LONDON — In April 1989, Queen Elizabeth II had just finished lunch with Mikhail Gorbachev, who was in Britain to discuss the relationship between the Soviet Union and the West. Yet the monarch had another visitor to prepare for.
Monty Roberts, a renowned American horse trainer, had just arrived in Windsor, England, from his ranch in Solvang, California. Months earlier, the queen had read articles about Roberts’ training technique, in which the animal is taught to see the rider as a member of its herd, rather than as a master. She sent one of her horse trainers to California to observe Roberts’ methods, and, soon after, invited him to see her.