The Man Who Listens to Horses

This book is a jewel.

This is an account written by the real horse whisperer, Monty Roberts. The movie you may have heard of is fiction. Monty is the real thing.

It is a biography of a man who overcame a difficult childhood and relationship with an overbearing and violent father to achieve his dream: training wild horses with non-violence. He did this through observing hundreds of mustangs in the wild, learning their language and then communicating. He can tame almost any wild horse in 30 minutes with no violence, whips or confinement. His dad would use all the normal breaking techniques, including humiliation, and would take on average 3 weeks to 'break' the horse.

I like this book because it confronts real life and real problems but does it in a way that my 12yos can read. Monty talks about his dad's beatings for example, but they are not graphic. But you realize what Monty really suffered- the lack of relationship with his dad. And you learned how he dealt with it- positively.

I also has connections abounding... much about the behavior of wild horses, the workings of horse farms, racing and rodeos, Hollywood and making movies and even the Queen mother of England. Monty has had an interesting life!


We enjoyed the audio version.

He has several other books out and I found Shy Boy and Wild Horses I have known at my local library. There are some wonderful pictures in both.

He also has a website at www.montyroberts.com

Here is one quote from the book I enjoyed:

"Between the rodeos and the show grounds and the horsemastership contests, and all the traveling on the railroad car, I did manage to fit in a little time at school, but my attendance record was slim. It consisted mostly of turning up on examination days to prove that I was up to standard. I was, though, registered with the local Catholic school administered by Notre Dame nuns. One nun, Sister Agnes Patricia was the most influential teacher I ever know. What I will always remember about her is her statement that there is no such thing as teaching---only learning. She believed that no teacher could ever teach anyone anything. Her task as a teacher was to create an environment in which the student can learn.

Knowledge, she told us. standing very straight in her long black habit, her face framed by her white wimple, pointed at the top like the spire of a cathedral, needs to be pulled into the brain by the student, not pushed into it by the teacher. Knowledge is not be forced on anyone. The brain has to be receptive malleable, and most important hungry for that knowledge.

I apply the same philosophy to training horses. To use the world teach implies an injection of knowledge. Like Sister Agnes Patricia, I came to agree that there is no such thing as teaching, only learning."