Monty Roberts

[suzii]

All you guys on here seem to speak highly of him (certainly higher than parelli!!!!!!!) but recently I read in Horse magazine that some people think joining up jut teaches the horse to run away from you!!! (well - something like that!)

Can you tell me more about those methods etc?

I would love to do that sort of thing with Sprite but he freaks out with a rope round his nose (like a dually headcollar, as far as I can see!) and I don't have a round pen (i think you need one for joinup?)

[Blonde Donkey]

i used it on savs once as we had never had a very close relationship, basically you send the horse away and look for the signs that it wants to come in to you ie licking and chewing, ear on you and coming onto a smaller circle. i did it with savs because it was a last resort to try and sort our relationship and it worked
but i don't reccomend doing it if you have a horse that is already connected to you or a pony like sunshine that is scared of people as it could make them worse.
working from the ground also helps as savvy has learnt to have respect for my personal space rather than using me as a scratching post when she's bored
you so need a round pen for join up but it not always necessary
the book perfect partners has a lot of exercises and ideas for building relationships and helping you understand the horse. you will find that somethings will work for your horse and other things won't. their riding style does not work for savvy but the working for the ground makes her a lot more confident around me

[rebanna]

if u don't understand it don't do it!! it like most other thing's is extremely dangerous in the wrong hand's blue was seen by a professional and of all the thing's iv done that is the only thing I'm ashamed of , everyone at college and uni hate it. if u want to do it id get someone who know what to do help u

[maximum]

Aug 14, 2008 17:43:22 GMT rebanna said:

if u don't understand it don't do it!! it like most other thing's is extremely dangerous in the wrong hand's blue was seen by a professional and of all the thing's iv done that is the only thing I'm ashamed of , everyone at college and uni hate it. if u want to do it id get someone who know what to do help u

here here!!!

[abi]

read kelly marks' Perfect manners book, it explains it and she uses a lot of his ideas.
A round pen is ideal but i used half my field, a lot of it is about body language.

the basic idea is to "send the horse away" with a lunge line or something as an extension of the arm (don't hit him though!) and predator style body language, he should be at a brisk trot or canter here to make sure he's respecting it (remember to warm up first!)

after a few minutes, start lowering your body language, drop eye contact, lower your head ect, and he should slow to a walk, usually one ear on you, one on everythin else, and he will probably be licking and chewing in concentration and thought.
eventually, he should make the decision to walk in towards you, and recognise you are not a predator and might follow you round the school.

its been ages since i did this and that might not be completely spot on so i would read up on it first, there might be some videos on youtube on how to do it too?
i would try it though, whatever your bond with sprite, as you could be surprised!
Sox did this like she'd done it all her life, and she'd never done it before, it was so interesting to see the reactions to different body language!

[brigadier]

Horses in the wild are expelled from the herd for doing something wrong and join up derives from this natural instinctive behaviour displayed by the expeller and the expelled as they ask to re-join the herd. I believe that if you have a relationship with a horse and nothing is wrong why would there be any need to do it! But like anything if theres is a need then it may work- but please seek professinal guidance first. Basically you would be messing with the horses psyche here so you need to know you are doing it correctly. You want the horse to respect and want to be with you for the right reasons, not fear and mistrust you.
If you fancy it- do plenty of research and do a course- plenty of 'intelligent horse people' are offering them now.

Monty is great- but to me this is because he has opened up the stuffy british horse world to new ideas and concepts, not because everything he does or encourages is cast iron right!

[suzii]

right, thanks.

obviously, i don'tt want to mess him up and confuse him, as he is still youngish and green!

But i would like to use natural ways to get him to respect me and want to me with me. I though joinup might help me build relationship with him etc!?

Umm, maybe I should give us both time first, carry on as we are and give us time to get used to each other.

I am interested in what savkins said about teaching him about space. Sprite has very little spacial awareness!

[brigadier]

Im half way through the kelly marks book and liking what im reading- but Haffy recommended Mark Rashid to me and seriously I was blown away- its not so much technique but a way of thinking that just cant be wrong- the one I read was passive leadership- Im going to look for more of his. Do read it Suzii and let me know what you think!

[fleabitten]

Idea for if you dont have a round/lunging pen - fence off your arena or a part of your field with jumps - obv you will need them high enough so he wont jump them and probly with something to fill the gap so he doesnt try and go under them.

[suzii]

that soudns good but facillities at my yard are not the best and we only have six poles and two makeshift wings! I am hoping to get more though!

[suzii]

Just reading this back is funny to me! I am now a total IH convert. Some of the questions I asked on here a long time ago really show up how much I've improved as a horsey person I can now answer most of these old questions myself - hopefully I'll keep improving.

[fallible]

Body language in all things horsey is important not to over look. I'm quite dominant, I have two dominant mares and a dominant gelding out of 4 horses, I have to be firm but not over bearing with the youngster who is not dominant but just a bit naughty and playful. You could see maxi's curly reacting to my dominant posture when lunging her so I had to turn sideways and tone it down a little. so always be aware of what you are doing. godd luck