The Man Who Listens to Horses

Amongst my friends who include vets, trainers, riders and equine body workers, the book is somewhat controversial. One of my early mentors in horse rehab (both emotional and physical) knew Monty Roberts and swore he was a genius. Others have sworn that some of Roberts stories were not true.

The book is definitely self-serving in Roberts' claims that he single-handedly brought horse training from cruel horse "breaking" practices to more humane training methods.

Er um. There's a long standing tradition of trainers like Ray Hunt, Buck Brannaman or Linda Tellington-Jones, to name a few, who have always incorporated kindness and understanding into their work. Less self-serving than Monte Roberts, their clinics, books, videos and show more demonstrations have helped educate several generations of horse owners, riders and trainers.

With all that said, Monty Roberts' book still has enough fascinating horse encounters to make it a a worthwhile read. show less

Monty grew up on the rodeo grounds of the town I grew up in. His descriptions of Salinas take me back. He also takes me back to all those poor ponies I mistreated in my child's ignorance of horse behavior and needs. Those poor ponies mistreated me right back. They weren't being stubborn, they were sticking up for themselves. He takes me back to the one pony that was my teacher and best friend. Also to the horses that I loved after. All were dear friends. His training methods are spot on. His power of observation a lesson to us all. His example shows that we all need to slow down and watch for a while before acting, be it horse or human. He also begs a queer question: Horses learn what we want. They learn our voice commands. They learn show more our language. And yet, we can't understand a word they say. So, who is the smart one? If you give a kid a horse or pony, this book along with Black Beauty should be required reading long before the horse or pony is ever saddled. show less

A compelling and facinating look at how we treat the animals who share our lives, what we can learn by listening to them more often (instead of simply ordering them about), and how one man 'bucked' (pun intended) years and years of traditional horse training methodology to challenge horse owners, horse lovers - and frankly anyone who has to interact with any living creature - to reexamine how we communicate.

Monty Roberts is an American horse whisperer. He started riding at the age of two. His father was a violent horse trainer, breaking the horse's will until the horse was afraid to make him upset. Monty thought that he could gentle a horse without violence. When he was thirteen he went into the desert to study wild mustangs. He studied the herd's behavior, and how the lead mare acted torwards the young colts in the herd. Once, he saw a young colt going around, and making trouble. The colt was scaring the newborns, and causing tension in the herd. The lead mare went to him, and drove the colt out of the herd. For hours, the mare would not let the colt back into the herd. Without protection, he was an easy target for cougars and other show more predators around. Finally, the colt started to apologize by hanging his head, so that his nose was almost touching the dust, and clapping his mouth to say, "Please let me into the herd. I'm not a threat." After seeing this, the mare lets him rejoin the group. After studying various herds, seeing things from mares with newborns being accepted into the herd, from rogue stallions challenging the herd leader. He learns all about their body language, and uses this to gentle horses in a nonviolent way. He travels around the country, making friends, and entering rodeos. He finally settles down with his horse rescue ranch. He takes the most difficult horses and gentles them in less than thirty minutes. No matter how much damage the horse does, either to him, or others, or his property, he always ends up being able to communicate with them. show less

Monty Roberts describes his life, family, and his philosophy and training of horses. His methods, as he describes, developed from his long obsservation and study of horses. He explains that horses and other "prey" herd animals have certain a body language and shared perceptions of looking out for danger as well as living as herd animals. Roberts understands this language and knows how to train and help heal horses with behavior problems without resorting to violence. The book includes some black and white photos. (Of particular interest to me is his observations and interactions with deer that he also talks about in this book.)

The Man Who Listens to Horses is a nonfiction book written by Monty Roberts about his life, career, and passion for horses. He recounts his autobiographical tale about his journey to becoming horse whisperer. The writing is clear and he does not hold back details in explaining why and how he works with horses. The book is chronological, and he does not just include the dates and events of his life, but instead includes the memorable stories, challenges, people, and horses that define him. This book was very motivational to me because I also love horses and understood the respect and nobility he also assigns to the horse. He includes pictures of important people and horses he helped or helped him. At the end of the book there is a show more summary index that goes over different techniques and approaches he applies as a horse trainer and whisperer. Overall, the book served its purpose as educating other people about the art, magic, and power of communicating and listening to horses. show less

I recommend readers do a little research on this man's reputation. I enjoyed the book as a teenager. As an adult horse person I recognize a/ the severe flaws in his "training", 2/ the lies and 3/ the abuse this man perpetuated on undeserving horses.