see Wallace, Monty and all the Intelligent Horsemanship team at Hartpury,” the spokesman said. “The Donkey Sanctuary should be there too, so if you’re looking for your very own Wallace, this could be the start of your journey.”

Tickets for the event are on sale now.

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Would you like legendary horse whisperer Monty Roberts to work with your horse, at no cost?

‘Tricky’ horses are invited to take part in a demo with Monty and fellow intelligent horsemanship practitioner Kelly Marks.

The demos will be part of Monty’s horsemanship tour, which has already begun and is yet to take place at Hartpury College, Merrist Wood College, Lluest Equestrian Centre, Richmond Equestrian Centre and Alnwick Ford Equestrian.

“Monty is back in the UK for another of his highly acclaimed horsemanship demo tours, and we are looking for the neighbourhood’s trickiest horses for Monty to work with at each demo,” said a spokesman for the tour.

“Issues could be clipping, loading, spooky behaviour, difficulty standing at the mounting block, bucking or anything else that is causing a problem. Or readers may have a young horse who is ready for his first saddle and rider for Monty’s team to start. And of course all the horses are worked with free of charge, so a pretty unbeatable opportunity we feel!”

The audience will have the chance to watch Monty and Kelly work with a variety of horses at each venue.

“Their combined experience and knowledge are unrivalled, and together they will demonstrate how their methods allow a more effective approach, producing happy and willing equine partnerships,” said the spokesman.

“Each demo will be unique, with a variety of issues being showcased, but whatever horses are presented, the audience will be shown the key principles and tools that they can then use at home, empowering them to become their own equine problem solvers.”

To apply for this opportunity visit www.intelligenthorsemanship.co.uk or call 01488 71300.

Continued below…

Monty Roberts: how horses are helping damaged war veterans

The natural horsemanship master tells H&H about his

Monty Roberts: ‘There’s no such thing as natural horsemanship’

What is a Dually halter and how does it work?

The Dually training halter, designed by Monty Roberts

Tour date and venues

• 20 October: Hartpury College, Gloucester
• 25 October: Merrist Wood College, Surrey
• 28 October: Lluest Equestrian Centre, Aberystwyth
• 2 November: Richmond Equestrian Centre, North Yorkshire
• 4 November: Alnwick Ford Equestrian, Northumberland

For all the latest news analysis, competition reports, interviews, features and much more, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, on sale every Thursday

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Monty Roberts is the renowned master of natural horsemanship and he used a recent visit to Britain to demonstrate his ongoing work with war veterans suffering with post-traumatic stress disorder.

British veterans Stefan Pearce and Thomas Carroll (video, below) have both served in Iraq, but the experiences have left them with devastating consequences.

Having never been near a horse before their military life, they are both now relishing the equine therapy on offer to them and fellow servicemen in their positions.

Stefan’s partner for the masterclass — being held at the Sunset Polo charity event at Cowdray Park — is Gladiator and Monty begins by highlighting the importance of relaxing around the horses and gaining their trust.

“Your horse needs to know you’re happy and relaxed — he needs to believe in you,” Monty tells Stefan, who “sends the horse away” by slapping the lead rope on his thigh.

“Keep eyes on eyes, your shoulders square and fingers open,” Monty explains before telling Stefan to change the direction Gladiator is going.

The trainer’s core concept of his method is the “join-up” whereby the horse chooses to approach the person.

“I do this by turning my shoulder away from the horse and then just drift away a little — I want the horse to take a chance on me. He will want to follow me because of my conversation with him. He feels safe and trusts me,” Monty explains.

“I don’t break horses, that is a method using violence and prevents their ability to fight back. Do you do your job best when you want to or when you’re forced to do it? The horses that are not forced will give you a better performance.”

Stefan turns his back on the horse and as Monty has predicted Gladiator lowers his head and follows Stefan, before a pat concludes the “join-up”.

Stefan finished his tour in Iraq in 2003 after seven months, however, it wasn’t until 2014 that Stefan began to suffer repercussions of his war days and was haunted by flashbacks.

“Horses are now my life — just to know that the horse trusts me and is not making any judgement, that’s what it’s all about,” says Stefan who credits equine therapy for saving his life during his darkest days.

The power of equine therapy

Monty works with Thomas and his equine partner Barry using the same techniques — focusing on gaining trust from the horse.

Thomas experienced 21 combat tours including Iraq and Bosnia, before a stint in private security. However, an improvised explosive device (IED) left him not only with physical damage but also psychological issues.

“Relax and keep a forward motion — walk with a deliberate motion but stay relaxed,” Monty tells Thomas.

“The four gestures we are looking for are a lowering of the horse’s head, licking and chewing, moving onto a smaller circle and ear movements,” he explains. “All of these gestures are of a horse who wants to negotiate with us.”

Thomas describes the feeling of working with horses as simply “brilliant”.

Monty, who has around 80 instructors across the world, offers three-day courses to war veterans and believes in the power of equine therapy to overcome issues caused by their past duties.

“The greatest gift we can give is to help the next generation,” he says. “The next generation of war veterans need our help the most in society.”

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Prince Harry is to team up with “Horse Whisperer” Monty Roberts to learn more about how working with horses can help veteran soldiers.

The Intelligent Horsemanship guru has a long-established royal connection, having worked with the Queen and her horses for 25 years.

Now Monty is scheduled to meet Harry at the Sandringham Estate to teach him more about the techniques that have been helping veterans overcome post-combat stress.

The Californian horseman told the Evening Standard the prince had expressed an interest in discovering more about his three day programme — called “Horse Sense and Healing” — which uses his well-known join-up method to help US soldiers’ recovery.

Speaking to H&H this month (6 October edition), Monty said his recent experiences working with soldiers had been “10 times” any experience he could ever have had with horses.

“It’s amazing how the principles behind what I do with horses helps military people,” the 81-year-old trainer said.

“The reason it does is because any army you put together, you must wash trust from the participants. They can’t trust anything that they don’t know.

“They can trust their buddy next to them but they cannot trust even a five-year-old girl coming up the road with blood running down her face.

“They lose trust and then they bring them home and they slap them on the back and say ‘thank you for your service — go be a civilian, love your wife, love your children, respect your boss, get a job, goodbye’.

“And typically that’s how they’re put back into civilian life and it doesn’t work.

Related articles:

• Monty Roberts: ‘There’s no such thing as natural horsemanship’
• Natural horsemanship: what does it really mean?
• Princess Charlotte has a passion for horses

“They find they are disturbed by what they went through. And what we can do with horses to build back that trust is just off the charts.”

Monty explained the programme uses horses who are initially wary of the veterans, but through join-up they come to build a mutual bond of trust.

“[That’s how] you begin to get the soldiers back down the road into trusting people,” he added.

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Ahead of his tour to the UK, 81-year-old Monty Roberts tells H&H why he owes everything to The Queen, why he doesn't like the term 'natural horsemanship' and why getting older is no bad thing

On natural horsemanship…

“There is no such thing as natural horsemanship — there’s nothing natural about wearing a halter, bridle or saddle, or someone sitting on their back. What we have to do is create a partnership where we do something together. My thing is non-violent horsemanship – I have not struck a horse since 1949.

“Early on in life I could see violence to horses all around me. And so I knew from the time I was five or six years of age that there must be a better way. I knew my life would be obsessed with letting the world know that violence wasn’t the answer.”

On The Queen…

“It wasn’t until 1989 that I had anybody in the position of a global leader to watch what I do and say that this has to become known by the people of the world. Her Majesty The Queen is 100% responsible for allowing me to go global.

“Without her I would still be in California dribbling along as a cowboy, telling people not to beat up horses. She is a fantastic human being – maybe the best that’s ever walked this earth.”

On being in his 80s…

“You set aside a lot of things in your later years, like greed and the desire to win championships. And if you love horses, you really become obsessed with leaving the world a better place for them.

“Not only that, but people are far more willing to accept the information from someone who is 81, because they know there is no other motivation. I’m not trying to take anybody’s job or trying to make money. I have no motivation except to improve the lives of these horses.”

On Horse & Hound…

“My time with H&H magazine goes way back to a time when you had Michael Clayton as your editor. He had a horse and he brought the horse to me and I started it for him. He was quite a challenging horse and he named him Monty.”

On mistakes…

“We’re still making a lot of mistakes. We have people who are considered to be high ranking clinicians in our industry who are on these social media sites advocating violence to horses, telling them where to hit horses and how to pull them down to the ground, and how to do terrible things to horses in the name of breaking them and causing them to stop fighting back.”

On social media…

“Nowadays it’s really easy to make better measurements about how a demo has gone because of social media. I will be intent upon studying how people took my demos so that I can bring them the information that they’re looking for.”

On tense moments…

“I did a demo one time in Sussex when we were absolutely sold out and they were bringing in extra chairs. It was about 10 minutes before the first horse was meant to come in and the lights went out – the whole building was absolutely black dark. So wow, there’s me, I have an enormous audience and I have a responsibility to the audience. What the heck do I do?

“So I remembered outside there was a man barbecuing a pig on a spit and that he had a little generator and light for his cooking. I asked the guy if we could borrow his generator and we shone the light down into the centre of the round pen. I did a join-up in the round pen with this glow of light and the people loved it. It was certainly a memorable evening.”

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What is a Dually halter and how does it work?

The Dually training halter, designed by Monty Roberts can be used in a number of different situations from leading, loading

8 rope halters that give more precise aids for training

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Do you have a strong or bolshy horse that misbehaves when you lead him in from the field? Or do you need a bit of extra help while loading or long-reining a nappy or nervous type? The Dually training halter, designed by Monty Roberts, can be used in a number of different situations from leading, loading and long-reining

What is the Dually halter?

The Dually headcollar is a patented training halter, designed by Monty Roberts, which effectively rewards horses for acting in partnership with its handler.

It’s very versatile as it can be used as a standard or training halter. It’s fully adjustable and comes with an instructed video and booklet to explain its fitting and use. The Dually is used as a schooling aid (as an alternative to a bridle, a chifney, a lunge cavesson, a flat halter, rope halter with knots or a halter with a chain over the nose). The halters are colour coded and red is the smallest size.

How does the Dually halter works?

It works on the basis of pressure and release and works more effectively than simply wrapping the lead rope around the horse’s nose, as it will release pressure very quickly allowing the handler to be more precise with their training signals.

“The ring on the sliding noseband is positioned high on the nose, not low, so it doesn’t put pressure on the very sensitive parts of the horse’s head,” says Kelly Marks, of Intelligent Horsemanship, the UK’s only supplier of the Dually halter.

“The pressure is only applied when the horse backs away from you or moves out of the ‘comfort zone’ (this being within a respectable distance from you). As soon as they move back, away, or stop, the pressure is immediately applied and their instinctive reaction is to move out of the pressure zone and back towards you. When they do this they are instantly rewarded as the pressure releases straight away.”

What impact does it has on the horse?

“The reason you’re using the Dually is because it won’t damage or desensitise your horse’s mouth,” says Kelly. “It doesn’t dig in anywhere or work on very sensitive areas of the horse’s face — it doesn’t use excessive poll pressure and fitted correctly it won’t slip around the horse’s face, so you gain more accuracy and control of the horse with less compression than most other options.”

How is the Dually halter fitted?

“If you don’t take the time to fit the Dually correctly, then it won’t work the way it’s intended to,” says Kelly. “Fitted correctly is the key phrase here. It’s best to take a little extra time getting the fit exactly right if you really want the Dually to give you good results with your horse.

“It might take a little while to get used to it needing to go a little higher than you would fit a standard headcollar. This is because the Dually halter is not intended to work on the soft part of the nose.”

1. “The upper noseband part should nearly reach the bottom of the horse’s cheekbone to be in the correct position,” says Kelly. “When fitting it this high, it’s sometimes necessary to undo not only the band across the nose, but also the band underneath the chin. Fit the Dually high enough by adjusting the headpiece and then do the two lower bands up to secure the Dually firmly, but not tightly, on the horse’s face.”

2. “A rough guide would be to ensure you can place two fingers in any section of the Dually and the horse can relax his jaw. You still need to make sure the Dually won’t slip around on the horse’s eye if pressure is applied on the line from any angle.”

3. “If you’re worried your horse or pony is very sensitive you may wish to purchase a natural sheepskin guard to go over the acting part of the noseband. This is generally not necessary but horses that are long lined off the Dually with strong changes of direction could conceivably get rubbed and so this could be an option,” says Kelly.

Things to remember….

1. Never tie a horse up using the schooling ring of the Dually halter. “This is because if the horse pulls back the schooling ring will continue to tighten across his face and could potentially damage it,” says Kelly.

2. Horses should never be loose in a stable or field with a Dually in case they get caught up in anything. “If you wish to travel your horse in a Dually as many people do, just ensure you tie up to the correct (non schooling) ring and that there’s nothing in the horsebox that the other rings could get caught up in,” explains Kelly.

3. “If your horse is going to eat hay on his journey, it’s advisable to loosen the Dually off under the chin a few holes so he can move his jaw comfortably,” adds Kelly.

Dually halter: the verdict

Showing producer Simon Charlesworth credits the Dually to fulfilling his dream of taking his first supreme title at Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) with Pearly King.

The top class large hack, known as Elvis at home, had initial problems with noise and standing still. After a day with Monty Roberts and the acquaintance of the Dually halter, Elvis went on to achieve numerous successes in the show ring.

“I used the Dually to teach him to stand still and deal with noise while standing,” says Simon. “Without it and the time spent with Monty, I don’t think he would have ever gone on to win what he did — standing still was his Achilles heel.

“I now use the Dually for backing the breakers and long reining. I also use them before I attach the reins to the bit as I think it’s a smoother transition and I usually end up with less tongue evasions, as you’re not having the initial battle when you first do it with the mouth.

“We use them to teach everything to load and even for the farrier. I wouldn’t be without them,” adds Simon.

When Barbara Gadd started experiencing leading problems with her youngster Grace she put the Dually halter to the test. “Gracie is the apple of my eye, but I won’t lie, even in the early days leading her was a challenge,” says Barbara. “Despite all attempts to not over handle her, she became rather boisterous and viewed her handler as another horse to play with.”

Barbara said she’d heard good things about the Dually and asked Kelly if she could give one a try. Kelly sent Sandra Williams, correspondence coordinator for Intelligent Horsemanship, to help Barbara fit and use the Dually correctly.

“Sandra showed me how to fit it quite snugly to ensure it doesn’t get pulled out of position. I liked the wide webbing straps, which won’t dig in like a thinner halter can. Only when the halter was well fitted was the lead rope attached,” says Barbara.

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“A long line was recommended and Sandra suggested I borrowed hers, as the lighter weight clip wouldn’t knock against the horse’s face.

“The Dually does put pressure on the nose but easily releases when the horse comes off the pressure. Sandra watched me lead Grace to assess what our main problem was. Rather than being assertive with Grace, because I was anticipating naughtiness, I was a little too domineering with her and it ended up in confrontation. With some fine tuning, and more positive body language, I was asking Grace to stand in her own space, back up, and walk forward nicely in a pretty short space of time.

“Sandra explained it was all about tiny steps, and with a youngster you need to do this work for a few minutes daily. It’s a good idea to practise in a familiar place first and then move somewhere different, then back to your place of safety to end on a good note.”

Now you know how to work a Dually halter, why not sign up to Horse & Hound’s eight-week e-training plan to give your training focus and perfect your flatwork basics

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World famous horse trainer Monty Roberts recently visited India to see the work of The Brooke.

During his week-long trip starting on 26 September, Monty visited The Brooke’s community-based equine welfare units in Sonipat, Muzzaffarnagar and Baghpat.

There he met local farriers, harness-makers, vets and equine owners.

“This is my first time in India and I was excited to meet with local communities, see how The Brooke staff engage with them, and provide useful tips along the way to improve the lives of these hardworking animals and their owners,” said Monty.

Monty visited the Beri equine fair where animals are bought and sold and where The Brooke has a mobile clinic providing advice veterinary treatment and advice.

During his trip he was also invited to see the Army Equestrian School in Meerut and meet the 61st cavalry — the world’s largest non-ceremonial horse-mounted cavalry.

“We share a core belief with Monty that all animals should have a life free from violence,” said Petra Ingram, the Brooke’s chief executive who accompanied Monty on the trip.

More information on The Brooke

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

A new Monty Roberts DVD is now available from Equestrian Vision.

In “Monty Roberts – Long Lining” the legendary “horse whisperer” gives his techniques to improve your horse’s paces, muscle tone and shape with long-lining — where a rein is attached to either side of the bit or cavesson.

“The techniques help trigger radical improvements in your horse,” said a spokesman from Equestrian Vision.

“They help you to school your horse to perform with athleticism and to improve overall fitness, responsiveness and accuracy.”

“Monty Roberts – Long Lining” lasts for 70 minutes and costs £29.99.

To buy the DVD visit www.horseandhound.ipcshop.co.uk/shop/books-dvds-magazines/dvds/monty-roberts-long-lining-dvd

Legendary “horse whisperer” Monty Roberts is going to become the patron of Bristol-based horse welfare charity HorseWorld.

Mr Roberts accepted the invitation to become the charity’s patron following a visit to the centre last November.

During his visit he found out more about the charity’s rescue, rehabilitation and rehoming work as well as meeting staff, volunteers and trustees.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the charity and HorseWorld chair of trustees John Newman said he was delighted to secure Mr Roberts.

He said: “Our special anniversary couldn’t have got off to a more positive start than this.

“To have Monty Roberts join the HorseWorld team as patron is a huge honour for our staff, volunteers and supporters.”

During his visit, Mr Roberts also learned about the Discovery project which uses horses to help young people with emotional, behavioural and learning issues.

This project was an area of particular interest to Mr Roberts. He said: “As I observed HorseWorld’s work it became clear that its main goal is to improve the lives of horses and children.

“By now a great proportion of the horse world knows that these two subjects are the prime motivations of my life”

Mr Robert’s UK prot ©g ©, Kelly Marks, will also become a patron of HorseWorld.

She is the founder of Intelligent Horsemanship which is a UK organisation aiming to bring the best horsemanship ideas together from around the world.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

British scientists are studying the Join Up technique devised by Monty Roberts.

Mr Roberts claims the training method allows him to work “in partnership” with the horse by using equine body language and herd behaviour.

But the technique has been subject to little academic study.

Experts at Hartpury College, led by post-doctoral research veterinary scientist Dr Veronica Fowler and equine physiology expert Dr David Marlin, aim to establish whether Join Up places mental or physical stresses on the horse.

“The academic world has been quick to judge his techniques, but no one has done a scientific study,” explained Dr Fowler.

“Scientific data will allow people to make educated judgements over Mr Roberts’ method when compared to ‘traditional’ horsemanship.”

The study took place on 5-6 February using a group of 20 young, unbroken horses.

Dr Marlin explained: “People have suggested that Join Up can be stressful, so we looked at the behaviour and heart rate to see whether they are exhibiting fear or anxiety.”

Heart rate monitors were put on the horses during Join Up or while they were lunged, and then the horses were filmed while performing new tasks, to assess whether Join Up improved their willingness.

Footage is now being studied by Dr Mark Kennedy, an animal behavioural specialist.

This article was first published in Horse & Hound (19 February, ’09)

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International Dressage Trainers’ Club chairman David Hunt opened the 2006 Global Dressage Forum at Academy, Holland by declaring that the health of competition dressage had never been better. Almost 50,000 spectators watched the grand prix special and 60,000 the kür at the summer’s World Equestrian Games (WEG).

“We saw unknown combinations [including Mexico’s Bernadette Pujals and Vincent] jump in to the top bracket. Three different horses won a class and they were not all trained on the same system. The judges are to be thanked for rewarding the best performances on the day,” he said. “But there is one key thing — the welfare of the horse — we must never move away from that.”

As well as debates on various training methods for horse and rider, including the use of the controversial “deep and round” technique, the forum hosted a lively session analysing the judging at WEG, where the delegates were invited to score the grand prix specials of Andreas Helgstrand (Blue Hors Matine); Bernadette Pujals (Vincent) and Isabell Werth (Satchmo) with the aid of DVD playback.

The audience pointed out that Vincent’s changes were the best of the three horses. The scoring sheets showed that in both the two-times Vincent achieved the same score as the other two horses (four eights and a seven) and in the one-tempis Vincent scored four eights and one nine, compared to Satchmo and Matine who each gained three sevens and two eights.

There was some discussion of Matine’s piaffe and passage — which has been widely praised as incredibly expressive. German journalist Birgit Popp said Matine’s scores for piaffe and passage surprised her, as the horse’s elasticity was not good enough.

“She showed wonderful potential, but it is not exactly what we want to see,” said Birgit.

Mariette Withages, judge and dressage committee chair, countered: “When I say spectacular, that doesn’t mean ideal or free of tension. If the horse gets a stronger back that will improve elasticity. Andreas even said in the press conference that once back at home he would be concentrating on the basics. You have to bear in mind that she is still very young and was a last-minute substitute for his top ride, Blue Hors Don Schufro.”

Stephen Clarke added: “We have to be a bit careful not to talk just about the technical aspects of a performance. We judges appreciated the mental side, too. Matine was the most willing horse and always smiling. It has to be worth something that she so much wants to do the work and was never working against the rider.”

Belgian journalist Astrid Appels asked why Debbie MacDonald’s ride Brentina scored more than 70% in the grand prix when the mare was “obviously lame”.

Stephen Clarke replied: “It’s really unfair to say that. The mare had some slight irregularities in the extended trot. To say she was lame is unfair. Her weaknesses were scored lower and there were elements of the test that were very high-scoring. But we admit, sometimes we make mistakes.”

Astrid went on to ask that if Brentina were only slightly irregular why was she pulled out of the competition after the grand prix.

“The rider felt the mare was uncomfortable in extended trot, so she decided not to take the risk any more,” added Stephen.

Read Horse & Hound’s full report from the Global Dressage Forum, including the use of “deep and round” as a training tool and the dressage world’s reaction to Monty Roberts, in tomorrow’s magazine (9 November, ’06)

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now