Monty Roberts, the American horse whisperer is in Tamworth for a show tomorrow night. Photo: Kitty Hill
JAZZ, a Percheron cross mare is led out in the quiet morning air and a man named Monty greets her gently with a rub behind the ears.
She calms immediately but the American horseman sees a problem.
"She's not walking right," the 77 year-old says and with a few quiet words to the attendant, Monty Roberts adds another horse's problems to the many thousands he has fixed already.
With his trademark red neckerchief and brown Stetson, the man known as the horse whisperer is in town to show Tamworth horse owners the secret language behind years of equine history.
First of all, he dispels a myth.
"I don't whisper to horses," Roberts says.
The term "horse whisperer" dates back to nineteenth century Europe when an Irish horseman made a name for himself by rehabilitating horses that had become vicious due to years of abuse.
Monty smiles when the popular Nicholas Evans novel and movie of the same name are mentioned, saying that anyone who believes thats what horse whispering is about is mistaken.
"I'm forever grateful if they have elevated people's interest in what I do, but the fact is, it bears no resemblance," Roberts said.
"A good trainer can hear a horse speak to him. A great trainer can hear a horse whisper."
The horseman says that he communicates with his charges simply by using gestures, not a word needs to be spoken, or indeed whispered.
"It's very similar to sign language with the hearing impaired," said Roberts.
Monty began developing his "join-up" technique to communicate with horses through what he calls the "language of Equus.
"His techniques have often inspired controversy among the horse world, some of whom say his methods are incorrect.
Just this year a scientist from the University of Sydney cast doubt on Robert's methods of training, calling them "inhumane."
Monty said the proof is in the pudding and said that he is not bothered by claims, welcoming any nay-sayers to come and watch him in action.
"Hold your thoughts and keep watching."
Among his legions of fans worldwide, one cannot be argued with, and that is Queen Elizabeth II herself.
The horseman was invited to Windsor Castle in 1989 and has served as her royal highness's advisor on her beloved horses ever since, even leading the parade at this year's Diamond Jubilee celebrations.
In spite of such exalted connections, the down-to-earth Californian has not always led an easy life.
His first recollection of being around horses was his mother hiding him away in a feed manger to protect him against his abusive father in Salinas, California.
Roberts says he is still plagued by back injuries incurred when his father, enraged that the boy was talking to friends instead of digging a ditch, broke a shovel over his back and then beat him with the broken handle, almost severing his left ear.
"My back is destroyed and it was entirely from abuse," Roberts said.
"No horse broke my back, I can assure you."
The young boy competed in rodeos as young as four years old and by the age of 13, he was studying wild mustangs, a practice which led him to his naming the repetitive body language portrayed by the horses, "Equus."
"Horse's language is 50 million years old, and I'm just 77, it's a constant work in progress.
""There are no bad horses, just people who don't understand their language."
A story that he recalls as is that of Stanley, a stallion who Roberts described as like a "caged lion" when he first came across him in a small town in Ireland.
Roberts said the stallion had suffered at the hands of his previous owners and gotten his revenge by savaging a handler in front of a horrified crowd at the Dublin Horse Show.
"His face was rearranged and I believe he spent a lot of time in a wheelchair after that," Roberts said.
After that the stallion was left on his own in a stall, his owners too terrified to handle him or ride him.
"I mean people had to push the feed through his door," Roberts said.
Roberts met the stallion at one of his shows and found his audience swell from 150 people to over a thousand when the infamous horse was brought out.
"He was very well-known in that town and everyone came out to see what he would do," Roberts said.
"He came for me, ears back and mouth open. I had to slam the gate shut on him."
Roberts said that just half an hour later he had a saddle and rider on him, and the horse went on to compete at an Olympic level.
"You couldn't have put anybody in there with him at first. It was just an incredible transformation.
"These days Monty spends his life travelling around the world, with his teachings helping not just horses but students, troubled youth, ex-convicts, and most recently war veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome.
With wife Pat, he is a father to three, and a foster father to an amazing 47 children.
With such a hectic schedule he spends just fifty days a year back home in California, saying that the first thing he likes to do is ride down the paddocks on his American Quarterhorse Nice Chrome.
"I like to ride for pleasure just about every day when I'm home. It's the only way to ride."
Roberts has visited Tamworth twice already in the late 1990's but this is the first time he will bring his arena show with him, saying his training is not just confined to troubled horses, but their owners too.
"It's a show about life lessons, and developing a set of principles," Roberts said.
He will share the dirt stage with owners who have travelled from far and wide to meet him, but says it is the horses who need to be listened to.
"My life was saved by the horses," Roberts said."They taught me that violence is never the answer.
"Monty Roberts will put on his show at TRECC on September 1.