World-famous horse gentler Monty Roberts reveals the unique rapport he shares with one special horse: a wild mustang
In this beautifully illustrated book, Monty Roberts's be loved horse Shy Boy takes center stage. In a gripping, intimate narrative and in one hundred color photos, Monty Roberts relives their unique relationship, beginning with his first encounter with the wild horse in the high desert. During a dramatic three day ride across a hundred miles, Monty Roberts used all his skill to connect with the little mustang he finally befriended.
Throughout the year that followed, Shy Boy grew to love life on the farm, playfully demanding attention and becoming fascinated by children. During a year of challenges and one frightening illness, the wild horse earned the respect and admiration of his trainers--he had exceptional spirit. And, as his fame grew following the PBS-aired documentary that featured his initial three-day encounter with Monty Roberts, Shy Boy began to receive visitors from all over the world.
Yet throughout Shy Boy's year of fame, Monty Roberts was asked, "Would Shy Boy rather be free!" With trepidation, he took Shy Boy back to the wild to let him choose: Go with your herd, or stay with your gentler. What happened is so exciting and moving that it will surprise every reader.
And like Monty Roberts, readers will fall in love with Shy Boy.
Celebrated as "the real horse whisperer," Monty Roberts made his literary debut with The Man Who Listens to Horses--half autobiography, half introductory lesson to "Equus," or the language of horses. In Shy Boy, Roberts returns with the story of a wild mustang he captured and domesticated using his renowned, nonviolent training technique. Beginning with the stunning Cuyama Valley in California, where he tracked the young stallion Shy Boy for three days, and moving on to the horse's gradual acclimation to human contact, Roberts walks the reader through the slow, detailed process. In the course of this equine odyssey, he stitches in inspiring anecdotes, as in the case of Samantha, an ailing 12-year-old who used Monty's method: "She saved a horse from an untimely end in a slaughterhouse and spared herself further harm--and she had done it without ever raising a hand or even her voice." However, the real credit for this book should probably go to the photographer, Christopher Dydyk, whose 100 or so colorful glossies dominate the book's 236 pages, with dazzling shots of the ranch, the range, and Monty at work. With brilliant graphics and easy-to-read language, Shy Boy is ideal for a young horse lover. --Rebekah Warren
From Publishers Weekly
Not just for animal lovers, this delightful and deeply moving page-turner, a sequel to Roberts's bestselling The Man Who Listens to Horses, picks up the story of this California horse trainer's relationship with Shy Boy, a wild mustang whom he "gentled." By mimicking an equine body language that he believes is genetically ingrained in the memory of all horses, Roberts, as detailed in his earlier book, quickly and painlessly transformed Shy Boy from a free-roaming steed of the Nevada foothills into a trusting, cooperative and worthy mount. Roberts's nonviolent approach to acclimating horses to saddle, bridle and rider was highlighted in 1997 and 1998 in a PBS-aired BBC documentary, which led countless viewers to inquire: If given the chance to be free again, would Shy Boy take it and run? Here is the answer to that question: Roberts describes taking Shy Boy back to his original free-range herd. The mustang's choiceAafter an overnight rompAmakes for an unforgettable climax that will leave no dry eyes. Shy Boy, a mix of vigor, strength, innocence, ego and impish high spirits, will win readers' hearts, while Roberts's humane alternative to the harsh treatment of horses holds inspirational lessons about the abuse we inflict on animalsAand on our fellow humans. Dydyk's breathtaking color photographs capture the rugged majestic terrain while exploring, without sentimentality, the spirit of nobility and freedom that the horse represents in America's collective psyche. Plainspoken yet powerful, this remarkable story is one of those very rare books that can restore one's faith in humanity. Agent, Jane Turnbull. Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Monty Roberts, known as the "Man Who Listens to Horses" has led an extraordinary life. An award-winning trainer of championship horses, best-selling author, Hollywood stunt man, foster dad to 47 children (in addition to three of his own) and creator of the world-renowned and revolutionary equine training technique called Join~Up, Monty Roberts could now, in his later years, be resting on his laurels -- but that's not his style.
Roberts has won countless awards and received immense worldwide press coverage, put three books on the New York Times best-seller list, trained some of Queen Elizabeth II's equestrian team in London and been awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Zurich. But if you go looking for Monty Roberts, you won't find him lounging in his favorite chair high up in the hills overlooking his horse-training farm in the beautiful Santa Ynez Valley.
Monty Roberts, The "man who listens to horses" is more likely to be found somewhere on the globe continuing to spread his message of nonviolence. You're more likely to find him speaking to incarcerated youth in a juvenile detention facility, gentling his 15,000th horse at a demonstration, teaching his techniques to the growing number of students at his Equestrian Academy in Solvang, California or advising executives at Fortune 500 companies.
Why have millions of people from all walks of life responded to his PBS television shows, books, demonstrations, and media appearances with such passion? What makes Monty's message so compelling that everyone from the C.I.A. to Volkswagen invite this cowboy to share his experiences with their executives and leaders?
Perhaps it comes from the undeniable power of personal experience, of having witnessed too many horses "broken" in using violent, traditional methods. Perhaps it's having experienced an abusive childhood himself.
Monty often expresses that his goal in life is to leave the world a better place for horses and for people. With energy and enthusiasm, he gets up every morning, most often in a hotel in some town far away from his home, his horses, his staff and his farm, to keep talking . . . and listening.
Monty first learned to listen to horses while observing wild mustangs in Nevada at the age of thirteen. Sent there to round up horses for the Salinas Rodeo Association's Wild Horse Race, he spent hours silently watching the feral horses interact with each other. Soon he realized that they used a discernible, effective and predictable body language to communicate, set boundaries, show fear and express annoyance, relaxation or affection. In a moment that would change his life and the lives of horses and people forever, Roberts understood that utilizing this silent language would allow training to commence in a much more effective and humane manner, encouraging true partnership between horses and humans. Later, he would name this moment of partnership "Join~Up," and it would become the foundation of all his work with horses and people.
After this revelatory moment with the wild horses, Roberts returned home to his family's riding school at the Salinas Rodeo Grounds in Salinas, California. There, he had grown up watching his father "break" horses using traditional methods involving pain, control, fear and coercion. Testing his new insights into the nature of horses, Monty tried out some of his new ideas and was promptly punished for challenging his father's traditional methods.
Monty remained undeterred from his vision and later became a champion Western horseman. Hollywood hired him as a "stand in" rider and stunt double for stars such as Elizabeth Taylor in National Velvet and many other films. He even worked with James Dean during the pre-production and filming of the acclaimed movie East of Eden.
Monty knew that his future lay in working with horses, and he commenced an incredible career in Thoroughbred racing. Throughout the years he worked with many champions (including the famed "Alleged") and opened a training facility, Flag Is Up Farms, on 154 acres in the Santa Ynez Valley in 1966. He and his wife, Pat, enjoyed immense success training Thoroughbreds, becoming the leading consignor of two-year-olds-in-training at the Hollywood Park Racetrack for 18 years. Even today, the walls of Monty and Pat's offices are covered with artwork, newspaper clippings and other memorabilia from their years on the track.
As the couple raised their own family of three, over the years Pat and Monty also took in 47 foster children. Many of them still return to Flag Is Up Farms for visits, and credit Pat and Monty with helping to turn their lives around. Today, Pat and daughter Debbie (with her husband, Tom Loucks) run the multi-dimensional and international family business from offices on Flag Is Up Farms.
By the 1980s, the Roberts and their extended clan were living their lives on the farm, happily collecting accolades for their work with racehorses. Then a phone call came that once again changed the direction of Monty's life forever.
The call was from the offices of Queen Elizabeth II, the reigning monarch of England and an avid horsewoman. She had heard about Roberts' work and invited him to come to her country and show her staff his Join~Up(R) method. The Queen was so impressed by his demonstration she urged him to write a book. That book became "The Man Who Listens to Horses".
Published in 1996, "The Man Who Listens to Horses" became a full-blown phenomenon. The book went on to sell nearly 5 million copies. Suddenly, Roberts and his training methods had skyrocketed into the limelight. The phone lines were jammed at the farm and the media was clamoring to get an interview; but more importantly, hundreds of thousands of horse lovers heard the message that there was another way.
The PBS and BBC television networks aired documentaries about his work, four more books were published and became best sellers, and countries throughout the world translated these materials, sharing his message that violence is never the answer. Over the past several years, Monty has toured the United States and has raised over $1.6 million for horse-related charities, including 4-H and therapeutic riding organizations.
Monty still demonstrates Join~Up(R) across the globe. His fourth book "From My Hands to Yours: Lessons from a Lifetime of Training Championship Horses," is a textbook format of his Join-Up training principles. His academy, the Monty Roberts Equestrian Academy, located at Flag Is Up Farms, trained more than 140 students last year using his non-violent methods. MREA is run by the nonprofit organization, Join~Up(R) International, Inc. which has set out to ensure that Join-Up principles will be available for generations to come.
Monty never forgets the lessons he learns from the horses. In his fifth book, Monty recounts the stories of his best loved horses, chosen from the tens of thousands he has worked with throughout his lifetime. The Horses in My Life is a celebration of the horses he has learned the most from, as well as those that have impressed themselves most indelibly on his memory and in his heart.
Today, Monty remains steadfast to his goal; "to leave the world a better place than I found it, for horses and for people, too."
In this book, noted California "horse whisperer" Monty Roberts chronicles how he uses his "Join Up" method of horse gentling on a mustang in the wild. Roberts relates how he began studying communication among horses as a young boy and eventually used that information to begin working with the animals. Roberts, along with photographer Christopher Dydyk, creates a beautiful chronicle of how the horse he calls Shy Boy comes to trust people and become a valuable part of ranch life. The climax of the story is when Roberts releases Shy Boy to the free-range herd where the horse had been living, to see how well the "Join Up" method has worked ... and Shy Boy comes home. This is a beautiful book for anyone who loves horses and believes that gentleness and understanding are the key to relating to both animals and humans.
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I recommend that you read Monty Roberts "The Man Who Listens to Horses" whether you read it before or after "Shy Boy..." Having read Monty's earlier book first the story of Shy Boy meant so much more to me. To read that, at the age of 62 with a bad back and not-so-young anymore, Monty relived one of the best times of his life gentling a wild Mustang as he did as a kid, but for a BBC Documentary as well. The gentling and training went better than he expected and he created a friendly and willing partner out of a wild horse. Not only that, the BBC special and the book continues to change the lives of many people and horses around the world as Monty's way of working with horses becomes known and accepted. The book itself contains spectacular photography of Monty, Shy Boy, other horses, and the beautiful country filmed in the BBC special. It is a heartwarming and inspiring story to say the least.
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Shy Boy is a book about a horse that was brought in from the wild by means of join-up, a way of communicating with wild horses using there own body language. The author explains about how to communicate with horses using their own language which he calls equis. I highly recommend this book if you would like to learn more about horses in their own "home field", or if you like a good story. It made me sorry to finish it. Truly I believe anyone who has even the slightest interest in horses should strongly consider this book. It is an inspirational book for horsemen and women of all ages. The pages are full of beautiful pictures of the mustangs in their own home. Please read this book next time you get a chance. It is definitely worth reading.
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