TRADITION IS married with innovation at this year’s Dublin Horse Show through the participation of the internationally famous Californian horse trainer Monty Roberts.
Central to the aims of the Royal Dublin Society is a commitment to the training and welfare of horses. By inviting the legendary Roberts who has devised and perfected, Join Up, a stress-free method of training young horses and solving various behavioural problems, the RDS – founded in 1731 – is remaining true to its mission.
Roberts (75) is the author of The Man Who Listens to Horses, a book he wrote at the suggestion of Queen Elizabeth. The British monarch was interested in his methods and invited him to Windsor in 1989 to give a demonstration.
It was so successful she told him he should write his story. First published in 1996, the book has sold more than 5 million copies. His natural horsemanship has since become a creed for horse men and women all over the world.
According to Fiona Sheridan of the RDS, the demonstrations which are free will run each day throughout the show and will offer an exciting insight into natural horsemanship. Roberts is based on a ranch in California where he trains students in his methods but travels the world for 10 months of the year, giving demonstrations. He can introduce a bridle and saddle to a young previously unridden horse in 30 minutes.
The emphasis is on trust, not fear. Horses are by nature flight animals but Roberts sets out to engage their curiosity.
“One of the biggest problems facing horses in Ireland, or anywhere,” says Sheridan, “is that they are badly broken and handled in an aggressive way. This damages horses for life and the pity is that it can all be avoided by doing things right through keeping the welfare of the horse uppermost.”
Anne Floody, who has been training horses with her brother, John, the Irish showjumper, for about 15 years, has seen Roberts at work. “It is amazing to watch. I would see the trust element as vital, yet whereas I approach a young horse from the very beginning Monty Roberts pushes the horse away, and waits until the horse is licking and chewing and ready to approach him. It is different, and it works.”
Roberts initially makes no physical contact. “He doesn’t use a lunge rope,” says Floody and she explains that she does not ride any of the horses she trains until about the fourth week. “He doesn’t even speak, while I use my voice and I think it plays a big part in establishing trust, but Roberts is non-verbal and relies totally on his body language. The way a young horse is handled shapes them for life. I have had to retrain many horses who have been sent to us as problem animals. In most cases they have been traumatised by hasty handling.”
Involved with horses from his youth, Roberts always observed them closely and was intrigued by the social interaction of wild mustangs.
During his daily demonstrations, which begin tomorrow and run for the duration of the horse show, Roberts will not only bring a young horse to saddle, he will also work with horses that are difficult to load and are nervous or wary of humans.
