Montecito Filmmaker, the Monarch and Monty

Monty Roberts is the Salinas-bred cowboy who spent years trying to turn the equestrian community from “breaking” horses through violence to instead gaining their confidence through trust and gentility. The story of the owner of the decades-long Flag is Up Farms in Solvang and his ability to train horses through his kinder method isn’t a new one. Roberts himself documented it in the bestseller called The Man Who Listens to Horses. 

His long relationship with Queen Elizabeth II of England – who after a period of skepticism hired Roberts to work with her own stable of horses for decades – is also not a new one. But the extent of their friendship and the surprising intimacy they shared over their affection for trust-based partnerships with their animals is now being revealed via a documentary from part-time Montecito-based filmmaker Andrea Nevins. 

The Cowboy and The Queen, which makes its West Coast premiere at SBIFF on February 11 & 12, is full of archival footage Nevins unearthed in Roberts’ garage as well as newspaper clipping and lots of reminiscing from the still spry Roberts – who turned 88 last May. The film covers a lot of history but often feels like a fireside chat. 

“I wanted to tell Monty’s story about how he came to this gentle method, who he is as a person, what his struggle was to get people to understand that you didn’t have to hit horses, and how it was a female monarch – whose family came from colonialism – who embraced him,” Nevins said. “These two people came together, looking eye to eye about something quite the opposite. Monty explained why he thought the queen was so ready to hear his approach, and I don’t think it’s a story that she’s told anybody. It’s only Monty that can talk about the relationship.” 

Roberts’ violent rearing is also a part of the film, and sets the tone for how he wanted a different way to interact with animals and people. The cowboy has extended his method for connecting with horses to improving interpersonal relationships with other humans, which Nevins also documents in the film.

“So much of our world right now is about that kind of violence, that force makes right,” she said. “But there is a different language, a more peaceful communication that we can be speaking and we can learn from this extraordinary relationship that Monty has with horses and that the Queen had with Monty.”

More Montecito at the Movies: Meow Mix

Normally, an intruder who invades more than one Montecito home would spark a response from sheriffs faster than I can finish typing this sentence, not to mention a cover story in the Montecito Journal. But a particular four-legged visitor not only took up residence in a few different private venues in the village, she was welcomed with open arms. That’s the tale (tail?) covered by Montecito filmmaker Jessie Davidson, a Cold Spring School graduate, whose nine-minute short, Nine Lives,captures how the orange tabby that was brought to town by her childhood friend Daniel DeVorzon made itself the adopted pet of several families of the neighborhood. Known as Snowpea, Alice, Daisy, and Butterscotch Swirl, the cat is undoubtedly the star of the show, although we spend time in the film with a lot of familiar faces who each adore the feline. Nine Lives screens Feb. 13 & 16 as part of the Santa Barbara Documentary Shorts.

Meanwhile, kitties of a different stripe (and with film titles just one letter apart) are featured in other documentary shorts programs at this year’s SBIFF. Save the Cat (Feb. 11 & 12) chronicles a group of strangers from around the world banding together to help a Ukrainian refugee family reunite with their cat; while Savi the Cat (Feb. 9 & 10)is a different sort of disruptor who wreaks humorous havoc on a couple’s home. These films will be shown as part of SBIFF’s Comic Shorts program.