August 28, 2018 Solvang, CA: Wallace the Dressage Mule! Wallace the Great!

These are but a few of the titles being lavished on Wallace the Mule these days. But Wallace was once homeless, wondering a village in Ireland. What is the story behind this great change of fate?

Wallace was brought to Monty’s demonstration in England as a seven year old with the story that he was found in a village in County Antrim, Northern Ireland then was taken to a local animal refuge, eventually living at The Donkey Sanctuary in Devon, England. Lesley Radcliffe, being a mule lover, adopted and took him home. Lesley brought Wallace to one of Monty’s demonstrations where he charmed Monty, who declared him very intelligent and ready to be ridden.

In 2014 Wallace appeared with Monty Roberts on Horse & Country TV. Introduced as smart and willing, Wallace willingly partnered with Monty, declaring to all that Join-Up® works on mules as well as horses.

Enter Christie Mclean to train Wallace, who seemed to take a liking to dressage. But when Christie tried to enter him in a British Dressage competition, she was told mules were not covered under the definition of ‘horse’ used by British Dressage and could not compete without a change of rules. British Dressage consulted with the FEI and updated their definition of ‘horse’ to match the FEI General Regulations:

‘Horse: Refers also to a pony or other member of the genus equus unless the context requires otherwise. A horse shall be born from a mare.’

Mules are indeed the product of a male donkey and a mare. Wallace and Christie performed for their first official British Dressage test at a competition scoring 67.6%, surpassing eight horses and gaining the winning ribbon. Wallace rose to international fame this summer after he became the first mule to be registered with British Dressage, and will be showing his moves at Monty’s demonstrations at Hartpury College in England on Friday, 19 October 2018 https://www.intelligenthorsemanshipshop.co.uk/collections/hartpury-college-19th-october-2018

Dressage legend Carl Hester supports Wallace The Great’s dressage career saying, “I started riding on a donkey so I’m glad British Dressage has taken this great opportunity.”

Monty Roberts also has an upcoming lesson series on the famous mule on www.MontyRobertsUniversity.com  It is indeed a great year for Wallace the Great Mule!

You can keep up with Wallace’s adventures on his Facebook page, Wallace the Great.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact: Debbie Loucks

Monty and Pat Roberts, Inc./Join-Up® International

(949) 632-1856

[email protected]

MONTY ROBERTS AVAILABLE FOR SELECT INTERVIEWS:
The New York Times bestselling author and world-renowned horse trainer Monty Roberts is available for interviews.

MONTY ROBERTS first gained widespread fame with the release of his New York Times Best Selling book, The Man Who Listens To Horses; a chronicle of his life and development of his non-violent horse training methods called Join-Up®. Monty grew up on a working horse farm as a firsthand witness to traditional, often violent methods of horse training and breaking the spirit with an abusive hand. Rejecting that, he went on to win nine world’s championships in the show ring. Today, Monty’s goal is to share his message that “Violence is never the answer.” Roberts has been encouraged by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II with the award of the Membership in The Royal Victorian Order, as well as becoming Patron of Join-Up International. Other honors received were the ASPCA “Founders” award and the MSPCA George T. Angell Humanitarian Award and FEI’s Man of the Year. Monty was recently included as Horse and Hound Magazine’s Top 50 Horsemen of All Time. Monty is credited with launching the first of its kind Equus Online University; an interactive online lesson site that is the definitive learning tool for violence-free training.

JOIN-UP philosophies can be seen at work with both humans and horses across the world, from farms to major corporations. To learn more about Monty Roberts or the many applications of his Join-Up training methods, visit www.montyroberts.com . Horse Sense and Soldiers aired on Discovery Military highlighting the therapeutic effect that horses and Monty Roberts’ Join-Up® have on PTSD. Roberts has teamed with The Corporate Learning Institute to help transfer the key learning’s from his work to the workplace.