Monty Roberts stood in the middle of a pen with a horse known for hurting anyone who tries to ride it.

In minutes, his assistant was able to ride the horse around the pen without fear of getting hurt.

Roberts, a known horse gentler, performed for a full crowd Tuesday night at the Pavilion for Agriculture and Livestock Education.

Proceeds from the event went to Children and Horses United in Movement (CHUM) Therapeutic Riding Inc. The organization provides horses for people to ride for fun.

Using clicking sounds from his mouth, petting the animal and using body language, Roberts persuades horses to accept a saddle and rider instead of using violence. He calls the method “join up.”

“She doesn’t know that I speak her language,” Roberts told the audience while in the pen with the horse, Heather. “But as she learns it, she will figure out to find me a safe place to be.”

“Join up” is a nonconfrontational method, he said, using simple gestures and sound.

Roberts, who was the inspiration behind the 1998 film “The Horse Whisperer,” said people have been abusing horses for 8,000 years by “breaking” the animal. And fear-based relationships, he insists, don’t go very far.

“She will get good, if you’re good,” Roberts said.

Horses can be dangerous if they are known for disobedience, he said. On Tuesday night, Roberts worked with remedial horses that were known for bucking, biting and kicking.

“A person who gets on a horse for the first time should be a person that is a professional at this sort of thing,” he said.

He said it is important for the horse to get acquainted with the rider by seeing his or her eyes, body language and the smell of his or her clothes.

This relationship is no different, he said, than the relationship with a sister, brother, friend or co-worker.

Howell residents Leigh, Sarah and Rob Fliearman said they had just gotten some horses and also have one that is pregnant.

“It is really good seeing what he talks about in his books and I think that is great, seeing horses that he fixes,” Leigh Fliearman said.

Animal science seniors Marci Schriber and Jill Grimberg said they thought the communication between Roberts and the horses was extraordinary.

“He talked it through really good too,” Grimberg said.

Bonnie Depue, owner and instructor of CHUM Therapeutic Riding Inc., said horses are therapeutic for everyone.

“Whether you have an injury, an illness or a disability,” Depue said, “the horse always touches from the inside out.”

Shaun Byron can be reached at byronsha@msu.edu.