Trainer pays tribute to Queen – 'If she hadn’t pushed me, I’d be a cowboy in California'
LEGENDARY horse whisperer Monty Roberts told yesterday how he would still be a cowboy in California without the Queen’s support.
Monty talks to his friend the Queen as Camilla looks on at the Palace’s Royal Mews yesterday
The 80-year-old – famed for his taming of wild horses – said he regularly meets her to discuss all things equine.
His comments came after he had staged a demonstration of his skills for supporters of the animal welfare charity, the Brooke.
The Queen watched yesterday’s performance, staged at Buckingham Palace’s Royal Mews.
'Horse whisperer' Monty Roberts
She sent a man over to California – I thought it was a joke – and they brought me to Windsor Castle in 1989
The Duchess of Cornwall is patron of the charity and hosted the event. Monty has become a worldwide star thanks to his innovative techniques with horses and has been staying at the Queen’s private Sandringham home, working with her animals.
This year he became a global ambassador for the Brooke.
Speaking about the effect the Queen had on his life, he said: “If she hadn’t pushed me, I’d be a cowboy in California, doing parochial stuff.”
The Queen at the Royal Windsor Horse Show
He went on to talk about when he first met her: “She sent a man over to California – I thought it was a joke – and they brought me to Windsor Castle in 1989.
Her Majesty had 23 horses ready for me to work with and it was one week with her there every day, when it was only supposed to be one hour.
Prince William joins the Queen and Prince Philip to unveil statue of two Windsor Grey horses
“Every year – two, three, four times a year when we get together – we discuss what’s happened, we discuss what we want to do.”
At one point during Monty’s impressive display of horse taming, one of the animals reared up and began to snort.
He joked about it, saying that since he was working at Buckingham Palace, he thought he would “get an easy one”.