Some might say that Monty Roberts had little chance for success. He grew up with a violent, physically abusive father and endured beatings so severe that, as a child, he ended up in the hospital with broken bones and spinal processes. Yet Monty not only stopped the cycle of abuse in his life, he also significantly improved the way that human beings communicate with horses, other animals and each other.

For many years, it was thought that the real cowboys had to "break" their horses--they had to beat them into submission, breaking their will. People told horses for 8,000 years that if the horses didn’t do what they wanted them to do, they would hurt them. Monty believes that no one has a right to say that to any other person or animal. The "breaking" process took anywhere from 4-6 weeks. The young Monty identified with the beaten horses and began to watch them closely. By observing a group of wild mustangs for a period of several days, he started to notice additional patterns in they way they communicated with each other. Since that time, he has refined and enhanced his knowledge of their communication system, and, by using their own language, he can communicate with them using the position of his body, head, and eyes. He can now take a horse that has never before had a saddle on its back and get the horse to accept a saddle and rider without ever using physical force in less than half an hour. He trains other people in the horse language he has termed, Equus, and has demonstrated his gentle method of horse training several thousand times. He also continues to train the Queen of England’s horses.

Modified versions of this language have been found to work other animals, including deer, and Monty also uses the ideas behind the language to communicate with people. Central to the concept is the idea that humans and some animals, including horses, are social beings. We are group animals and need to be around others. By reinforcing positive behavior from the horse with positive rewards, and negative behavior with negative consequences, Monty modifies the horse’s behavior, much as a parent can modify the behavior of an unruly child. The system of rewards and negative consequences has to be used continually in the training phase. Using this system with people, Monty and his wife, Pat, have also helped almost 50 foster children.

Managers can train their employees in the same way Monty trains horses–by "making positive choices great and negative choices awful." Too often employees are rewarded for negative actions–the person promoted may have hurt others to get there, for example. Employee’s negative behavior has to always be met with negative consequences, while positive behavior has to always result in rewards.

Monty believes that that success is a measure that other people put on you after you’ve finished what you can do. For himself, his measure is always moving, and he is continually improving upon his latest "success." Monty considers his desire to continually improve the reason he has accomplished what he has, and he knows he will continue his work as long as his brain is still functioning and there are still people who doubt his methods. His critics hurt him, but they are also what drive him and make him more tenacious–he believes critics and doubters are the reason he exists.

Monty doesn’t believe that the future will be much different than the past, apart from the use of technology. He thinks that students need to be more technically skilled than he is because their future will depend on it. He also says to students and all people looking for success, "when you think that you’ve put in a hard day’s work and done enough for the day, go another hour and do something or learn something you didn’t think you would. Try not to seek the pleasant things so much–they will come when you’ve earned them. The real joys in your life will be in your accomplishments."