My husband gave me The Man Who Listens to Horses: The Story of a Real-Life Horse Whisperer
Apparently there’s some controversy about the book. Some of its factual claims are disputed: did Monty Roberts really do the stunt riding in National Velvet? Was he really a protege of Bill Dorrance — who has said he doesn’t know him? Was his father really the hard, cruel man depicted in these pages? I can’t say that these accusations didn’t affect me. They did make me more skeptical. I also felt Mr. Roberts may inflate his own importance when he presents himself as a champion of a “new way” of training horses. Surely there have been true horsemen for centuries, men who love these animals and practice “natural horsemanship” with or without its official title.
Nevertheless, the book had an impact on me. There’s no question about whether this author knows how to work with horses cooperatively rather than cruelly, in ways that build trust rather than fear. And whether or not his father is guilty of beating Monty repeatedly with a chain, or disarming and then killing a hold-up man with his bare hands, the photographs in the center of the book make it plain that his father did indeed train horses by tying them up with ropes and using other methods of intimidation.
It’s hard to read about the abuse horses have been subjected to by their human stewards. That type of thing is what I find most difficult about animal stories and movies in general. This book calls forth mixed emotions: sorrow and grief blended with delight that the sensible, successful, and humane training methods Roberts describes here are recognized and respected by a growing number of people.
I find it fascinating to read about horse behavior. Though Roberts identifies them as flight animals at the far opposite end of the spectrum from their more aggressive human counterparts, in our basic psychology our two species have some real similarities. Horses and people respond to inner and outer wounds, and mistreatment by others, in the same way: retreat and loss of trust. And like humans, they can find healing only through learning to trust someone and work through their fears together.
This book is filed in my mind alongside Cloud: Wild Stallion of the Rockies, filmmaker Ginger Kathrens’ marvelous portrait of the mustangs in the Arrowhead Mountains of Montana. We’ve read a number of horse stories in this house (my “Reviews” page documents a number of them), but these two works distinguish themselves as studies of horse communication and behavior. We’ve also enjoyed Leslie Desmond’s Horsemanship for Children video from the library. I’d probably put the videos above this book if I had to rate them, but the type of information, and the lines of thought it inspires, are similar.
In any case, this book has the double value of feeding my own interest in horses, and contributing to the dialogue between me and my horse-loving daughter. I’m sure my husband had no idea it would eventually touch the hearts of two ladies.
What you tell about the impact of Monty Roberts’ book and other “modern” horse information has inspired me to let you know about Basic Training for a Safe Trail Horse with subtitle of Eliminating the Fear Factors. The author is a trail rider who learned how to teach a horse by relating to it as its alpha mare herd member. Unable to apply what she could learn from horsemen like Monty Roberts and other popular horse clinicians to be able to ride her own horses safely, she began to learn more logical and direct teaching methods from a friend. These methods fulfilled her desire to teach a horse humanely and without confusion or complications, so she wrote them in this small inexpensive paperback. It is a narrative with instructions about how she re-educated her older horse and trained her young horse successfully without using bits, spurs, ropes, longe lines or round pens. You and your daughter can greatly add to your knowledge about horses with this book that is available at Amazon.com or from the author with autograph at safetrailhorse@gmail.com
I had no idea there was such controversy over this book. I read it five years ago, and was enthralled. Curiously, I have a book written by animal behaviorist/trainer Karen Pryor where she mentions this method of taming wild horses using a small circular corral, just like what Roberts does. She said it was a method “Indians and gypsies” used, and adapted a similar method for dolphins! Her book was published in 1975, so it seems that Roberts wasn’t the first person to use this training method on horses, either. (I seem to remember him making that claim in the book, correct me if I’m wrong.)
Jeane, the trainer I’ve seen in action last weekend and this one says if he had to leave his farm, the one thing he’d take with him would be his roundpen. It makes some things possible that you couldn’t do any other way.
Dolphins? !!
dazey, thanks for the tip!
[...] Have)56. Lazygal (Murder at Midnight)57. Lazygal (Back Home)58. Lazygal (Tombstone Tea)59. Janet (The Man Who Listens to Horses)60. Janet (A Circle of Quiet)61. Belinda (Christ, My Companion)62. Lynne (THE ADVENTURES OF [...]
A very good and in-depth review. I loved this book and want to read more by him. I’m not affected by any of the controversies because the man has a repect for horses that can’t be faulted. Thanks for reviewing it.
Yeah- dolphins. When they had a recalcitrant dolphin, would put it in a small round tank and a person stand in the middle with a towel to flip near its flukes. The dolphin would swim in circles on the edge- as far from the person as it could get- for a while, then suddenly approach and act completely friendly towards the person. Just like worked with the horses.