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4/26/06: I regularly do groundwork with my horse. Can I, when he is working cooperatively, give him some small rewards (food or horse candy) during training, or does the horse have to wait until the training ends for this kind of reward?

4/19/06: You work mostly on horse problems such as biting, kicking or refusing to go into the trailer. Do you think your methods could make top-horses even more successful, get dressage horses more concentrated in the arena or make show jumpers show more spirit in the course? Have you ever been successful in working with top sport dressage or show jumping horses?

4/12/06: Do you have any advice for equine veterinarians to make their jobs safer and easier besides using drugs/sedatives to control behavior?

4/5/06: I recently acquired a 6 year old mustang mare. I was told she trailered well but she walked right up to the trailer and stopped. She didn't act scared but when we tried again she went right up, stopped, and sat with her rump right on the ground. We chuckled about it and after a few seconds she snorted, got up and walked right in. She does this every time. While this doesn't hurt her, it would be nice if she would walk in without sitting first. Any suggestions would be helpful. I do not know much about her past; she's a rescue.

Answers to April 2006 Ask Monty Questions

Answer: If this kind of reward is to be offered by human hand, then he should wait throughout eternity. Feeding the horse from the hand is the third worse piece of horsemanship on earth. Horses do not regard food from the hand as reward, but connect food to the human body and thus are trained to bite.

In my book From My Hands to Yours: Lessons From a Lifetime of Training Championship Horses, there is a chapter on dealing with horses that bite. Much of it is devoted to my belief that it is wrong to feed horses from the hand. It explains that horses do not have to stalk their food so they do not consider it a reward. Your horse will be much better behaved if you do not feed from your hand. Read up on better ways to congratulate your horse.

Question: You work mostly on horse problems such as biting, kicking or refusing to go into the trailer. Do you think your methods could make top-horses even more successful, get dressage horses more concentrated in the arena or make show jumpers show more spirit in the course? Have you ever been successful in working with top sport dressage or show jumping horses?

Answer: When you create a partnership with your horse, causing the horse to do his work because he wants to and not because he is forced to, then you improve the performance of that horse no matter what the discipline is.

I have worked with dressage horses for both Camilla du Pont and Charlotte Braedahl. Charlotte was a bronze medal winner in Barcelona, used my methods and has a horse in training with me at the moment. My most recent book, The Horses in My Life has within it two jumpers of the 52 included. Napur, now deceased, was one of the world's best show jumpers for several years. He was shown by Hap Hansen and Will Simpson, both in the United States and Europe. Rough Frolic led the United States for several years as a hunter and was one of the most successful in that division. These are not the only two in these two divisions that I worked with, but they are the most important.

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Question: Do you have any advice for equine veterinarians to make their jobs safer and easier besides using drugs/sedatives to control behavior?

Answer: As I travel the world, the question about veterinarians handling horses comes up with regularity. I often speak at Universities with veterinarian courses and obviously I deal with equine veterinarians on a regular basis. Be it the work of a veterinarian or a farrier, actions of these professionals impact the behavior of horses.

Veterinary and Farrier schools can only educate applicants from today’s population. With that in mind we must realize that fewer and fewer of our young people are raised in a rural environment. While there are some top-notch young people coming online, city-reared youngsters make up the majority of those seeking to learn these skills. That being the case, all horse owners must realize that we have an obligation to assist these professionals, where ever we can, while working on the horses we are responsible for.

I recommend that horse owners pick the best professionals they can find and, when ever possible, plan to be present during visits from these providers of the services in question. Young veterinarians and farriers spend less and less time during the course of their education with live horses. It is very difficult for these schools to provide the time and the animals necessary to implement what I consider to be an appropriate allotment of hands-on training.

Under these conditions I feel that it is imperative that horsemen accept the responsibility for providing the farriers and veterinarians the information they require to execute their work in a manner acceptable to the owner. I often recommend that owners study my concepts with the serious intent of becoming proficient working with their animals in the absence of violence. I often recommend that they loan to their professionals the materials they have used during the process of their education. Videos, DVDs, my weekly Question and Answer and books are the primary sources of information required. Should there be a reluctance to accept a non-violent approach, there should be a change of professionals. There is no value in confrontation with your horse or your professional. One’s actions should be with an attitude of cooperation. There should be discussions about the intent to become more competent both as owners and professional service providers. Many of our young professionals desire these opportunities rather than resist them.

-Monty

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Question: I recently acquired a 6 year old mustang mare. I was told she trailered well but she walked right up to the trailer and stopped. She didn't act scared but when we tried again she went right up, stopped, and sat with her rump right on the ground. We chuckled about it and after a few seconds she snorted, got up and walked right in. She does this every time. While this doesn't hurt her, it would be nice if she would walk in without sitting first. Any suggestions would be helpful. I do not know much about her past; she's a rescue.

Answer: Its sounds as though you could have a very funny act on your hands here. Apparently your mare has figured out how to control the situation. I would school your mare to respect the Dually Halter. Once this is accomplished, she will choose to load without sitting down.

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