Kirkcarrion Highland Ponies
Well, you have to see this one when you get the chance don't you! Monty came to Gleneagles a couple of years ago, and I took the opportunity to see whether the man was as impressive as all the hype.
Most people are now familiar with the Monty Roberts philosophy, which has spawned a whole host of others across the world, and also brought a number of other good horsemen out of the woodwork as people finally started to think about horses in a different way to what they had been taught.
Whatever you think of the familiar hype, the books, videos, merchandise and other stuff, the man himself remains impressive as the first one to bring these new techniques to a British audience way back in 1988. Those practising other similar good horsemanship methods have been listened to better since the Monty roadshow hit the UK, and the vast number of bandwagon hoppers, however good or bad individuals are, do at least show that there is now a willingness to consider other ways of communicating with a horse or pony than the whip, the spur, the boot in the ribs or the yank in the mouth. Sadly, there are still all too many who use these less humane, less thoughtful approaches and I for one am grateful that the Monty Roberts's of the world have started to make a difference at least.
So, what did the demo do for me? I saw a young horse started that had virtually no previous work done on it bar halter training, and the result was a calm animal ready to start work with (and I felt it was important that this was with, not just for) its owners. I saw a supposedly unloadable horse all but load itself, albeit after rather longer than I think people expected given the media coverage and the 20 minutes taken to start a youngster. The difference was the emotional baggage carried compared to a fresh, trusting youngster. And I also saw a horse that Monty had raised as evidence of how his methods can work over a longer period - Dually was flown over specifically for this purpose as a very impressive example of what natural horsemanship methods can achieve. And while I'm no great expert in western riding and had never seen it live before that demo (though I have since) I was very impressed by the sliding stops and reinbacks (probably not a western term and much more than the English rein back of a couple of steps!). Working cattle without the horse being bridled struck me as a good way of emphasising the independent ability of the horse, and the power and intelligence there to be worked with if you only give the horse a chance to join the team and work with you, rather than just carry you and obey commands promptly.
I left generally quite impressed with the man and his horse, a bit disappointed in the sales approach (it seemed to be saying "buy this and you can be like Monty instantly" rather than "think about it and try a different way") hopeful that those watching, particularly those who had brought the demo horses, would really think about their equine relationships. I didn't like the booksigning, the merchandise flogging or the adulation stuff, and I haven't liked some of the inevitable tidal wave of people claiming to use Monty's methods while charging fortunes of ignorant folk who want their horse "fixed" when it goes wrong. But this is not to say that there aren't genuine followers of the method who do a little bit of good wherever they can to make the horse's life easier by examining the so called problem behaviour and finding the real cause to treat - and how often the root cause is the human, and not the horse at all. Badly fitting tack, inconsistent handling, unclear boundaries, ignorance and worse still, received ignorance taught from childhood and repeated through generations. I can't make any claims to be any different myself - I'm a pretty useless, unconfident rider and the various animals I have accumulated over the years demonstrate all my mistakes only too clearly.
But what the Monty Roberts roadshow did do is demonstrate that what I try to do in my everyday life can actually work when practised consistently and with commitment. So there is hope for us yet, and more important, hope for the equines we bring into our lives through our own choice, and not theirs.
|
E-mail: a.douglas@dundee.ac.uk
|  |
Copyright ©A Douglas 1997 |