A Dream Come True: Hosting the first Monty Roberts course in Asia

Last week something very special happened. For the first time ever, a Natural Horsemanship course in the Monty Roberts’ methods was help in Gurgaon, India. Not only is this the first time such an event is help in India, it also the first such event in the whole of Asia. 

While it might not seem like much, it is in fact very symbolic of changing times. There has been tremendous progress in the “western” world (mainly in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Europe) to develop and implement training methods that are non-violent to horses. These methods are taking hold because people care more and more about the well-being of their horses but more importantly because horses perform much better when their are happy. (Don’t we all!). 

In Asia the process has been slower. In countries like China horse riding is only a nascent industry targeting the wealthy. In India, on the other hand, horses have been an integral part of the culture for hundreds - dare I say thousands - of years. Whereas this means a very rich horse culture, the downside is that traditional methods have also been passed down and now form the bulk of how people train and deal with their horses. It is also an industry dominated by men with usually a royal, rural or wealthy background or all of them combined. 

But changes happens one step at a time and this is exactly what is happening. 

The energy and belief of the few who are open to learning new methods, or developing what they have already been working on, in a gentle and non-violent frame of mind is an indication of things to come. 

Denise, the head instructor of the Monty Roberts Learning Centre in California, along with Manjeev have been going around equestrian facilities, ranging from rescue centres to stud farms and riding clubs to share these ideas and train new people in these methods. 

This might be a drop in the ocean, but drop after drop can make a dent in a stone.