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Summary: Monty is the Real Thing
Review: I have not read this book but I planning on it. I love horses, they are magestic and kind creatures. I once saw Monty on Animal Planet demonstrating his ability to connect with horses. He showed a way of getting your horse (Or anothers) to follow you! It worked! Later when I went to my friend house we went to see her neighbors horse. I used Monty's tip and it worked like a the luckiest charm!!! The horse followed me to the edge of her owners property and was still trying to get to me! I can not wait to read this book!!
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Summary: A book for all horse owners
Review: If you are a horse owner or a horse lover, then Monty's book is for you. For many years horse trainers have trained horses by beating and whipping them to gain superiority over the animal. This technique is called breaking the horse. In his book, The Man Who Listens to Horses, Monty describes ways of training a horse without ever inflicting any kind of pain on the animal. He uses methods of communication to get the horse to do what he wants instead of whipping or beating it. Monty calls his painless method of training a join up. He developed this method of communication with horses by studying mustangs in the wild as a young boy. Monty's methods of training have gained recognition all over the world even from the Queen of England. In his book, Monty also talks about his rocky childhood, his abusive father, and meeting James Dean. Monty's father was a horse trainer also, but he used the traditional way of breaking horses. As he was growing up, Monty witnessed the horrible methods his father had used to train horses. This gave him the inspiration to develop a gentler way to train horses. My favorite phrase in the book is that horses are not crazy they are made crazy by people. As a horse owner and lover, I very much enjoyed this book. I believe that all horse owners and trainers should adopt Monty's methods of training. This book is not just great for horse lovers but for any animal lover too!
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Summary: Fact or fiction?
Review: When I first read this book (after being awestruck by the PBS TV special and Monty's personal appearance on their pledge night) i believed every word of it. HOwever i am not from a horsey background and know rather little about horse training (altho as a child I collected Breyer toys and took a few riding lessons that was dabbling.) I started researching newsgroups etc, devoted to horsemanship as well as reading between the lines. It really does read like a collection of outrageous tall tales and I am starting to agree with the claims of some of the man's relatives that it is mostly bogus. It is easy to impress the ignorant but I am no longer impressed. There are too many negative anecdotes from experienced (and humane) horse people to ignore, even ASIDE from the "family feud" issue over the child abuse accusations (i throw up my hands there and say God knows but I'm sorry people got hurt.) Monty seems to have been corrupted by money and sleazy commercialism, and claims to the contrary are being suppressed due to fears of lawsuits - several newspapers and a respected magazine did well researched exposes and the latter got sued. I'd suggest reading this book for pleasure but don't use it as a how-to or put it on your nonfiction shelf, Mark Rashid is a better respected (in the United States) authority on gentle horse training and impresses many of the people who dislike Roberts - that says a lot. THe one thing Monty definitely did NOT make up is his so called method - reading 'horse language' and communicating with horses has been done for 1000s of years! It's not an old versus new thing. His claim that "everybody was horribly cruel until I came along" is an insult to many kind and humane people who work with horses and have done so in the past. That is hard to forgive.
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Summary: the REAL horse trainer
Review: The Man Who Listens to Horses, by Monty Roberts, was very inspiring to anyone that loves horses. While reading the book, it seemed as if Roberts was talking to you, as a friend, while he told all his stories. I never got bored, because it was "story time" when I picked up that book. I could not put it down. Roberts is talking in the first person almost ninety-five percent of the book. He is always talking to me, so i never got lost or confused. By talking in first person, I felt a connection with Roberts. Roberts used imagery to get his desired effect also. In the book, he had to describe everything; at the same time, I created images in my head. He also used simple similes like "it was like a race" when he spoke about his job. He also uses allusions, but they are mostly refering to people in history, like James Dean, and not happenings in history. When Roberts describes a horse he uses personification so the reader can better understand what the horse is really like. Overall, his devices are worked very well into his writting to better the understanding. Monty has a major theme of communicating to horses, and even people, without any verbal or abusive tactics, but simply, with body language. A smaller theme is patience. The more patience you have the better things will go for you and the less problems you will have. I recomend this book to any horse lover; it is awesome I found his training methods to be incredible, and they really work!
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Summary: Good read!
Review: Must say I really did enjoy reading this book. I kept going back to it every time I could. The thing that I did notice in the book was an air of arrogance by the author at certain points in the book, however, I overlooked them as the story was very interesting.
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Summary: An insightful book...
Review: To me, this book came across more like a personal memoir rather than the latest trend in horse-training techniques. I thoroughly enjoyed the book soley for the author's personal insight, observatons, and his remarkable kinship with horses and animals. What most folks in the equine industry don't realize, is that Monty has a special gift & kinship with horses - unique to him only. What works for one trainer, does not neccessarily work for another. What I see in horse-related magazines and in the equine industry per se, makes me shake my head. The media is all to quick to pick up on the latest flavour-of-the-month trainer & training techniques; re: John Lyons, Lynn Salvatori-Palm, Pat Parelli, Richard Shrake, etc; (the latest trend seems to be shifting to Australian cowboys, re: Clinton Anderson, et al) - then drop it as quickly until the next training fad becomes the new vogue. Folks then jump on the flavor-or-the-month bandwagon, and think that "what works for him, will work for me", without taking into account one's own personal dynamics, mood, personality, character, temperment, metabolism, etc. It kinda reminds me what Dr. Benjamin Spock said about parenting and on becoming a new parent: "Trust yourself, you know more than you think". THAT being said, I wish I could go to one of Monty's "join up" clinics - if only to observe man & horse communicate, and watch Monty work his magic.
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Summary: Eye opening, heart wrenching, well written book
Review: I have read this book about a dozen times and keep it "loaned" out to friends most year around. Monty is a true horseman. And to become one after what his father put him through!! Monty has opened my eyes as to how a horse thinks and how it portrays in it's mind everything I do or say and what that means to the horse. If you train horses, this is a must, for even if you do not use the "join-up" it will still give you a sense of how to "be" a horse. Way to go Monty, way to show the world how to love a horse and to show us how to no longer be that predator they (horses) fear so much!!
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Summary: An Amazing Book by an Amazing Man
Review: The Man Who Listens to Horses By Monty Roberts Reviewed by Ashley Sutton For hundreds of years, people have trusted the traditional way of training horses. This method uses beatings, pain, and suffering to break the horse's spirit and force him to obey. This practice was considered normal, but the consequences of "breaking" a horse this way are tragic. Horses lose their trust toward humans, and while many people are aware of this loss, it seemed that this was the only effective way to train horses. But one day, Monty Roberts went out into the wilderness of Nevada to watch the wild mustangs that roamed there. It was observing the herd's strict disciplinary procedures that brought Monty to noticing a pattern in the horses' behavior, a kind of "language." He called this language "Equus," and his knowledge of Equus helped him discover join-up, efficient, painless way to train horses. In The Man Who Listens to Horses, Monty Roberts tells of his childhood, his discovery of Equus and join-up, and of the many obstacles that stood in his way of sharing his methods with others. Now sixty-six years old, Monty "is squarely built, and at 240 pounds on a five-foot-four-inch frame, he is much heavier than he looks," says Lawrence Scanlon, who wrote the introduction to the book. His vision is impaired; he can only see black, white, and a wide array of gray tones. Monty grew up around horses, since his father was a well-known horse trainer. Throughout his childhood, Monty witnessed the cruel methods of breaking horses that his father used. His disagreements with his father were a main factor in what made his so determined to stop these methods. Monty's father was a firm believer in sacking-out, in other words, tying a horse up and beating him into submission. As Monty describes one horse being "trained" by his father, "The whites in his eyes are showing, the horse desperately tries to escape my father, and one eye looks back at him in fear and dread." When Monty tried to show his father his way of training, this turned into Monty's fate, too. For years, Monty was the subject of horrifying abuse from his father, and Monty never forgave him for the pain he caused in so many lives. Throughout the book, Monty tries to communicate to the reader that his talents with horses are nothing extraordinary. He has no special "magic touch," and no ancestry of communicating with horses. He just says that he has learned to "listen" to the horses he trains, and that this allows him to solve their problems with ease. He maintains that anyone can do what he does with horses if they'd just take the time to "listen." His book tells of the hard times he's had, and it shows people that the road to making a difference in the world is often a hard one. The Man Who Listens to Horses is an inspiring story about a man who never gave up on what he believed in. Anyone who likes either horses or just a heart-warming story is sure to enjoy this book by Monty Roberts. It shows the consequences of the trust between humans and horses being broken, and what we can to do to prevent this loss of trust.
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Summary: An Equestrian's Top Choice
Review: I found this book absolutely spectacular. I've felt the same as Mr. Roberts on so many issues and it was refreshing to see someone write a book about the way the horse really is and how to develop a deeper communication with him. He tells his life and how the many horses in it have affected it. From his tough childhood to acting with James Dean to visiting the Queen of England and to the development of Flag is Up Farms, I was enchanted from the beginning. Inspiring, eloquent and engrossing. This book has it all if you truly love horses and want to learn more about our equine companions.
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Summary: The Man Who Listens to Horses
Review: Fascinating, couldn't put it down. Makes me want to see one of his clinics.
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