Queen Elizabeth II and the cowboy, the story of a friendship in the name of love for horses

Both were convinced that their beloved horses should be trained in the gentlest way possible. Queen Elizabeth II and Monty Robertsthe Californian trainer known as «the horse whisperer» (his story gave birth to the best seller and the film), they were linked by an extraordinary friendship, which he talks about The Cowboy and the Queenout September 6th.

Roberts’s techniques first caught the attention of Queen Elizabeth, a horse (and all animal) enthusiast, in 1989. “You don’t know how long I’ve felt it was important for horses to live with us humans without violence,” Roberts said. “And that goes back to my early teenage years. The world thought that horses should be tamed, but the Queen didn’t think so.».

When the Queen learned of Roberts’ methods, he asked to meet him and summoned him to demonstrate his techniques at Windsor Castlein front of his family members, courtiers and staff, often skeptical. He accepted: “You always say yes to the queen.”

The director of the documentary, Andrea Nevins, told us People that the initial idea was to talk to Roberts about Elizabeth II’s love of dogs: one of her corgis, in fact, had been named Monty in honor of the trainer. Then Nevins discovered that the Queen’s bond with Roberts was even more compelling than she thought, and she was surprised. «One is a queen. The other is a cowboy, with that very American sense of independence. But they tied themselves together in a very modern way and they used very feminine ways of looking at the world. Can you imagine a little boy who grew up on the rodeo grounds of old Western California meeting the Queen of England?

Queen Elizabeth II and Roberts were united in conviction: «If you approach with respect, you can interface with a better version of that person or animal.rather than when you approach with fear or arrogance. The two of them agreed on this.”

Explaining their special bond, Nevins says the Queen “always had a penchant for pushing boundaries, which she wasn’t allowed to do very often. And there was something about Monty pushing her that seemed to appeal to her. There was a sense of novelty. There was something about California and the great American West that held a special fascination for her. It was amazing to watch her when she came to California and met Ronald Reagan.”

The documentary aims to show how «two very, very different people can come together and learn something basic, beautiful and practicaland then being able to share it with the world. It’s been a gift to tell this story.”