Monty Roberts, the California horse trainer known worldwide as the "horse whisperer," died on 1 August 2026 at his farm in California. He was 91.

His daughter Debbie announced the death on social media on the Sunday evening following, sharing the news with what the family called "profound sadness" and adding that they were "deeply grateful" — Hello! Magazine. BloodHorse, the racing publication, reported that he died at his farm in California — BloodHorse.

Born on 14 May 1935, Roberts grew up around horses from childhood and spent a lifetime pushing back against the tradition of "breaking" them — the old method of forcing a horse into submission through fear and physical pressure. Roberts preferred the word "started." He estimated he had started more than 11,000 horses over his career, working by observation of the animal's own body language rather than coercion — The New York Times.

His approach caught the attention of the British royal family in 1989, when the Queen Mother invited him to give a demonstration at Windsor Castle. According to Hello! Magazine, she was moved to tears by his saddling demonstration — a moment that opened the door to a decades-long friendship with Queen Elizabeth II, bonded over their shared love of animals — Hello! Magazine.

The Queen's endorsement gave Roberts an international platform that the racing and equestrian establishment could not easily dismiss. Here was a monarch whose own breeding operation at the Royal Studs, advised over decades by some of the most accomplished horsemen in the sport, choosing to associate her name publicly with a trainer from Solvang, California — a small Danish-heritage town in Santa Ynez Valley where Roberts kept his horse ranch — The New York Times.

Roberts married his high-school sweetheart, Patricia Gail, in 1956. She survives him, along with their three children — AOL UK.

The New York Times, which published his obituary on 2 August 2026 under the headline "Monty Roberts, Horse Trainer Who Preached Kindness, Dies at 91," captured the through-line of his career in three words. Roberts argued, in books and lectures and demonstrations on several continents, that the horse's cooperation could be won without force, and he spent more than seven decades proving it on the ground — one animal at a time — The New York Times.

He was 91.