03/08/2026
Last night I heard the sad news that Monty Roberts had passed away.
He was a man I never got to meet, yet he gave me permission to be with horses in a way no one ever had before or since I came across him.
At 22 years old, I had taken my horse Westie to a trainer with the plan to attend Nationals. At the time, I had a conversation with my horse trainer about how I wanted to ride and be in partnership with my horse. That this mare of mine needed conversation, not force. I was told flat out that wasn’t how it was done. I was laughed at, and being young, I wasn’t always the best advocate for my girl.
Not long after this, my girl passed away in my arms following a tragic series of events. She is the one that I hope sometimes pops in and sees what I’ve done, how I’ve grown, and what I have become, because of her.
Everything I’ve done since her loss began with Monty’s work.
My dad and I practised the techniques together; we learnt gentleness with horses together in new ways, he a horseman since his younger years, me a sensitive feeling-based kid who saw the world with different eyes and hands. Together we watched videos, read his books, and attended an in-person event with Monty.
When I told my dad last night, he replied with “Top of my list of heroes”.
Here are some of the things I’ve learnt, in horses, the horse world, and people alike.
We can teach anyone a skill or technique to be applied in horse training, or in any situation. But something I believe I understand of Monty’s work and the join up concept is that it was never training and was never a technique. It was always deeply rooted in conversation and building connection, relationship and rapport. It was showing a horse who you are, and an invitation to be seen, and to let the horse know you saw them; who and how they are.
I admit, I did not always understand this. But as I have become immersed in learning from my own teacher, I understand this with a depth; there are indeed so many layers to each move we learn.
This matters because many people took Monty’s work and applied it to many horses and failed.
What they forgot was the quality of the journey and inner growth and change of the person behind the application of the technique. It was not about join-up as a tool. I believe that was perhaps where it got misused.
When used to control, it is violence. Albeit this did show the horses exactly who you were!
I think one of my personal gifts in Monty’s work was a journey I got to walk with my dad and our horses together, a change in the man himself and the way I was given permission to be gentle, that my own deep sensitivity in life was special in my way of being with horses and never needed changing, it was an invitation for refinement, development and growth.
I hope that each horse felt that.
I at times rejected the work of Monty, a little like religion; I felt it was used as a weapon to get obedience, and that process hurt a great many.
However, I never forgot the most important things though, that a man I never met saw me, understood some of what I felt and experienced with horses myself, he named it in public spaces, opened the door for conversation and change. He gave me confidence to be proud of who I am with horses.
Monty, as you arrived back home, I dare say there were a great many horses awaiting you. Celebrating a wave of change you led in their world shared with humans. One where whips were dropped, old habits died, and gentleness filled spaces that allowed them to be seen.
Who you are behind what you do counts; techniques are something you learn in the beginning before they become an embodiment of you as you grow and deepen understanding; then they become attunement, intuitive, conversive and flowing. I think this is what join up was all along.
Vale Monty Roberts
14th May 1935 – 31st July 2026
You did great, kid.