Monty Roberts, Trust-based Horse Trainer, Horse Whisperer
Monty Roberts listens to horses and communicates with them. I quote from his website.
“I was born in the saddle, first riding in front of my mother as she taught students to ride. I won my first competition at age four on Ginger.
“My father trained horses in the traditional way, 6000 years of methods handed down generationally, often violent and rarely fair to the horse. He expected me to follow in his footsteps and so I was also violently disciplined in the only way he knew how, through pain and force. I vowed to seek better methods for my horses.
“I first learned to listen to horses while observing wild mustangs in Nevada at the age of thirteen. Sent there to round up horses for the Salinas Rodeo Association’s Wild Horse Race, I spent hours silently watching the feral horses interact with each other.
“I soon realized horses use a discernible and predictable body language to communicate, to set boundaries, show fear and express annoyance, relaxation or affection. In a moment that would change my life, I understood that utilizing this silent body language would allow training to commence in a much more effective and humane manner, encouraging true partnership between horses and me. ‘Join-Up’ would become the foundation of all my work with horses and later people, too.”
Western Writers of America
Advances American West literature
Taos, New Mexico
Originally the Spanish Don Fernando de Taos, “The plaza sleeps undisturbed in the sun, the old well in the center and the bandstand ordinarily giving no sign of life….” ~ WPA American Guide Series, New Mexico (1940).
Taos Pueblo
The northern-most Pueblo along the Rio Grande. Also known as the Place of the Red Willows.
Jack Matthews ~ Author 