Monty Roberts

Marvin Earl "Monty" Roberts MVO was an American horse trainer, author, and educator whose Join-Up method and idea of an equine body language he called Equus helped popularize gentler alternatives to traditional "breaking" of horses. He was born on 14 May 1935 in Salinas, California, the son of horse trainer Marvin E. Roberts (author of the 1957 self-published Horse and Horseman Training) and a mother who taught riding. He won early rodeo trophies as a small child, worked as a child rider and Hollywood double (accounts include work associated with films such as National Velvet), and later rode for the California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo ("Cal Poly") rodeo team, winning National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association titles including NIRA Champion Team Roping (1956) and National NIRA Champion Bulldogger (1957). He graduated from Cal Poly in 1959 with a degree in animal science.

Roberts described a formative Nevada experience at about age 13, when he was sent to round up horses for the Salinas Rodeo Association's Wild Horse Race and began watching mustangs communicate through posture, ear position, and movement. From that observation he developed Join-Up, a round-pen conversation in which a handler uses predator-like pressure then invitational, passive body language so the horse may choose to approach and follow. He trademarked and taught Join-Up through live demonstrations worldwide, the Monty Roberts International Learning Center in Solvang, California, corporate and school consulting, and the Equus Online University. In 1966 he helped found Flag Is Up Farms (later associated with the California Horse Center) in the Santa Ynez Valley, where he was a leading consignor to the Hollywood Park Two-Year-Old Thoroughbreds in Training Sale (1973-1986) and later celebrated horses such as German-bred Sabiango.

An invitation arranged in 1989 through royal racing connections brought Roberts to Windsor to demonstrate for Queen Elizabeth II and the Queen Mother. Roberts later said the Queen Mother came down with tears after a session and that the Queen urged him to write about his methods and to take them around the world. The Man Who Listens to Horses (1996/1997 editions) spent about 58 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, was translated into more than 15 languages, and sold more than five million copies. Further books included Shy Boy: The Horse That Came in from the Wild (1999), Horse Sense for People (2001), From My Hands to Yours (2002), The Horses in My Life (2005), and Ask Monty (2007). Documentaries included the BBC/PBS Monty Roberts: The Real Horse Whisperer (featuring the mustang later known as Shy Boy), Shy Boy: The Horse That Came in from the Wild (1999), later Horse & Country / Backstage Pass series work, and Andrea Blaugrund Nevins's The Cowboy and the Queen (2023), about his decades-long friendship with the Queen. He returned for the Golden Jubilee (2002), was appointed an honorary Member of the Royal Victorian Order (MVO) in the 2011 Birthday Honours for services to Her Majesty's racing establishment, presented Join-Up awards with the Queen at Guards Polo Club in 2012, and was invited to her funeral in September 2022.

Roberts's public autobiography and childhood-abuse narrative were disputed by relatives, including younger brother Larry and aunt Joyce Renebome and cousin Debra Ristau, who answered in the 1999 book Horse Whispers & Lies. Critics also noted parallels between some of Marvin Roberts's published methods and Join-Up, and a 2000 domain dispute over montyroberts.org ended with a WIPO finding of abusive registration and transfer to Roberts. Traditionalists sometimes rejected his claims; students, royalty, and many professionals adopted or adapted trust-based approaches he promoted. He and wife Patricia ("Pat") Gail, married June 1956, raised three children (Debbie Roberts Loucks, Marty, and Laurel) and, according to industry tributes, fostered dozens of children (Your Horse and other profiles cite 47) at the California farm.

Monty Roberts died at his Solvang home / Flag Is Up Farms on 31 July 2026 at age 91, according to daughter Debbie Roberts Loucks's announcement and major U.S. and equestrian coverage; she told the New York Times the cause was complications from an autoimmune disease. Wikipedia and some references list 1 August 2026. He was predeceased in March 2026 by favorite mustang Shy Boy (age 33). Loucks pledged to continue the Learning Center and online university work. Survivors named in obituaries include wife Patricia and children Debbie, Marty, and Laurel, plus three grandchildren.