The death of Queen Elizabeth II, September 8, 2022, encouraged me to collectivize my thoughts on my life. Born in 1935, I was the son of a father who believed violence was the answer to raising a child. The CAT Scan and the MRI in 1981 revealed a massive number of fractures which were identified as happening prior to the age of puberty.

While there was much violence in my life, I was fortunate to grow up in the presence of horses. There was no question in my mind that I was to be a competition rider of these wonderful animals and I was further fortunate enough to win 11 world championships from their backs.

A grammar schoolteacher knew my father and encouraged me to stop blaming him and to simply go forward with the goals of my life in a non-violent fashion. Sister Agnes Patricia, a Notre Dame nun, encouraged me to get the best education possible. She suggested that my major should be ‘behavioral sciences’ for which I now have two doctorates.

At the age of four, I won my first competition and was contracted to become a stunt child because at that time three out of five movies included a horse and a child. I grew to love my horses and I struck a horse for the last time in 1949. It was at the insistence of my father but never to be a training method after that incident.

As a teenager my work included time with American Mustangs, and it was those fragile flight animals that I discovered they could communicate with me, and I could communicate with them. The horses, along with wild deer, trained me to use this language and refrain from any violence in the training process. These concepts established my goals for life.

In 1965 a wealthy individual who came to California from New York decided that I should move my equine work to the world of Thoroughbred racing. I had completed my first university work in PTSD for returning Korean veterans. My racehorses took up these principles and earned dozens of championships in that discipline.

My wife, Patricia (Pat) helped immensely to raise our family, accept foster children, and assisted me with the design and operation of the Thoroughbred farm for more than 50 years. It was on that farm that an open house caused two articles to be published in US magazines. These articles explored my work of training racehorses in the absence of violence.

It was divine intervention that caused these articles to end up on the desk of Queen Elizabeth II, whom, along with me, believed that horses could be trained in the absence of violence. I had already made inroads in South America and in 2005, my daughter and I visited Shelbyville, Tennessee which was the home of Tennessee Walking horse.

Marty Irby was the manager of a massive Tennessee Walking horse operation there. He saw my work and brought an end of his acceptance of violence in the world of the Tennessee Walking horse. Marty moved to Washington, D.C. to influence legislation removing the violence from these wonderful horses and broadened his spectrum to include all disciplines.

Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II read the two articles and dispatched horse manager, Sir John Miller, to travel to California and view the non-violent work, I was responsible for. Sir John came to us and saw my training with untrained Thoroughbreds to report back to Her Majesty. A date was set, and Pat and I were to travel.

When we arrived at Windsor Castle there were 23 untrained horses waiting for us in the fields immediately in front of the Queen’s windows. I was admonished not to go near the horses and, Pat and I were to go with Sir John Miller to his home near Oxford. All of this was on Saturday afternoon and training was to start on Monday morning.

Read more: Tribute To Queen Elizabeth II by Monty Roberts

We present this article as we remember the history of Queen Elizabeth II and her love of horses. This article was originally published on MontyRoberts.com and is published here with permission.

August 31, 2020: For only the second occasion in history that the British Crown has awarded certificates for influential equine protection work, this recognition follows the acknowledgment of eight horsemen and women the Queen recognized in 2012. The Royal Family had planned to recognize this additional group in-person at Buckingham Palace, but the gathering and in-person presentation were postponed to a later date due to world events surrounding COVID-19.

Monty Roberts, founder of Join-Up® International and world renowned horse trainer, enlisted his Legacy Strategist, daughter Debbie Roberts Loucks to assist him with naming a stellar group of individuals who have worked tirelessly to learn and carry on the gentle and effective concepts that Queen Elizabeth witnessed in 1989 when Roberts demonstrated Join-Up and the introduction of the first saddle and rider to a young filly owned by the Queen’s mother.

Recognizing the value of Join-Up, Queen Elizabeth encouraged Roberts to demonstrate and train more horsepersons in these methods, setting him on a life’s mission that continues today, ‘to leave the world a better place for horses and for people, too’.

The recipients are:

Andreas Jacobs

for his extraordinary efforts to reduce violence in the training of horses by adopting Monty Roberts’ concepts and initiatives

Ann Marie Marek

for her extraordinary efforts to assist veterans and first responders with post-traumatic stress through Monty Roberts’ concepts and initiatives

Read more: Queen Elizabeth II Honors 17 Trainers and Animal Advocates for Their Efforts to Reduce Violence in...

Data from recent years indicates that more people than ever are playing video games these days. According to USA Today, about 227 million Americans were playing video games as of the middle of 2021. That’s about two-thirds of people in the U.S., with many seeking out games specifically for stress relief and escapism amidst the pandemic.

With that many people now involved in gaming, we’re betting that a lot of people from the equestrian world have made the leap as well –– and that many are likely seeking out games that tap into their horse-related interests. So, to support this fun little hobby, we thought we’d take a look at some of the best and most convenient horse-related video games you can play right at your computer.

My Riding Stables: Life With Horses

If you’re passionate about horse care in a broad sense, and you want a game through which you can simulate it, My Riding Stables: Life With Horses is the title for you. Available on major consoles now for a few years, the game can also be accessed via Steam online and played right in your browser window. And once you’re in, you’ll be tasked with running a stud farm –– raising horses, training them to ride, and setting up a sort of stables-slash-school. Plus, as a review at Go Nintendo points out, there are some extras enjoy –– like horse races and mini games (such as hoof cleaning and massage).

Read more: The Best Horse-Related Games To Play On Your Computer

by Marion Altieri

CAPTAIN is a wonderful social services organization that serves many good people in Saratoga County, New York, every year. Their main fund-raiser is an annual Gala, which we on the Committee dubbed, An Unbridled Affair because the Gala happened every Summer during the Saratoga (Thoroughbred) race meet. In 2014, I was still on the Committee, and suggested that we honor Mucho Macho Man and Wise Dan, two of the sport’s biggest equine stars. Both equines are millionaire rock stars, with thousands of devoted fans. No doubt, many of those fans would be thrilled to attend the Gala, and schmooze with the horses’ human connections.

Of course we’d invited all the connections of both Horses. Patti and Dean Reeves, Mucho Macho Man’s Owners, were so gracious. (They attended: came early, stayed for the whole shebang and tore up the dance floor. The Reeves own Reeves Young, a major Georgia construction company. That’s their business, but their horses are their shared passion.)

Moton Fink a Chicago-area businessman, was a savvy investor—but his most rewarding moves came when he began his career as a Thoroughbred breeder and owner. Introduced to the sport when he was young, he found his greatest joys in the barns and at the track rails at the beloved Arlington Park. Mr. Fink was so delighted about our plan to fête his Champion that he bought an entire table for his crew. He told Trainer, Charles LoPresti and his team, so they’d know to wear their best-bibs-and-tuckers. (God bless him, Mr. Fink gave our regional social services organization the same support he’d given the Eclipse Awards’ planners.)

We’d mailed invitations to Mr. Fink and to Mr. LoPresti at the only address we had for them. Time went by, and two days before the Gala, we’d still not received any RSVPs from Wise Dan’s people who were in Saratoga. (We surmised that, since Mr. Fink had bought a table, doing the formal RSVP wasn’t necessary. Not an unreasonable assumption, but we needed to know things, like meal choices – any vegans in the crowd? – etc.)

Read more: Wise Dan: Hall of Famer Made by Love, Built for Speed

By Chad Oldfather

Ada was born in Minneapolis, but we moved to Oklahoma City when she was nearly two so that I could begin a career as a law school professor. Her twin sisters Audrey and Laura arrived not long after, and I often describe the change in terms of a hockey analogy: Lea and I went from being on the power play to being shorthanded. It was a busy time.

So, it’s no surprise that we can’t pin down the precise moment when Fate put us on the path to the barn. Was it the time, when we still lived in the Twin Cities, that we’d gone to the Wisconsin State Fair and walked through the horse barn? We paused to look in a few of the stalls, me lifting Ada high enough for her to see, getting her close but remaining mindful of the signs asking us not to touch the horses. Something about that moment led me, for the first time in my life, to pause to appreciate the majesty of these animals, and even to remark on it to Lea. I’m not generally one to get mystical, but it was a remarkable coincidence…if that’s what it was.

Read more: How Horse-Crazy Was Born - an Excerpt from "A Man Walks Into a Barn"