How long does it take to train a wild horse to accept a bit, a saddle and a rider? Hours? Days? Years? In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, meet a man who can do it an half an hour, without terror or trauma. Also why horses are great running machines, and the true story of Black Beauty Ranch.

SEGMENT 1:

Monty Roberts tells Steve Paulson that despite vicious beatings from his father, he has dedicated himself to eliminating violence from the world -- starting with an innovative approach to training horses. By studying their body language, Roberts claims to have learned the language of horses and can get a raw horse to calmly accept its first rider within twenty nine minutes. Roberts' technique also works on deer! Monty Roberts is the author of the best-selling "The Man Who Listens to Horses."

SEGMENT 2:

Stephen Budiansky, senior writer at U.S. News and World Report and author of "The Nature of Horses," tells Judith Strasser why race horses aren't getting any faster: they're already perfectly evolved running machines. Also, country vet John McCormack tells Judith Strasser about some of his equine patients from the early days of his practice in Choctaw County, Alabama. McCormack has just published a second volume of reminiscences called "A Friend of the Flock."

SEGMENT 3:

Social historian, columnist, TV critic and animal rights activist Cleveland Amory talks with Jim Fleming about his organization, the Fund for Animals, and its rescues of mistreated animals from Grand Canyon burros to diving horses and wild mustangs, many of whom now live at Amory's Black Beauty Ranch. Amory's new book is "Ranch of Dreams: The Heartwarming Story of America's Most Unusual Animal Sanctuary."

Distribution dates:

• week of 11/23/97 - hour 3
• week of 6/7/98 - hour 2