Monty Roberts and APHA/PtHA"Lil More Conclusive"

at the time 3 years old....

at the 2007 Equine Affaire in Massachusetts

featured in Monty's E-Newsletter and the

APHA Paint Horse Connection Magazine Spring 2008

Dear Friends

I am writing to you from the Equine Affaire in Springfield, Massachusetts November 2007 where I have been working with three horses each day for four days. I would like to relate to you the story of a very beautiful paint stallion that goes by the name of "Joe".

When I first saw Joe during the vet exam he impressed me as being flashy, dashy, and sassy. He appeared to resemble a 16 year old boy who was handsome, arrogant and quite certain that he was the toughest kid in town. His owner Eileen C. Cashman informed me that "Joe" was offered to Equine Affaire to receive his first saddle and rider.

"Joe" certainly was accepted as a raw starter but I decided to add another component to the demonstration. My decision was to first do a “spooky horse” demo with "Joe" and then to proceed to ask him to accept his first saddle and rider. I don’t really know what gave me the right to think I could meet this challenge but it seemed doable to me. What came next was a privilege that my audience and I got to witness.

"Joe" clearly expressed his phobia for plastic the next day in front of approximately 2000 attendees. I set out with the stated goal of having him walk quietly over a rolled up and flattened plastic tarpaulin. My lesson for the audience that day was about incremental learning.

Within about 20 minutes we reached our goal and then some with no force, no pain, and no violence. "Joe" even followed me over the plastic with no lead on. Without sweating he stood and allowed me to stroke his forehead in the middle of a now spread out tarpaulin of 24’ x24’ (8 x 8 meters).

With the spooky demonstration in the bank, I proceeded to ask "Joe"to complete a starting demo. He was text book once I managed to get the Join-Up accomplished, he carried my rider Jared Huhta around the pen in a state of complete relaxation.

It was an inspirational 40 minutes or so with "Joe" and I consider myself extremely lucky to continue to meet wonderful horses like this as I travel the world with my mission to eliminate violence from all training routines.

Monty Roberts