By John Dolan
Special to USA Views
Monty Roberts, the celebrity horse trainer and best-selling author of the book “The Man Who Listens to Horses”, is being sued by two separate parties for fraud, animal abuse and bad business practices.
Those not familiar with the California-bred trainer should know that he has gained fame and fortune from his worldwide demonstrations in which he takes an allegedly unbroken horse and gentles it to bridle, saddle and rider in a mere 30 minutes. He says he has trained horses for the Queen of England and he has quite a following in Europe where people there are unaware or simply don’t care to know about the controversy that is brewing about this man here in the United States.
In addition to the lawsuits, the 63 year old Roberts has been facing more charges in the press by some in his own family. Aunt Joyce Renebome and her daughter Debbie Ristau have penned a book called “Horse Whispers and Lies” that is soon to be published in which they counter many of the stories in Mr. Roberts own book as being downright false. “Horse Whispers and Lies” was written with the blessing of Mr. Roberts’ own brother, Larry. Each of them say Monty Roberts has embellished and lied repeatedly in his autobiography in which he wrote of abuses by his father Marvin and told tales of his own prowess and achievements both in and out of the saddle.
Monty Roberts is being sued for threats, animal abuse and fraudulent business practices by the owners of Big Red Fox, a saddle horse that Mr. Roberts used in his capture of a mustang described in his book and shown in a British Broadcasting Co. video. The saddle horse suffered a broken leg as well as numerous other health problems while being in Roberts’ care during the filming. The second lawsuit involves a mustang that was left for training at Mr. Roberts farm (Flag is Up Farms) in Solvang, California for nearly six months that was in fact never trained and subsequently trampled its owner nearly to death. Roberts and his staff lied to the owners, saying they had trained the horse, but after the incident, they admitted that they had not trained the horse because as Monty himself stated “mustangs can’t be trained”.
Now, as opposing information about Monty Roberts, his life and business practices comes to light, Monty Roberts has taken to defending himself full-time. And, of course, he would, his very life – or at least his financial good health, depends upon it.
Monty Roberts has filed a ten million dollar lawsuit against “Horse & Rider” Magazine which printed a very interesting article about him in February 1999. Consequently, his website is now filled with 50 or more pages, defending himself against that article as well as accusations against him with regard to the film “The Horse Whisperer”. He had fashioned himself into the role model for the Tom Booker character and as a consultant for the book and film while all involved deny that Roberts had anything to do with either project. Roberts, meanwhile, has painted relatives: aunt, brother, cousin as vicious loonies out to discredit him.
It is interesting to note that Mr. Roberts’ defense comes at a time when his relatives’ book is about to be published. It is his way of quashing the competition as well as keeping his God-like image rust free. It is even more interesting to note that his web article on mustangs comes at a time when Monty is being sued by the owners of a mustang. Suddenly, Monty has a whole new perspective on the issue of mustangs – a very long one at that.
Monty Roberts has worked with horses, touted that they should be treated well and respected, has alerted other people to his good deeds all around. All well and good. What Monty fails to understand is that while everyone believes his message is an admirable one, it is the callousness with which he operates toward others, the hubris, the threats to bring people down that has turned people against him. All the people now opposed to Mr. Roberts were once his biggest supporters and fans. They did not do a sudden turn-around just for the hell of it. They did it because Mr. Roberts’ message took a dark turn itself. He abused their trust for the sake of his own glory. And that is where the biggest shame is.
A psychologist from Chicago named Jonathan Radcliffe has pinpointed Monty’s hold on people. It is a cult effect, he says, and Monty is the leader. “There are those people who need and want a father or God-like figure in their lives to lead them to the promised land. Monty’s story, as outlined in his book, depicts him as just such a person. His message is clear and worthy; his rhetoric is smooth, his look fresh and spirited. Lead on, Monty, and we shall follow.” But, Radcliffe continues, “Monty has betrayed certain people in his faction and now he must fight them tooth and nail otherwise they might turn the others against him and tumble the empire. So Monty has fashioned a furious campaign to destroy them first. It’s very Biblical in nature. We see it all the time.” Unfortunately, in our society, Radcliffe says, “might really is right rather than the other way around, and Monty will always have his supporters because people are often too eager to look the other way when their heroes are found to be unworthy of the pedestal that they’ve put them on. Besides, Monty, with all his money can turn his opposition into mincemeat and he knows it. That’s where the 10-million dollar lawsuit against that magazine and young lady author comes into play.”
Mr. Roberts fails to realize that the ends do not justify the means. And that’s why some people will always be against him and he will spend the rest of his life having to defending himself. (original post approx 1999)
Citizens For Justice: More Monty Roberts, Horse Trainer, Fraud Reports
Okay, so howw does this story end? Almost everything on here is at least two years old and it seems that most of it is an attack on somebody’s character… and if I disagree I “must be a fool.” Not a good foundation for an argument. I’m going to research what happened in the end; none of you seem to be up to date enough to enlighten me with facts. Thanks for sharing your opinions.
I don’t know whether you are “a fool” but it seems you aren’t someone UNwilling to accept the truth about MONTY ROBERTS AND HIS DESPICABLE LYING. I do suggest, however, that you not read other people’s blogs — which are other people’s OPINIONS, in addition to, as the case here, FACTS ABOUT MONTY ROBERTS — no matter how old the original posting. It is very clear that Monty has always had his cult supporters who want to hear nothing bad about the man. That’s probably why the book that was written against him by his own relatives and his own brother calling him a liar didn’t do so well — that and the fact that rich MONTY ROBERTS can afford great P.R.
I can’t believe these coments! I saw Monty at the State fair in Minneapolis several years ago…live. He was astounding. These claims don’t ever touch on what Mr. Roberts is…I saw with my own eyes. Time to stop reading and start real-life watching. That should tell (us) the truth.
If you go to CITIZENSFORJUSTICE.ORG you will see a whole slew of stories and comments related to MONTY ROBERTS. Many are comments by other people who have seen Monty and heard him making BACK ROOM DEALS on getting horses into his “show” — with the HORSES ALL HAVING ALREADY BEEN BROKEN, RIDDEN AND PARTIALLY TRAINED! Monty then goes on and tells everyone they’ve never had bridles or saddles on them. You’ve been scammed by him as many others before you.
The horses I have worked with, and especially my own horse, tell me that Monty’s methods work well. Not perfectly, no, as all horses are individuals so some need different methods or modifications of Monty’s methods (which he acknowledges). Whatever else Monty may or may not have done or said, the proof is in the pudding, and that is what matters most to me.
I’ve watched many of his videos, and he is a damned good horseman.
Putting a horse into a trainer’s care is always a matter of trust, and the best trainer in the world will sometimes have a horse get injured. Horses are very large and surprisingly fragile creatures, and injuries to both horses and riders occur with alarming frequency. My horse recently has developed arthritis. He also gave me a nasty toss just two days ago. Horse people expect and accept these things.
I will be interested to see how these suits play out in a court-of-law before making any judgement of Monty’s veracity. If it does turn out that he has lied, I will be extremely disappointed and saddened.
The lawsuits are old — as STATED clearly in the post file date at the END. However, you as others like you all miss the point. The man is a LIAR about his life and the things he said in his book and he stole his training methods from his own father while claiming that they are his alone. If you don’t care about the truth then that’s really too bad. As for the injuries – yes of course, there is risk in riding activities that could have been avoided if MONTY ROBERTS HAD NOT LIED ABOUT TRAINING THE HORSE IN THE FIRST PLACE!
This is really sad. I learned of Monty Roberts years ago when the son of a friend gave a rehearsal of book report for school. It was Monty’s book. I subsequently read it and adopted great admiration for the man and his work. Only recently when I heard of Buck Brannaman being referred to as “The Horse Whisperer” did I research the topic further. Just kinda shows you that ‘karma’ and ‘reaping what you sow’ eventually prevails.
By the way. Just came across another corroboration of the usaviews story showing that Monty Roberts is a FRAUD.
Author of The Horse Whisperer, Nicholas Evans in his own words has this to say about Monty’s claim that he was the inspiration for the main character in the book:
” Suddenly I realized I had the central character for my Western story and piece by piece the rest of it fell into place. I spent many weeks traveling across the West and met three amazing horsemen: Tom Dorrance, Ray Hunt and Buck Brannaman. Some of you may have read that someone called Monty Roberts was the model for Tom Booker, The Horse Whisperer in the book, and that he helped me with my research. It’s not true. met Mr Roberts once, briefly, in England but have never seen him with a horse or seen him since. He had no involvement whatsoever. ”
This quote was located at: http://www.nicholasevans.com/faq/faq.asp
Man, I don’t know how much clearer the guy could be. MONTY ROBERTS IS A LIAR. How dare he claim that he had anything to do with the book/movie The Horse Whisperer! Anyone who believes anything Monty Roberts says is a true fool.
Thanks for the info, usaviews. I found this NY TIMES article on the web which supports the story that Monty Roberts is a total fraud. Here goes….
Media Talk; California Couple Sue Horse-Savvy Author By NY Times
Published: Monday, August 31, 1998
http://www.nytimes.com/1998/08/31/business/media-talk-california-couple-sue-horse-savvy-author.html
The gushing publicity for the bestselling author Monty Roberts likens him to a compassionate ”real-life horse whisperer” who is a hybrid of gentle James Herriot and straight-talking John Wayne. But Mr. Roberts, a well-known horse trainer and author of ”The Man Who Listens to Horses,” is now facing a lawsuit filed by a wealthy California couple who say that their thoroughbred suffered a broken leg and improper treatment during a controversial experiment presided over by Mr. Roberts.
The suit grew out of a BBC documentary, which filmed Mr. Roberts last year as he demonstrated horse- gentling techniques on a wild mustang, which ultimately was allowed to choose between returning to the California desert of the Cuyama Valley or joining with tamed horses.
Charging fraud and negligence, Carolyn and Christopher Carradine — the brother of the actor Keith Carradine — say they boarded their horse, Big Red Fox, at Mr. Roberts’s 186-acre Solvang farm because of his humane training techniques. But they contend that Mr. Roberts used their horse initially in the wild mustang project without their permission. During the documentary’s second stage, the couple permitted their horse to participate, but they contend that Mr. Roberts unexpectedly released Big Red into the wild and offered only minimal care after the horse was found later with bruises, cuts and a broken leg.
”They’re outraged,” said Gerard P. Fox, a Los Angeles lawyer who filed the civil lawsuit for the Carradines in Santa Barbara Superior Court in April. ”They feel that their horse was used as a guinea pig, and Monty showed a very aggressive side. You’re talking about two very sophisticated individuals who felt they were being sold a bill of goods.”
The Carradines are seeking up to $100,000 for expenses like veterinary care, plus an unspecified amount in punitive damages.
Mr. Roberts, who earlier this year was honored for his humane treatment of horses by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, did not respond when messages were left seeking comments on the lawsuit.
His publicist, Diana DeRosa, said she was with Mr. Roberts during the BBC filming and witnessed his efforts to care for Big Red. ”He was extremely attentive and a vet was right there,” Ms. DeRosa said. ”It was the middle of the night and they ended up driving about a hundred miles to the closest vet because the owner wanted a second opinion. The vet was right there when it happened and he was not overly concerned. He took care of it and said this is not a bad wound.” –Doreen Carvajal –
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Monty Roberts is a specialist in public relations. He really knows how to promote himself. Note the amount of local press involved throughout his visit. I’ve seen the past lawsuits and I’ve spoken to the people involved, including his own family who wrote the book against him and produced facts and evidence supporting their claims. Monty Roberts lied and cheated his way to the top, and, in that respect, he is not to be admired … no matter how many charity events he engages in. Perhaps he is now trying to make up for all his past bad deeds (although, based on the number of bad deeds, it is doubtful he ever could).