This week, the Equus Online Uni features Monty's version of Centaur: the mythical man-horse who can bridge two worlds, the wild nature of survival instincts with the wisdom of an educated teacher. This informative video (and many others like it) is available to members of Equus Online. Join now for instant access to everything on this site!

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Question: Thank you to the Equus University. My horse in now unafraid of large vehicles, plastic, and being left alone. I am struggling though to ride him out alone. He is willing to go about 50 yds up the road while I am on him, but then stops. He doesn't get nasty, just stops, ears up and looking around. If I get off and walk him, he'll go where ever I go, and on the way back I can get on and he is perfectly happy. If my husband walks in front he'll happily go with me on his back, and of course he'll walk out if our other horse comes too. He'll even take the lead, sometimes being 25 yards or so in front. I don't know what to do next for him, to get him to realize it is ok to ride out alone as well as in company. 

Monty's Answer:  Refusing to go forward is called balking, napping, or jibing. It occurs largely because of pain caused by athletic injury, wear and tear, an accident or misfitting tack or harness. In the days when driving and working horses in harness was the order of the day, balking was commonplace. A misfitting collar was often the culprit. This piece of equipment was the main contact point as the horse pulled his load. Significant pain could quickly produce a balking draft horse.

Before dealing with balking through techniques I describe here, you should take great care to eliminate the potential for physical pain as the cause of the undesirable behavior. It should be noted that the problem may have been fostered through physical pain that is no longer present. The pain, however, could have been the catalyst to the development of the ­remedial problem. Once the trainer has concluded that the horse is currently free of physical ailments, he can go on with the training procedures outlined in this section. 

There are three items that we will discuss. My spurs, the pacifier and the Giddy-Up rope. My spurs, as you will note from the lesson, are covered in rubber instead of allowing metal to meet the skin of the horse.

The pacifier is a bit like racing blinkers, but the entire eye of the horse is surrounded by a very strong metal screen. These were designed to stop dirty clods from injuring the eyes of race horses. In this case, I use them to close the back door. With black duct tape I have closed off the back half of the screen dome over the eye. This creates a situation by which the horse can only see forward. As horses don't like to go where they can't see, it encourages forward motion, which is the desired effect. 

The Giddy-Up rope is made of braided soft yarn. There is no need for pain, in fact it is counter-productive. Note the action of using the Giddy-Up rope and become aware of how rapidly it will encourage the horse to go forward. Once achieved, reward the horse with rest.  

Excerpt from Monty's textbook: From My Hands to Yours

Patricia's answer to this week's challenge: It is always easier to prevent problems then to cure. If this habit had been dealt with correctly the first time with little work it would not have existed. Now it is a habit that will take more work and patience to cure. Monty's lessons on Walter Won�t Go Forward should help you a lot including the Giddy-Up rope. Basically your horse doesn�t listen to your aids and gets away with it. Of course going home is no problem, you are going home aren�t you, just what your horse likes. So go through Walter Won't Go Forward again until you get and train your horse to react to your aids. Making it more work for you to stop then to go forward can help as well, going backwards or in tight circles then ask your horse to go forward, use also aids like clicking your tongue or if you don�t have or can�t get a Giddy-Up rope slapping your hand on your thigh (works a treat for my Trov�o who would get manic bucking mode) if he would see a whip or a rope or a rein end used to make him go forward. With warm regards, Patricia  

WHERE IN THE WORLD IS MONTY?

Monty's Principles

Monty talks directly with everyone, but without clear details. He does not want to know who was responsible or why something has happened. Sometimes he asks a question including
already the answer, because he knows it anyway. The social workers wonder at how quickly the young people can trust and how frank they are. 

Some of the details the teenagers are telling, the social workers have experienced after weeks or months. "Has anyone ever told you that you are pre-cious?" Monty asks the teenagers. The answers cause goose bumps, they have not been told very often, some of them never. "Each of you is a precious person", says Monty. "Everyone can make a difference. Everyone can create a better life, if he is willing to work hard and learn." He asks them about their future plans and talks to them about the desire for family and professions that have to do with computers or shoes. 

Monty Roberts patiently answers all the questions, because he knows from his own experience how important it is that someone takes time and listens. A dark-haired girl is backing away during these discussions. Angry looks, folded arms, lukewarm answers, no goals and small future plans. "You live in Western Europe", Monty tells her and "you will always have something to eat and opportunities to learn and to earn your own money. In other parts of the world people would not give you a chance, so use this here!" The girl looks at him and knits her brows. 

Then, the young people work with the horses, and all together they want to move the mare and the gelding from one side of the arena to the other - without halter or rope but with body language, with light touch, not by force or loud language. They act seriously and gently, with infinite patience. They pay atten-tion to what the horse might feel and to communicate properly.

Stick with it until the goal is reached! These experiences they should transfer to their everyday lives and to relationships to other people - because with the horses they get a feeling how relationships work. And all we do is hope that they will not be disappointed too often, find someone who cares about them, listens and does not judge rashly. For the final group picture, the dark-haired girl wants to stand next to Monty.

Things happen exactly as they always do: there is one horse in the stable which cannot do the Join-Up, so Monty Roberts is asked for help. For the Join-Up, human and horse meet in a round pen. The horse will not be held and has the alternative to move away. If it decides to leave, the human gives signs with body language and eye contact "I agree with your decision to run away, but do not go just a little, go away a lot." The natural flight distance of horses is about 600 meters.

After that they check their decision whether it makes sense to continue to flee and use more physical energy, or whether there are other options. The horse can choose between further flight, or contacting and communicating with the human. Alone in the wild a flight animal would die, therefore the horse would always instinctively come back to the herd. Indications of the willingness are the ears movement, lowering the head, licking and chewing and a smaller circle. When the animal shows this gestures, the human turns into a passive attitude, turns off easily, lets the shoulders drop, lowers his arms and looks the horse no longer in the eye.

This body language signals the horse that it should approach and have no fear of being at-tacked. With its approach the horse shows that it accepts the human as a leader, and offers his con-fidence. For positive reinforcement and confirmation the human rubs the horse on the forehead. This is the moment of Join-Up.
 

TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK IN 'MONTY'S PRINCIPLES' COLUMN.

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