Monty’s method Monty is the real-life Californian Horse Whisperer who can train a mustang to accept a saddle and rider in ten minutes. na cold Tuesday night in September, 1000 people are gathering in a barn the size of an aircraft hangar. In the queve, there's a man covered in blue denim from Stetson to cowboy boots whose spurs rattle as he walks. He looks the part. They are all here to see Monty Roberts. Outside, one of the volunteers who is putting up signs says ‘In the horse world, he's a bit of a god." Monty Roberts is also gaining something of a reputation in the world of education as schools start to apply his techniques in the classroom, His theories, ‘on non-confrontational human relationships have been credited with turing round failing schools, Back in the barn, the warm-up music of classic western themes fades and the nights star attraction appears. A big bear of a man with a gentle smi, he acknowledges the applause and walks into the fenced pen at the centre of the arena. ‘Practically everybody here has read or heard something about me,’ he begins. ‘That's just the way itis today. But there won't be one horse who comes through that gate tonight that has read or heard anything about The first horse to enter the arena is 2 handsome ‘animal called Socks. Like a magician about to perform a trick, Monty asks Socks's owner if they have ever met. He needs to rule out any collusion because what follows is so magical as to beggar belief. But itis not a trick, Socks isa ‘starter’, meaning he has never been ridden. In fact, he has never had anything on his back. He is wild —in the top five per cent of untrained horses. Socks startsto run round the pen, fst one way then the ‘other, as Monty throws a line softly on to his back and bicks up sawdust and din, imitating a predator. After a couple of minutes, Socks realises he is notin danger and starts to chew and lick his lips, just as Monty said he would, Then he stops, and drops his head to the ground ‘And then the magicbegins. Monty stands sideways con and walks slowly towards Socks, avoiding eye contact. Then Socks turns towards him, and Monty seurries away. This snot the action of a predator, the horse thinks, The third time he does this, something incredible happens. Socks begins to follow Monty across the ring, his head almost resting on his shoulder. In eight minutes, wild horse and civilised ‘man have made friends, achieving what Monty calls Join-up’. He signals for his rider to bring @ saddle, and within ten minutes Socks is carrying a man on his, back around the ring. ‘Horses are stupid ~ that's what they said for 2000 years. Look at this young horse. Lookat him lear. Horses are 50 millon years old, and humans have been around for a much shorter period of time. Horses have been my teachers as much as | have been theirs. Monty Roberts has done this routine thousands of times. It second nature to him. Its the reason he's famous. But its not his raison d'étre, During the evening he will join up’ with five horses, gently curing them of habits of biting and bucking and refusing to go into boxes or through gates, without laying a finger on them except to pat their noses. But incredible though this is, itis only a sideshow. Monty's main concern these days is to apply his non-violent methods to human relationships, to revolutionise the way we communicate. "These are the most precious relationships,’ he says. "Every human being is more precious than all the horses Ihave worked with. Like horses, children are flight animals, meaning that when threatened they flee, except that our predatory ancestry means we put up with a lot more ill-treatment before we run, ‘Each of the animals that comes in that pen is just like a child,” says Monty. ‘They have the same needs. They want trust, they want to be able to trust, they want safety and some love. They don't want to be hurt.His philosophy is simple: positive actions reap Positive consequences; negative actions negative consequences. He encourages parents and children to draw up a series of contracts, verbal or written, and this gives even children as young as two a sense of responsibility. Children should never be rewarded for good behaviour with food or money, but allowed to go on an outing or do a favourite pastime instead. Breaking the contract means a task, but this should be something useful. It is important that the child decides on both the reward and the incur task and that both parties stick to the deal. ‘There's not a bad kid born,’ says Monty. ‘There's not a bad horse bom, Circumstances and life's environment are what make us either bad or good. And teachers have been the most important part of our sociological order since the beginning of time, because they represent what our future will be.’ Monty is a charismatic, articulate but modest man He describes his work as a mission to leave the world ‘a better place than he found it. In some places, in prisons and schools, thanks to him, it already is Adapted from article ‘Monty's method’, by Harvey McGavin, Times Educational Supplement, 21st September 2001.