Whispering Back Read online

  Table of Contents

  Cover

  Copyright

  Praise for Whispering Back

  Reader Reviews

  Dedication

  Contents

  Acknowledgements

  Note

  Introduction: By Monty Roberts

  Whispering Back

  Chapter One: Rupert Meets the Luckiest Man in the World

  Chapter Two: Nicole Falls in Love

  Chapter Three: Starting Sensi

  Chapter Four: When the Student is Ready, the Teacher Will Appear

  Chapter Five: Adam Joins Up

  Chapter Six: More Teachers Appear

  Chapter Seven: Student at Work

  Chapter Eight: Misty

  Chapter Nine: Taking the Plunge

  Chapter Ten: On the Road with Monty

  Chapter Eleven: Long Street to Moor Wood

  Chapter Twelve: New Beginnings

  Chapter Thirteen: Always Know the Direction of True North

  Chapter Fourteen: Riding Doctors

  Chapter Fifteen: Getting on

  Chapter Sixteen: A Noble Visitor

  Chapter Seventeen: Amber

  Chapter Eighteen: Flying High

  Chapter Nineteen: Back to the Sky

  Epilogue

  Useful Addresses

  This eBook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

  Epub ISBN: 9781407072517

  Version 1.0

  www.randomhouse.co.uk

  First published in the UK in 2003

  This edition published in 2004

  Text and photography © Nicole Golding and Adam Goodfellow 2003

  5 7 9 10 8 6

  Nicole Golding and Adam Goodfellow have asserted their right to be identified as authors of this work under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission from the copyright owners

  Ebury Press

  Random House, 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road, London SW1V 2SA

  Random House Australia Pty Limited

  20 Alfred Street, Milsons Point, Sydney, New South Wales 2061, Australia

  Random House New Zealand Limited

  18 Poland Road, Glenfield, Auckland 10, New Zealand

  Random House (Pty) Limited

  Endulini, 5A Jubilee Road, Parktown 2193, South Africa

  The Random House Group Limited Reg. No. 954009

  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

  ISBN 9780091895440

  Jacket design by Two Associates

  Interior by seagulls

  Printed and bound in Great Britain by

  Cox & Wyman Ltd, Reading, Berkshire

  Papers used by Ebury Press are natural, recyclable products made from wood grown in sustainable forests.

  PRAISE FOR WHISPERING BACK

  ‘Adam and Nicole remind us of the fundamental reason for being involved with horses – because we are in awe of their magnificent nature and are drawn to form a partnership with such a creature. Their willingness to learn and experiment whilst they are on this journey is an inspiration, and their humanity and courage shines through. You may learn a lot about horses reading this book, but you will also learn about persistence and a clear intention, valuable lessons, whatever your life’s journey may be.’

  Tina Sederholm, author of Words of a Horseman:

  The Life and Teaching of Lars Sederholm

  ‘This book is the chronicle of a journey into knowledge. Their teachers are Monty Roberts, Kelly Marks, and Mary Wanless. They are pledged to improve the lives of traumatised equines. In the course of their journey they find self-awareness, recognizing weaknesses and strengths in them, which belong to us all. We have all pretended to understand something and that pretence has covered up potentially dangerous ignorance. With humility they note: “some horses never have a fair chance to do anything right enough to avoid being punished.” This is no wishy-washy, idealistic sugar-food, but the strong story of two intelligent and committed young people. It kept me awake all night.’

  Bula Brazil, British Dressage magazine

  ‘I think I may be suffering from an overload of Christmas sentimentality, because the first two chapters of your book made me cry twice – firstly for old Rupert overcoming his life-long fear, and then for Nicole fulfilling her life-long desire. Both of you write so beautifully, and with such honesty and feeling, that I’m sure it’ll be a book to tie knots in many horse owners’ heartstrings, as well as educating us with much-needed insight.’

  Fiona Walker, author of Kiss Chase and French Connection

  ‘This book tells their amazing success story, which is full of larger than life characters and eccentric tales. Great reading!’

  Horse and Rider magazine

  READER REVIEWS

  ‘I started reading your book on the train home last night. Can’t remember reading so avidly and with utter concentration for a long time. Looks like the book will be a huge success. Can’t wait to read it now.’

  Jeremy Smith

  ‘I hugely enjoyed reading your book. It made me laugh out loud or cry several times. It goes without saying that I couldn’t put it down!’

  Jo Clark

  ‘There comes across a potent mixture of very hard, tough, gritty, unrelenting work, and battling with the elements and an almost unworldly sense of faith, love and sense of justice to horses, which seems to make it possible to pursue such a physically and emotionally demanding vocation.’

  Dr Ciara O’Sullivan

  ‘I have just finished reading your book and just wanted to say thank you for writing it. I enjoyed it so much. I have been feeling in need of some inspiration of late and reading Whispering Back has certainly given me some!’

  Nikki Woods

  This book is dedicated to the memory of our fathers:

  Robert John Golding (1936–1999)

  Mark Aubrey Goodfellow (1931–1999)

  Contents

  Introduction by Monty Roberts

  One Rupert Meets the Luckiest Man in the World

  Two Nicole Falls in Love

  Three Starting Sensi

  Four When the Student is Ready, the Teacher Will Appear

  Five Adam Joins Up

  Six More Teachers Appear

  Seven Student at Work

  Eight Misty

  Nine Taking the Plunge

  Ten On the Road with Monty

  Eleven Long Street to Moor Wood

  Twelve New Beginnings

  Thirteen Always Know the Direction of True North

  Fourteen Riding Doctors

  Fifteen Getting On

  Sixteen A Noble Visitor

  Seventeen Amber

  Eighteen Flying High

  Nineteen Back to the Sky

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgements

  This book might never have been written without the help, advice, and encouragement of our friend Matthew Parker. In addition, we would like to thank Thomas Wilson at Ebury Press and Rachel Leyshon for their editing expertise.

  Many friends helped us to edit and compose the book, especially Annabelle Harling, Maggie McDonnell, and Jeannine
Golding. Our thanks also to Julia Scholes, Andrew Golding, Laura and Veronica Deacon, Elizabeth Reynolds and Mark Rashid for their suggestions, and to Guy and Adele Nevill for giving us the use of their bolt-hole. Diana Maclean deserves much credit for her patient photography, and also Paul Thompson for so much help and so many pictures.

  There are many people who have helped us along the way, including Linda Ruffle, Lorraine Fidler, Richard Searight, Meg Jackson, Dido Fisher and Henry Robinson. We are indebted especially to Jo Lindsey and many of our helpers and working pupils, particularly Helen Whittaker, Kate Reece, Brian Mortenses, Lisa Mygind, Carrie Milton and Ella Wall, who enabled us to concentrate on writing while they looked after the yard. Thanks also to SCSI – Andy Hughes, Simon Messenger, Huw Parry and Tim Hills, who work tirelessly to desensitise the horses.

  For their never-ending support and encouragement, we owe our mothers, Lynn and Jeannine, undying gratitude. Without the generosity of Derek Partridge, we might never have been anything more than a one-horse family.

  Finally, we would like to thank all of our teachers, especially Mary Wanless, Kelly Marks and Monty Roberts, without whom we wouldn’t have a story to tell. In particular, Kelly’s support, inspiration, encouragement and belief have helped us achieve things we would have never thought possible.

  Nicole Golding & Adam Goodfellow

  December 2002

  Note

  Monty Roberts®, Join-Up® and DuallyTM are service marks, trademarks, and/or trade dress of Monty and Pat Roberts, Inc.

  All events described in this book are true, to the best of our recollection. Some names have been changed.

  Introduction

  BY MONTY ROBERTS

  I first met Nicole Golding and Adam Goodfellow in 1996, at a time when my life was changing rapidly. Having worked with horses since I was a child, I was now embarking on a new career, with the launch of my first book, The Man Who Listens to Horses. For me, years of frustration and rejection were about to be turned around to an extent that I could not have even dreamed of. When I had first discovered join-up, as a young boy up in the big country in Nevada, I knew I had found a way to train and communicate with horses that could revolutionise the way horses are treated. But the reaction of my father and others made me hide this discovery for decades, and I did not even show my methods outside my own operation for many years. I would never have guessed that it was to be in England that my methods would be accepted and adopted first, not so much by established trainers, but by ordinary people such as Nicole, a talented amateur with an unbridled passion for horses and an instinctive mistrust of the violence which she had been told to use by her instructors.

  It was in 1989 that I first came to England at the invitation of the Queen to demonstrate my work to her. At that time I was completely unknown in this country, and although I had spent years in competitive horsemanship in the States, my methods were no better known there. At the Queen’s behest I toured several venues in the UK, appearing before audiences often numbering no more than a few dozen. But the seeds had been sown, and it was not long before I met Kelly Marks. Through her ceaseless hard work and dedication, my dream of passing on what I had discovered and proved in training many thousands of horses began to become a reality. Kelly taught the first new generation of eager students, among whom was Nicole. Like myself, they saw no place for violence in horsemanship, nor in their lives.

  When my first book was launched, it became clear that we were not alone. At the time, autobiographies of horse trainers/books about horses were considered a great success in publishing terms if they sold more than 10,000 copies. The first print run of The Man Who Listens to Horses was therefore only a few thousand copies. Such was the outpouring of enthusiasm by a world sick of violence, that to date my first book has sold more than 4.5 million copies worldwide. No one could be more astonished by this turn of events than myself. But what particularly surprised me was how many of those readers were people like Adam, animal lovers who rode horses as a hobby, if only to spend some time with their girlfriends! It’s remarkable to me to hear that it was discovering my work that caused Adam to want to change a hobby into a whole way of life.

  It takes more than good intentions to make a good horse trainer. I often tell people who want to learn my methods that before they try to run, they must learn to walk, and before that, learn to crawl. This book tells the story of two young people doing just that, finding their way through the challenges of working with problem horses. Being among the first graduates of Kelly’s courses, they have been thrown in at the deep end, being asked to train horses that would test any horseman. Of course, there are mistakes and misjudgements along the way, but at the heart of their journey, as in mine, lies a burning desire to do what’s right for the horse.

  It was my goal from the beginning to make the world a better place for horses and humans, and to apologise to Equus for the thousands of years of mistreatment and misunderstanding, which he has suffered at the hands of man. I hope that I have helped to do so. But I also know that for my contribution to make a lasting impact, I must rely on others taking my work on and bringing it to those who share the same convictions as myself.

  Therefore I wish all the best to Nicole and Adam, for them to achieve continued success in their ventures with horses, and with this, their first book.

  Monty Roberts

  December 2002

  ONE

  Rupert meets the luckiest man in the world (Adam)

  It was one of those perfect summer days that English people never seem to mention as they set about the national tradition of complaining about the weather. I slung my kit bag into the car and looked out across the fields at our horses. Quietly grazing or dozing in the sunshine, they made a picture of absolute tranquillity. Consistency might not be the strongest point of our climate, but no country in the world could produce a finer day than this without clouds of insects to go with it. In any case, it would have taken more than a cloud in the sky to dent my good mood, for I was on my way to work with two of my favourite clients, Linda and Colin, a retired couple who like myself had recently moved to the West Country. I had worked for them before, with great results. This time, they wanted me to have a look at a retired schoolmaster called Rupert, who had a problem with tarpaulins and plastic.

  Any horse owner knows that many horses have what seems to be an unnatural fear of plastic, and won’t go near it unless they learn that food is sometimes to be found in plastic bags. Monty Roberts’s autobiography, The Man Who Listens to Horses, includes the story of his first horse, Brownie, who had been phobic all his life about paper after Monty’s father had forced him to endure a practice known as ‘sacking out’. Having secured him to a strong post, Monty’s father had, over a period of several days, repeatedly thrown a paper sack over his back, in an effort to break his spirit of resistance to humans and to teach him ‘respect’ for the pressure of the rope restraining his head. It had left a scar so indelible that even though he owned him for many years thereafter, Monty was unable to persuade Brownie that it would never happen again, and the horse would worry at the slightest rustle of paper. This didn’t bode well. If the famous Monty Roberts couldn’t eradicate Brownie’s phobia, was there any way I would be able to cure Rupert of a similar fear?

  When I arrived, Colin came to meet me and shook me warmly by the hand, but my heart sank when I saw Linda. Her face was creased with worry and her voice strained as she explained the origins of Rupert’s problem.

  When he was four years old and only recently broken in, Rupert was being ridden back into the yard by his young owner. A tarpaulin was lying on the ground, and he had accidentally stepped on it. When his foot came down, making a sharp rustle, he suddenly spooked and shot forward, unseating his rider, who fell off. This was probably a good thing, because he galloped right across a cabbage field, and jumped a wall on the other side, landing in a heap on the road, where he slipped and fell over. He scrambled to his feet and stood panting, probably wondering where on earth
that noise had come from, and why his rider had dismounted so gracelessly.

  That might well have been the end of it, since many horses spook at such objects without developing a major problem about them. But this young girl’s father had been standing nearby and thought he’d teach Rupert a lesson, which indeed he never did forget. He strode across the field to where Rupert was still standing and, grabbing him by the bridle, dragged him back to the spot where the incident happened. Facing Rupert at the tarpaulin, he tried to pull him across it. When Rupert refused, the man twitched him, tightening a cord around the end of his nose so tightly that it bled. He forced him to stand on the plastic sheet, beating him so badly that for the next twenty-three years of his life, Rupert had refused to go near a tarpaulin, and was terrified of the sound of plastic. Although he was perfect in every other way, he resisted any effort to come to terms with the phobia that had been so mindlessly beaten into him. On one occasion, Linda had been persuaded by her instructor, an experienced horsewoman, that she could sort out his problem, and she proceeded to try to ride him forcefully over a tarpaulin using a whip, making him relive the trauma all over again. After this he was worse than ever.

  ‘I’m not sure if I’m doing the right thing by asking you to work on this,’ she explained. ‘He’s retired so it’s not as if I have to worry about him spooking at a plastic bag in a hedge and running into the road with me. I just make sure that he never has to go near a tarpaulin. We keep all the plastic bags in the feed room so he doesn’t have to deal with his problem. It’s just he has such a terrible fear lurking at the back of his mind. He won’t be with us much longer, and I wish he could go to horse heaven without the unresolved memory of that terrible beating. But I’m worried that you’ll make it worse for him, like the last person who tried.’