Photo: Chris Jackson-WPA Pool/Getty
He’s the “cowboy from California” who wowedQueen Elizabethwith his talent for taming horses. Now,Monty Roberts, 87, is mourning the woman who inspired him to use his talent for transforming frisky and excitable horses into ridable animals.
The pair shared an unlikely friendship, with Roberts extending his advice on horses to the Queen either over the phone or in person at her stables in Sandringham, Norfolk, or elsewhere.
Their bond began after the late Queen learned in the 1980s of his innovative training methods, which emphasized gentle communication between horse and handler.
“For 6,000 years, horses had been broken with a lot of violence, taking four to six weeks before they could be ridden,” Roberts tells PEOPLE. “I could train horses to take their first saddle and rider in less than 30 minutes without any violence.”
Queen Elizabeth at the WIndsor Horse Show on May 13, 2022.Chris Jackson/Getty Images
While some of the Queen’s courtiers were suspicious of his methodology in those early days,Queen Elizabethsupported him as he took his message of compassionate horse training to the world. And she urged him to write a book — hisThe Man Who Listens to Horseshas since sold more than 6 million copies since 1997.
For more on Queen Elizabeth’s funeral, listen below to our daily podcast PEOPLE Every Day.
“I have been to 41 countries in her name,” says Roberts, who also does groundbreaking work with veterans and others who suffer from post-traumatic stress.
But there was one place that he hadn’t ventured to until a conversation with his mentor: Germany. Part of the generation who grew up during World War II, Roberts had been skeptical to visit the country.
“I knew what Adolf Hitler had done to the Jewish people and other citizens in Germany, and I didn’t think I wanted to do post-traumatic stress clinics there,” he says. “But she looked me in the eye and said, ‘Monty, I married a German. There are wonderful people in Germany suffering from what their leaders had them do.’ "
Queen Elizabeth.Getty
The Queen urged that he set up clinics there, and as a result, “some of our best work on post-traumatic stress is in Germany,” he says.
Only recently, upon hearing the Queen was unwell, Roberts checked in with people he knows among her close staff.
“I was told everything was fine. They said not to worry, as she was under constant care and was improving,” he shares.
His voice cracking, Roberts tells PEOPLE, “I have to tell you, it seemed to strike me harder than one of my own family losses over recent years.”
Queen Elizabeth.Chris Jackson/Getty
Can’t get enough ofPEOPLE’s Royals coverage?Sign up for our free Royals newsletterto get the latest updates onKate Middleton,Meghan Markleand more!
As he prepares to head to London to commemorate the late Queen’s life, Roberts, who was one of those people who could always get through to the Queen on the phone, has a smile as he recalls how in the spring of 2021, PEOPLE wrote about those who had the Queen’s ear. As we used a little journalese to dub the group her “inner circle,” Monty was concerned that the Queen and her entourage would think he had placed himself there.
He called her up at Windsor Castle. As the Queen took his call, he explained the situation. “She said, ‘Oh Monty,’ he recalls. ‘Don’t worry about it.’ Then she said something like they have to ‘write things like that for their readers.’ "
He says she continued, “I don’t even know who’s in my inner circle — but if I had to choose, you would definitely be in there!”
source: people.com
