Off to Monty Roberts Demo with Daughters Pony tomorow!

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rockinghorse

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Taking daughters pony to Monty Roberts Demo tomorow, very nervous, thinking it will turn him into trembling wreck..... I have never been but have received good feedback from friends who have been before as spectators & a few mixed posts, wish us luck XX
 
Merlin was used in a demo...... he was scared
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He went coz of his fear of clippers...... it wasnt helped at all.

He found the whole being chased round the pen thing really scary and got confused when one minute they were stroking him with a carrier bag on a stick and the next were using it like a lunge whip
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What is the pony going to demonstrate???
 
I've been going to see Monty Roberts demos now for 4 years and i have to say they are amazing. This year he was given a horse who was scared of plastic, rugs and never been backed. By the end of the demo, he had someone laying over his back, walking around with a rug on and and walking over a tarpaulin with no line on.
Remember he will show you what you can do, but its up to you to continue after the demo. It's not an instant cure, but its a bloody good start!
good luck.
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Loading, he loads excellent from our yard at home (although all ramps & bars have to be down) but when re-loading from an unfamiliar yard he plants himself on the ramp & won't budge. We have taken him hunting & to shows etc & he loads when he feels like it not when I want him too. Last season 2 hrs loading after hunting, the owners came to lock the gate & I was apologising and then daughter shouts up he's loaded!!!!
 
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stroking him with a carrier bag on a stick and the next were using it like a lunge whip
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I have seen various Monty Roberts demos and at most he has at least one spooky horse that he uses the stick with bags attached. I have yet to see him then use the stick as a lung whip, since he doesn't lunge I don't really see how he could.

Was this Monty or another NHS person that done this to your horse?
 
He does lunge...

As merlin was not going to be a success for showing how to get clippers near a clipper shy horse, he used him for a demo as how to lunge a horse with two reins instead of one
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He made a great deal of berating people who lunge with a single rein and showed how to do it with two...... though by this time merlin was so stressed out, he still put his head to the outside of the circle to see where he could escape to!!!

The inside side rein was so tight that it was pulling the bit through his mouth and still he turned to the outside!!!

I will try to post some footage to show you
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It was on the 14th october 2005 I think.... at merrist wood college
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I went to see Monty Roberts and was not impressed with any of the Demo. A bad Loader 17h. Chestnut thoroughbred about ten folks around after they had a boy working with it for half an hour pushing back and leading forward for about 4-6 paces (until horse was confused). Monty said he will load within 3 minitues but don't start counting until his all his 4 feet are on the trailer. He had about 6 people behind with them cage type things they put round building sites etc. they moved in with the wall horse had no choice. Or did he he reared up and came crashing down on the cages much to the owners dismay. Then he tried that lunging with tweo reins caught the polo pony's back leg in outer lung and pony went down. I wouldn't let him near my horse.

Also watched the programme where he caught a Mustang they ran it for 3 days and nights different riders on different horses (the poor thing was exhausted) them he puts a saddle on and rides this poor thing. I don't call that horsemanship.

Sorry for rant glass of red wine if you've got this far
 
Which demo was that, I took mine to the demo last October and have to say was really disappointed at the lack of attention paid to me as an owner. They loved T as he was a real show off and made Monty look very good but when I wanted to discuss T's antics MR was totally uninterested in talking to me.
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I cant download the video, but here are a couple of stills that show how scared he was.... and show the lunging.

I can honestly say that nothing was achieved, although Monty was the first to admit that merlin was beyond a 'quick fix'....

He was very scared and it took me hours to cool him off..... he was in a muck sweat and obviously no clip
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Also this was pre diagnosis of his fetlock problems...... it makes me cringe to think how much pressure was put on his poor joint going full tilt round that pen
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But then no one knew about it
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Entering the ring of fear!!
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Show me a horse that wouldnt think they were about to be shot!! Acutally they were using a hairdryer to get him used to the clippers..... he didnt even get used to the hairdryer!!

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Lunging pics!!
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Oh and now because he wouldnt canter.... he kept trotting faster and faster...... Monty takes charge of the plastic bag on a stick and starts to chase him...... at which point he leapt into canter and prompty crashed into the fence
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Good luck. Personally, I would never let a horse of mine be used in one of his demos, but then I have only watched the ones shown on Horse & Country TV and the horses look extremely stressed to say the least. I have been to Richard Maxwell's demos and been impressed with the calming influence he has on the horses in the demos. One was a terrible loader, but Max had her loading herself within minutes - calmly and confidently. Max doesn't use a round pen either btw. I hope your pony is ok.
 
I've seen MQ's video...............My advice is go without your pony tomorrow...........just say she won't load, they will never know!!!!!
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MQ will confirm, but I'm sure the bad loaders at the demo, who loaded during the demo, then wouldn't load after it...................so if you do go, don't make any plans for the after, you may end up stuck in the carpark for a couple of hours.
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Yep thats right...... they would not load to go home and had to be shoved up the ramp.....

also he only picked the easy ones..... the kickers etc were rejected..... as was merlin, he is dangerous when the clippers were on.

BUT he did say it was never going to happen in one night to be fair
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or is that a cop out???
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God, please don't class Monty Roberts in with Natural Horsemanship. Among the good natural horsemen he's often considered rather a figure of fun. If you read Horse Whispers and Lies you will probably find yourself questioning even the foundations for his training methods.
I would never let him and his team get their hands on a horse of mine, and the photos here demonstrate quite clearly why. I've seen Kelly Marks in action a couple of times as well, and all I can say is that she is truly a dedicated student of Monty's methods.
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I agree with the others, don't take your horse. It could end up really well, but if they mess it up then you could end up wishing you'd never subjected your horse to this pressurised approach.
 
I've just got to add to that. Look at that photo of the two blokes with the hairdryer. Look at their upright and confronting body language. Look at the force being used to keep the horse in place, wearing one of those Dually gadgets I expect? So there is a bit of rope squeezing down on his nose. What really annoys me is that if you get something like that wrong and then leave it with the horse scared, you stand a good chance of making a bad problem much worse. Have you managed to get clippers or similar noisy objects near him since? Do you have a personal view of whether or not he is worse about it now than when he went to the demo?
Every horse that is subjected to this sort of pressurised work, including those that go round the pen under pressure, should at least get checked over by the chiro when they get home. My other half is a chiro and has dealt with the results of this sort of "training", she can be "fairly" uncomplementary about it.
 
Im shocked
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, I always liked Monty Roberts although never used his methods, I thought of him as highly respected.
Why does a horse thats scared of clippers get chased round a pen with a plastic bag on a stick?????
 
My theory is because, unlike Parelli, they are not prepared to Take the Time it Takes. They are in a demo, they want to look good by doing something noteworthy with the horse, and then when they realise they are trying for too much - they keep going but try to push the horse on to compensate.
Building panels to load - for goodness sake!
 
I'm not a Monty Roberts fan, never seemed to really get to the point, or that could just be me lol

I used to be straight up 'traditional methods', although I hated the term 'breaking in' and the way we did things sometimes. Looking back I wish I'd been stronger, stuck with my gut instinct. I didn't get into the NH scene until I got my mare. When we got her home she was so head high and bargy just leading her round the yard was dangerous (nothing like the sweetie I'd been to see and fallen in love with). A friend, who was keen on Parelli, spent ten minutes with her with a control headcollar (not the extra bits and pieces one, just the very plain halter type - I was worried at first, I thought it wouldn't hold her). I then spent ten minutes doing what friend had done, and at the end of those twenty minutes I had a horse I could lead, stop, turn, and back up. Over time I learnt to understand how to 'talk' to my horse, and other horses in a way that they understod. I know that sounds a bit airy fairy, but now if a horse barges me, he rarely does it again and I don't have to use force. I know some people think Parelli is overpriced and overhere and it's all common sense, but for those of us who need it spelling out in words of one syllabul it works. We don't follow Parelli to its full extent, we tend to take what we need and what works for us and the situation at the time.

Sorry, this has gone on a bit. What I'm trying to say, and probably failing miserably as I've just had a two hour argument with a Word document and Word won, I feel that P offers help and guidance (I know, at a cost) and MR offers 'look at me'. Just my 'pinion.
 
i took my mare to a be used at a demo at duchy college in 2000 ( i think ) she was a headstrong alpha mare who i,d backed at 3 but i was never truly happy with her as she was dominant and although not bargy didnt really respect my space , and when she was asked to do anything new , ie canter , or walk past a new hazard she would totally throw her toys out of the pram and rear , buck , spin and occasionaly throw herself to the ground , i had got to the point of not asking her to do anything , particulary cantering because of her tantrums
monty transformed her , he used join up then he asked her to do her least fav thing which is reverse with a rider on , she totally faced up to him , reared right over him and basically said sod off monty, i don,t do backwards , he tapped her once under the belly wih his rope then stepped back and watched , she totally changed from that point , her head came down and she stood there contemplating , he asked her again to step back and she did , the rider then cantered her with no probs
thats was the end of the demo and i led her out , she walked quietly back to her stable , i then went back to watch the rest of demo and afterwards chatted to monty , it was 11pm by then and hes no spring chicken , he explained that i had a superstar on my hands , a quick minded talented , not for the faint hearted alpha mare , they are born that way and he told me i,d done a fantastic job with her and to carry on confidently with exactly what i was doing and to challenge her constantly with new things , he then gave me his private mobile and told me to use it if i had probs , which i never needed to , monty gave me confidence to get on that mare , realise why she behaved as she did and to deal with it calmly , i sold her two years later to the person that still has her and they event and show jump to a decent level
 
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