by John Dolan
Harper Collins book publishers are now being targeted by anti-Monty Protestors to have his book and audio “Shyboy: The Horse That Came in From The Cold” recalled for its blatant fraud. The entire Shyboy event, that Monty Roberts so likes to languish in, was a complete hoax.
* Monty Roberts worked in a round pen with the mustang about a month prior to the horse’s release back into the “wild” where Monty then staged his “miraculous” join-up.
* Monty Roberts had buddy-up horses near Shyboy the whole time he’s was working with him. One of these horses was named ‘George’ and George was the horse that Shyboy followed back to the ranch when he is seen with a rider on him in the film.
* After being taken back out into the “wild”, the horse had to be chased away from Monty’s trailer where Monty also kept the mustang’s buddy-horses. The little mustang desperately wanted to be near his companions, so in order to stage the eventual join-up for the cameras, Monty had to first PUSH him away (and continue to do so) so that it would appear as if he was tracking the horse for the ‘100 miles over rough terrain’ that Monty wrote so avidly about.
* The so-called 100 mile chase on horseback after Shyboy was actually about a 20-mile drive in a truck.
* Monty’s “joined-up” mustang was hobbled on all four legs in order for them to get the saddle on him the first time. This occurred the night before the filming, in a round pen and the horse was saddled and unsaddled repeatedly to get him used to it. The man who rode the horse in the film also mounted Shyboy in the round pen off of another horse and rode him around.
* Monty Roberts chased the British Broadcasting Co. (BBC) helicopter away saying it was scaring the mustang when in reality Monty wanted to hide the fact from them that he was having trouble getting near the horse after pushing him away for so long.
* When the BBC crew was out of sight, Monty and his men herded Shyboy into a draw canyon where they roped and jerked him (roping and choking). The technique chokes the air out of the horse’s lungs so that after a few times of this, a horse will learn not to fight. Even after all that, the chosen handler/rider still got kicked in the back.
* Monty Roberts tried to scam the British Broadcasting Company into paying more money than they agreed to at the start by saying his hired help was holding him (Monty) up for more money which wasn’t true. The BBC refused to pay extra and Monty had to pay up.
* As a result of the backfired BBC scam, Monty Roberts bounced paychecks to the people who accompanied/helped him during the Shyboy event/video then made good on them by making them sign statements saying they would keep quiet about the whole hoax.
The story romanticizes Monty’s beloved Shyboy: “Would Shy Boy rather be free!” With trepidation, he took Shy Boy back to the wild to let him choose: Go with your herd, or stay with your gentler.” Interesting that this gentler Roberts knew nothing about Shyboy standing in mud and manure up to his ears in an unsheltered paddock for about a year after the horse’s famed capture. Or perhaps he knew but just didn’t care – after all, Monty was too busy running around getting his closeups and having tea with the Queen.
Since we published the story of the German girl witnessing Shyboy’s condition at Monty’s farm, other people have come forward and confirmed its veracity.
Harper Collins picked up Monty Roberts’ works after Random House dumped him. Too bad Random House didn’t go further and recall all of Monty’s books back then. Shame on Harper Collins for profiting on Mr. Roberts fraud and continuing to perpetuate Monty’s hoaxes and lies on the whole world!
To protest Harper Collins publishing this fraud:
Ms. Jane Friedman
Harper Collins
10 East 53rd. St.
New York, NY 10022