Monty Roberts' Horse Sense and Healing Program is honored to announce it has received a grant from the Disabled Veterans National Foundation (DVNF) that will fund several weekend programs of resilience-building workshops for veterans, police, fire, first responders and their families. The three-day program involves working closely with horses. The individuals and horses develop a special bond built upon mutual trust and respect.

Join-Up is the method Monty Roberts discovered by observing the gentle nature of horses. Horse Sense and Healing offers effective tools to rediscover attendees through the eyes of the horse. This self-awareness exercise deals effectively with emotional trauma, anti-social behavior and withdrawal, anger, stress, combat stress and even Post Traumatic Stress Injury (PTSI). Roberts and his team have been working with persons suffering from PTSI, over the course of five separate recent clinics each year since 2011. The results are coming in, and the outcome is fantastic and have people laughing and getting back to a normal life who have been afflicted with PTSI for upwards of 35 years.

Roberts holds two PhDs in Behavioral Sciences. In these workshops, he demonstrates the deeply healing power of establishing a trusting relationship with horses without the use of force. With his soft-spoken, nurturing style, Roberts assists veterans as they learn to cause a partnership with the horse. After three transformational days, veterans can better understand how to control their anger, confront painful memories, cope with real-life situations and move on with their lives and relationships.

Pat Roberts, Executive Director of Join-Up International said, “We are very pleased to accept this generous donation from the Disabled Veterans National Foundation. It will be used to build trust back in to our service personnel who have served our country and communities.”

Joseph VanFonda (USMC Sgt. Maj. Ret.), CEO of the Disabled Veterans National Foundation was instrumental in the placement of grants. For more information visit http://dvnf.org/news/.

Disabled Veterans National Foundation exists to provide critical needed support to disabled and at-risk veterans who leave the military wounded - physically to psychologically - after defending our safety and our freedom. DVNF achieves this mission by:

Providing an online resource database that allows veterans to navigate the complex process of seeking benefits that they are entitled to as a result of their military service, as well as additional resources they need.
Offering direct financial support to veteran organizations that address the unique needs of veterans, and whose missions align with that of DVNF.
Providing supplemental assistance to homeless and low-income veterans through the Health & Comfort program and various empowerment resources.
Serving as a thought leader on critical policy issues within the veteran community, and educating the public accordingly.

MONTY ROBERTS first gained widespread fame with the release of his New York Times Best Selling book, The Man Who Listens To Horses; a chronicle of his life and development of his non-violent horse training methods called Join-Up. Monty grew up on a working horse farm as a firsthand witness to traditional, often violent methods of horse training and breaking the spirit with an abusive hand. Rejecting that, he went on to win nine world's championships in the show ring. Today, Monty's goal is to share his message that "Violence is never the answer." Roberts has been encouraged by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II with the award of the Membership in The Royal Victorian Order, as well as becoming Patron of Join-Up International. Other honors received were the ASPCA "Founders" award and the MSPCA George T. Angell Humanitarian Award. Monty is credited with launching the first of its kind Equus Online University; an interactive online lesson site that is the definitive learning tool for violence-free training.

JOIN-UP philosophies can be seen at work with both humans and horses across the world, from farms to major corporations. To learn more about Monty Roberts or the many applications of his Join-Up training methods, visit Horse Sense and Soldiers aired on Discovery Military highlighting the therapeutic effect that horses and Monty Roberts' Join-Up have on PTSD. Monty developed his Horse Sense and Healing program for military and first responder personnel with stress injuries detailed here http://www.join-up.org/veterans.html Recently Monty Roberts added the program Lead-Up to his global impact on children ages 14-22. Developed in partnership with Catherine Cunningham from Guatemala, Lead-Up’s mission is to reduce violence in the community by forming peaceful leaders across the globe, through the embodied experience of Join-Up® and lessons learned from horses and from the equine herd. http://www.join-up.org/lead-up/