Buck: The Real Horse Whisperer

0:00:42 > 0:00:44How are you doing there, buddy?

0:00:50 > 0:00:52See? That feels good, doesn't it? Huh?

0:00:59 > 0:01:01All right. I'm off to the office.

0:01:05 > 0:01:09To start off, are there any of you that have any particular

0:01:09 > 0:01:12problems you'd like to tell me about?

0:01:12 > 0:01:15Don't be bashful. You're among friends.

0:01:17 > 0:01:20Let him be because he's taking time to settle in with you.

0:01:22 > 0:01:26'A lot of times, rather than helping people with horse problems,

0:01:26 > 0:01:29'I'm helping horses with people problems.'

0:01:29 > 0:01:32And for a lot of people, they want it all to be fuzzy and warm

0:01:32 > 0:01:36and cosmic, but it is no different with a horse than with a kid.

0:01:36 > 0:01:38You can't always be the kid's best friend.

0:01:38 > 0:01:41First, you have to be the parent.

0:01:41 > 0:01:44A horse like this ain't any different to the kid that takes

0:01:44 > 0:01:48everybody's milk money on the way to school, beats up old people.

0:01:48 > 0:01:51Maybe it ain't the kid's fault. Maybe the parent ought to be in jail.

0:01:51 > 0:01:54Boy, do you feel like a fool and kind of like a failure, you know?

0:01:54 > 0:01:55It's all right.

0:01:55 > 0:01:58'People bring a lot of baggage to the table when they come.

0:01:58 > 0:02:01'sometimes they're here for a different reason other than

0:02:01 > 0:02:04'getting to where they ride the horse a bit better.'

0:02:06 > 0:02:11If you find a way to fit this thing right here, it'll make you better.

0:02:11 > 0:02:15It'll make you better in areas that you didn't think related to horses.

0:02:26 > 0:02:28Good job, buddy.

0:02:31 > 0:02:35'Horses are my life and because of some of the things I've been through

0:02:35 > 0:02:40'as a kid, I've found some safety and companionship in the horses.

0:02:40 > 0:02:44'I was just looking for a kind of peaceful place to be where

0:02:44 > 0:02:47'I wasn't threatened, where my life wasn't threatened,

0:02:47 > 0:02:50'so I have an empathy for horses that

0:02:50 > 0:02:55'when something is scared for their life, I understand that.'

0:02:56 > 0:02:58He's a pretty nice horse, six years old,

0:02:58 > 0:03:00making some good progress anyway.

0:03:00 > 0:03:04Just a youngster, just telling him I want him to be aware of me.

0:03:04 > 0:03:07If I slow down, I want him to slow down.

0:03:07 > 0:03:11See, if I go like this, I have to practise my old man walk,

0:03:11 > 0:03:14so when I'm really old, it might take me an hour to get over there.

0:03:14 > 0:03:16He ought to be able to just go with me,

0:03:16 > 0:03:19as slow as I want to go and not crowd me.

0:03:19 > 0:03:21Might be a little slower to what he'd like to go.

0:03:21 > 0:03:26If I stop, he ought to stop. If I go back, he ought to go back.

0:03:26 > 0:03:29And I ought not to have to beg him.

0:03:29 > 0:03:31Right now, I'm walking at a little faster pace,

0:03:31 > 0:03:35but I'm always testing him to see if he's with me.

0:03:37 > 0:03:42When I first seen him, I thought, "What kind of voodoo stuff is this?

0:03:42 > 0:03:44"How are you getting this done?"

0:03:44 > 0:03:46He walks him around and in five minutes he's got

0:03:46 > 0:03:50a horse following him around like a dog.

0:03:50 > 0:03:56Most of us have a bag of tricks, and Buck has an arsenal.

0:04:10 > 0:04:13Hey, boys.

0:04:13 > 0:04:16- Hello. How are you doing? - Great.- Good.

0:04:18 > 0:04:21'Colt starting is always interesting

0:04:21 > 0:04:24'because most of the youngsters have never been saddled,

0:04:24 > 0:04:27'never had anyone on their back or a bit in their mouth.

0:04:27 > 0:04:30'So there's a lot of fear in both the horse and the human.'

0:04:32 > 0:04:35The way I do these colt classes, you guys, you'll have to get them

0:04:35 > 0:04:38exposed to a lot of things that seem perfectly normal to you,

0:04:38 > 0:04:41but it doesn't seem normal to the horse.

0:04:41 > 0:04:44You walk up to them smelling like a Big Mac, you know,

0:04:44 > 0:04:48or something. Your diet is going

0:04:48 > 0:04:53to make you smell different to the horse.

0:04:53 > 0:04:57And then you're going to tell the horse, "Don't worry.

0:04:57 > 0:05:00"I want to crawl on you." LAUGHTER

0:05:00 > 0:05:03In a similar posture to how a lion would attack and kill a horse -

0:05:03 > 0:05:05they jump right up in the middle of them

0:05:05 > 0:05:08and reach their front claws around and as they're biting

0:05:08 > 0:05:12down on their spine, they're cutting their throat with their claws -

0:05:12 > 0:05:16you're asking the horse to let you be in that posture and crawl on him.

0:05:16 > 0:05:19And about the time he says, "All right, maybe,"

0:05:19 > 0:05:22and then you say, "Oh, one more thing.

0:05:22 > 0:05:25"I want to strap some hides of other dead

0:05:25 > 0:05:28"animals around you before I crawl on."

0:05:28 > 0:05:32LAUGHTER Damn sure have to have some trust.

0:05:32 > 0:05:36He's got to believe in you to let you do that and amazingly enough,

0:05:36 > 0:05:37they'll let you do it.

0:05:44 > 0:05:48Now the first thing that I'm going to show you is leading the horse by.

0:05:48 > 0:05:51Step in here, send the front over like that,

0:05:51 > 0:05:54then he'll go on forward, around me.

0:05:54 > 0:05:57This takes some practice to get good at.

0:05:59 > 0:06:01Your horse might be afraid to move.

0:06:01 > 0:06:04It's a real trust thing between the two of you.

0:06:09 > 0:06:12What's your name here? Martha? OK, Martha, you want to go the other way.

0:06:12 > 0:06:16You've got your horse leading by good, just the wrong direction.

0:06:16 > 0:06:17That's all right.

0:06:17 > 0:06:20Tap her. Don't be afraid of tapping her with that flag.

0:06:20 > 0:06:23You're not going to hurt her. It'll be like you getting spanked

0:06:23 > 0:06:26with a sock. There. Yeah.

0:06:26 > 0:06:31Lead with the right hand. Yeah, it's in your left hand.

0:06:31 > 0:06:33The other left.

0:06:33 > 0:06:38Walk to the hip. No. Walk to the hip. You're at the head.

0:06:38 > 0:06:41That's the eating end. This is always a hard one for folks.

0:06:44 > 0:06:47Walking on you. Your horse is kind of naughty.

0:06:47 > 0:06:50You guys make a big old circle around me.

0:06:53 > 0:06:56This horse, it knows to get away

0:06:56 > 0:06:59because she's pretty careful.

0:07:01 > 0:07:03Oh, you won't get away.

0:07:03 > 0:07:06She said, "I thought I had the angle on you there."

0:07:09 > 0:07:13See that head slinging to the outside? That's unacceptable.

0:07:13 > 0:07:16She doesn't know the difference.

0:07:16 > 0:07:19She should have up to this point have had some pretty damn good luck

0:07:19 > 0:07:23with that technique. See there, where she went to run me over?

0:07:23 > 0:07:27I mean, she's trying to protect herself.

0:07:27 > 0:07:28But when I get done,

0:07:28 > 0:07:32I will not have to close my hand on the end of this rope.

0:07:32 > 0:07:34I touch her here on the neck, I say,

0:07:34 > 0:07:37"You'll find out this flag won't hurt you.

0:07:37 > 0:07:39"Nobody's here to hurt you."

0:07:42 > 0:07:45One of the things that really struck me was that you grow up

0:07:45 > 0:07:49hearing about breaking horses and breaking broncos, or something.

0:07:49 > 0:07:53There's a whole element of abuse really.

0:07:53 > 0:07:57It's, "Man is stronger than this big animal. We can break them down,"

0:07:57 > 0:08:01almost like Parris Island and a drill instructor.

0:08:01 > 0:08:03And I think it first clicked for me

0:08:03 > 0:08:07with Buck at the whole concept of starting.

0:08:07 > 0:08:10My early exposure to horses was severe.

0:08:10 > 0:08:13Tying horses to posts with an inner tube tyre so that

0:08:13 > 0:08:17when the horse pulled back, they would slam back into the post.

0:08:17 > 0:08:20It was really brutal, really truly brutal. It was heartbreaking.

0:08:20 > 0:08:24I didn't know any different, I was a child, but I remember crying a lot.

0:08:24 > 0:08:27I felt very, very bad for the animals.

0:08:27 > 0:08:32So when I met Buck, I was the instant convert.

0:08:32 > 0:08:35You can't be a good guy when you leave the barn and a bad guy

0:08:35 > 0:08:36when you get to the barn.

0:08:36 > 0:08:39I treat animals this way, try to treat people that way too.

0:08:39 > 0:08:41We all know the answer to that.

0:08:41 > 0:08:44I met Buck probably at his first clinic that he gave.

0:08:44 > 0:08:49If I wasn't in his first clinic, I was probably at his second.

0:08:58 > 0:09:00There. That was a nice change.

0:09:07 > 0:09:12First time I saw it, it was amazing to me. It just blew my mind.

0:09:12 > 0:09:15It just blew my mind that it could be done in a way that the

0:09:15 > 0:09:17horse would cooperate, like the people, and not be scarred up

0:09:17 > 0:09:19and afraid for life.

0:09:22 > 0:09:26I couldn't believe what that man could do with a horse without

0:09:26 > 0:09:27anything on it.

0:09:27 > 0:09:31I mean, he could load horses in a horse trailer without touching them.

0:09:31 > 0:09:35I mean, the horse has never been in a trailer. That's phenomenal.

0:09:47 > 0:09:49Why let an animal live in fear?

0:09:49 > 0:09:52Why not fix it?

0:09:52 > 0:09:54That's pretty good.

0:09:54 > 0:09:58You notice how I don't have to have a death grip on the doggone lead

0:09:58 > 0:09:59rope now.

0:10:02 > 0:10:06In this particular discipline, if you want to be great,

0:10:06 > 0:10:09you have to be a sensitive person.

0:10:09 > 0:10:11That vulnerability, that sensitivity,

0:10:11 > 0:10:15to feel the subtle change is what makes you great.

0:10:15 > 0:10:18That's why so many of the folks that are really good at this

0:10:18 > 0:10:22are...sometimes they're tortured souls, you know?

0:10:34 > 0:10:39I've seen some kind of dark things in my life.

0:10:39 > 0:10:43But everybody has a bit of a burden to bear of some sort.

0:10:43 > 0:10:45It's all relative.

0:10:48 > 0:10:52It's all I ever wanted to be was a cowboy. I grew up as a trick roper.

0:10:55 > 0:10:58That wasn't necessarily by choice,

0:10:58 > 0:11:01but the first thing is we were entertainers, my brother and I.

0:11:01 > 0:11:04I started doing rope tricks when I was three years old.

0:11:04 > 0:11:07You wouldn't think that a three-year-old could be doing

0:11:07 > 0:11:11rope tricks, but I was doing rope tricks.

0:11:11 > 0:11:14I turned professional when I was six

0:11:14 > 0:11:18and as far as I know, we were still the youngest kids to ever get

0:11:18 > 0:11:23a PRCA card, which it was the RCA in those days, Rodeo Cowboy Association.

0:11:23 > 0:11:27We went to fairs and rodeos and performed all over.

0:11:27 > 0:11:29But we really enjoyed the attention of the crowds.

0:11:29 > 0:11:32We were kind of childhood celebrities.

0:11:32 > 0:11:35We were the Kellogg's Sugar Pops kids.

0:11:35 > 0:11:37'You know, fancy roping takes hard work,

0:11:37 > 0:11:40'plenty of sleep and good nutrition every day.

0:11:40 > 0:11:43'Here's a good hardworking breakfast.'

0:11:43 > 0:11:45It must have been 1970-71, right around there.

0:11:45 > 0:11:48It was just before my mom passed away.

0:11:48 > 0:11:52That was quite a thing. And all I remember about that commercial,

0:11:52 > 0:11:55it should've been real fun because it was a big thrill to all the kids in

0:11:55 > 0:11:58school that we were on national TV doing these TV commercials.

0:11:58 > 0:12:01All I really remember about that is my dad beat us

0:12:01 > 0:12:06unmercifully for not putting on a perfect performance and then he drove

0:12:06 > 0:12:09us home and heck, he couldn't even wait till we got home,

0:12:09 > 0:12:13he stopped and knocked on us a little bit more.

0:12:15 > 0:12:17I remember my mom would drop us off at school.

0:12:17 > 0:12:20The last couple of years she was alive,

0:12:20 > 0:12:23she was working as a waitress in Ennis, Montana.

0:12:23 > 0:12:26And I would beg her not to leave, and every day,

0:12:26 > 0:12:30I would cry and every day, she would cry,

0:12:30 > 0:12:33because I was just terrified of the fact that

0:12:33 > 0:12:36I was going to be five or six hours alone with our dad

0:12:36 > 0:12:40when we got home from school before my mom would get home.

0:12:40 > 0:12:44Because things always went better when she was around.

0:12:44 > 0:12:49But then when my mom died, I knew my life was over, as I knew it.

0:12:49 > 0:12:52And I no longer had my protector.

0:12:55 > 0:12:59Well, after my mom passed away, my dad really fell apart

0:12:59 > 0:13:02and night after night after night, he would come yank us

0:13:02 > 0:13:04out of bed in the middle of the night and make us

0:13:04 > 0:13:07sit at this kitchen table, this oak table.

0:13:07 > 0:13:10I could draw the grain in that table for you to this day

0:13:10 > 0:13:14because you'd just stare down at the table because...even to

0:13:14 > 0:13:19just...look at my dad when he was ranting and raving

0:13:19 > 0:13:24and in a drunken stupor, he would take that as an aggressive expression

0:13:24 > 0:13:29and one night, I just said, "I'm not going to get beat up again tonight.

0:13:29 > 0:13:31"I just can't do it."

0:13:31 > 0:13:34And I made a mad dash outside,

0:13:34 > 0:13:39not thinking about the fact that I wasn't very well dressed for being

0:13:39 > 0:13:42outside in the middle of the winter,

0:13:42 > 0:13:45because this cold is something between ten and 20 below zero.

0:13:45 > 0:13:48Damn, then I was really stuck because I knew if I went back inside,

0:13:48 > 0:13:52he was going to beat me half to death and I just couldn't go back in.

0:13:52 > 0:13:54I just couldn't.

0:13:54 > 0:13:58We had a dog and his name was Duke, and I loved that dog.

0:13:58 > 0:14:01It sounds real trailer park, I know,

0:14:01 > 0:14:05but he lived in a 55-gallon barrel with straw in it for his bed.

0:14:05 > 0:14:09And I crawled in that 55-gallon barrel with that bloodhound.

0:14:09 > 0:14:11It wasn't warm, but it kept me from freezing.

0:14:11 > 0:14:15And I finally, after two or three hours, went back in the house

0:14:15 > 0:14:19and he just looked at me like, "Where you been?"

0:14:41 > 0:14:45Reata, I can't believe you answered your phone. Where are you?

0:14:45 > 0:14:48Oh, cool! What are you doing?

0:14:48 > 0:14:51For your mom or for school? All right.

0:14:51 > 0:14:55Well, I'll call her back and then I'll talk to you tomorrow, huh?

0:14:55 > 0:14:57OK, love you, buddy. Bye.

0:15:01 > 0:15:05I was watching Oprah. I don't know if I should admit to that!

0:15:05 > 0:15:07But I was watching Oprah

0:15:07 > 0:15:12and she said that the greatest aphrodisiac there was for a man was

0:15:12 > 0:15:16to have a vacuuming through, actually run it in the presence of his wife.

0:15:16 > 0:15:23So...she knows quite a bit. So I thought, "Well, it can't hurt."

0:15:23 > 0:15:27You know, you never know where you're going to get some information.

0:15:30 > 0:15:32Hey, you.

0:15:35 > 0:15:40Going to put the smaller one in the back. There's not quite as much room.

0:15:42 > 0:15:45We've got 27 years in now.

0:15:45 > 0:15:47Yeah, 27 years.

0:15:47 > 0:15:50I get to ride on him, not worried about what day it is.

0:15:50 > 0:15:54All I know is it's just all in four-day intervals for me.

0:15:54 > 0:15:56I don't know.

0:15:56 > 0:16:01You get in a rhythm of doing this and you... After just a few

0:16:01 > 0:16:04days of being somewhere, you're kind of ready to go to the next one.

0:16:07 > 0:16:08Hey, it's just me.

0:16:08 > 0:16:10Good. What are you doing?

0:16:12 > 0:16:16Got the clinic done here and didn't make anybody cry.

0:16:18 > 0:16:21Talk to you later on. All right, Mary. I miss you.

0:16:22 > 0:16:25I do this 40 weeks out of the year. The rest of the year,

0:16:25 > 0:16:29you could say, Where are you going to be on such and such a day?"

0:16:29 > 0:16:32And I could tell you where I'm going to be till about Thanksgiving.

0:16:32 > 0:16:36Walker Town, North Carolina. Huntsville, Alabama.

0:16:36 > 0:16:37Limerick, Maine.

0:16:37 > 0:16:39Bay Harbour, Michigan.

0:16:39 > 0:16:45Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Longmont, Colorado. Thermopolis, Wyoming.

0:16:45 > 0:16:49Bend, Oregon. Bozeman, Montana. Libby, Montana.

0:16:51 > 0:16:53Yeah, there's some loneliness.

0:16:53 > 0:16:56It's truck stops and driving late at night.

0:16:56 > 0:17:00Just trying to get to your next spot and you're alone, that's

0:17:00 > 0:17:02when you really miss your family

0:17:02 > 0:17:05And you want to be home and you think of what it would be like just

0:17:05 > 0:17:09walking barefoot across the living room and going to bed.

0:17:09 > 0:17:12But there is no way that's ever going to be anything other

0:17:12 > 0:17:14than what it is.

0:17:18 > 0:17:20Hey! How are you?

0:17:24 > 0:17:26She's going to make me a Manhattan.

0:17:26 > 0:17:29I can make more than one, if somebody wants one.

0:17:29 > 0:17:31Here in the back.

0:17:31 > 0:17:34Were you in that clinic in Ellensburg when it was

0:17:34 > 0:17:37- so cold with Bob Blackwell? - Yeah, that was 17 years ago.

0:17:37 > 0:17:39That was my first clinic with you!

0:17:39 > 0:17:42And they brought them in, these horses in stock trailers.

0:17:42 > 0:17:48Literally. Opened up the door and they went in to their own pen and there was 15 or 17 colts.

0:17:49 > 0:17:51And he roped every one of them.

0:17:55 > 0:17:57A mutual friend invited me

0:17:57 > 0:18:01and I was pretty sceptical about the clinic and the approach and I went

0:18:01 > 0:18:06pretty convinced that I wasn't going to appreciate anything that I saw.

0:18:06 > 0:18:10And then he started working with all these babies.

0:18:14 > 0:18:18And I was...blown away. I mean, I couldn't believe what I saw

0:18:18 > 0:18:21and the rapport that he had with them.

0:18:28 > 0:18:32It just kind of stopped me in my tracks.

0:18:33 > 0:18:36My whole life has been encompassed around Arabian,

0:18:36 > 0:18:39half-Arabian showhorses, from the time I was a little girl.

0:18:39 > 0:18:43I was showing horses and thinking that everything was cool,

0:18:43 > 0:18:47the way I was doing things and the way I saw things being done.

0:18:47 > 0:18:50And I'm proud of a lot of those prizes that I won,

0:18:50 > 0:18:52but I'm equally ashamed of a lot of them too.

0:18:52 > 0:18:56Horses are put into forced positions that they're neither mentally

0:18:56 > 0:18:58or physically prepared to handle.

0:18:58 > 0:19:01And these practices aren't used nearly as much

0:19:01 > 0:19:03now as they were years ago.

0:19:03 > 0:19:07But the horses would be put into hock cobbles that would go from the

0:19:07 > 0:19:09hocks, up through the snaffle,

0:19:09 > 0:19:11and back down so that every time he took a step with his hocks,

0:19:11 > 0:19:14you know, it'd take a hold of his face,

0:19:14 > 0:19:18to teach him to stay in to that fixed position.

0:19:18 > 0:19:21But there's no connection for the horse,

0:19:21 > 0:19:24there's no understanding of that, except for - it hurts.

0:19:24 > 0:19:28So they're going to stay away from those pressures and learn to

0:19:28 > 0:19:32enfix themselves into those positions through intimidation.

0:19:32 > 0:19:35I just thought that's the way you did it

0:19:35 > 0:19:38and that's what the horses had to do to be showhorses.

0:19:38 > 0:19:40You don't realise how unjust it is

0:19:40 > 0:19:43until someone shows you a different path.

0:19:49 > 0:19:53Let's say the horse needed you to be firm.

0:19:53 > 0:19:55There's a difference between firm and hard.

0:19:55 > 0:19:59Let's say I needed to take a hold of the horse with 20 pounds,

0:19:59 > 0:20:03the way I go about getting to 20 pounds is going to have a lot

0:20:03 > 0:20:06to do with whether you're successful or not.

0:20:06 > 0:20:08Hold on to that.

0:20:08 > 0:20:11I'm going to pull on you, so don't let me get it away from you, OK?

0:20:11 > 0:20:14So close your hand on that or it's going to come away from you.

0:20:14 > 0:20:16And don't give to me.

0:20:16 > 0:20:20Let's say I needed to pull on this horse about that hard.

0:20:20 > 0:20:24The way I took a hold of you, wasn't really offensive,

0:20:24 > 0:20:25wouldn't make you afraid.

0:20:25 > 0:20:28But let's say I was abrupt and had hands like a butcher

0:20:28 > 0:20:32and I took a hold of the horse like that.

0:20:32 > 0:20:34Now I'm pulling about like what I said.

0:20:34 > 0:20:37But it's how I got there, be ready.

0:20:37 > 0:20:41It's how I got there that could be rude to the horse.

0:20:41 > 0:20:44Now, watch Robert closely.

0:20:44 > 0:20:46I'm just riding with bad hands.

0:20:46 > 0:20:49Oh, you brace.

0:20:49 > 0:20:52I didn't hit you. Why did you do that?

0:20:52 > 0:20:54He's protecting himself.

0:20:54 > 0:20:58Once I've done this a few times with him, he'll brace all the time.

0:20:58 > 0:21:01Like that, see him brace? You can't help yourself.

0:21:01 > 0:21:04And I'm even telling you I'm going to do it and you still can't help it.

0:21:04 > 0:21:06But if I took a hold like this, you might give to me

0:21:06 > 0:21:10and then I give to you. But it's the way I go about it,

0:21:10 > 0:21:13and whenever you're ready, maybe you'd give to me.

0:21:13 > 0:21:15Otherwise, I'll just wait here.

0:21:15 > 0:21:18Nobody's going to get any lunch today.

0:21:18 > 0:21:21When you started to soften, so did I.

0:21:21 > 0:21:22And you both feel together.

0:21:22 > 0:21:25If you were real sensitive to me, when I feel of you here,

0:21:25 > 0:21:27you'd already be giving.

0:21:27 > 0:21:30That means something to my horse.

0:21:30 > 0:21:33That's a soft feel. That's what I do to get a soft feel right there.

0:21:33 > 0:21:36And I want you to get at least a mental picture of what a horse

0:21:36 > 0:21:39operating on a feel is.

0:21:39 > 0:21:42Hopefully, it looks good to you, that you'll want that,

0:21:42 > 0:21:45that you'll strive for that.

0:21:45 > 0:21:48So this is one example of a feel. See?

0:21:48 > 0:21:53I could even take on this rope right here like this. See?

0:21:53 > 0:21:57That's operating on a feel. See? I could do this, take it back.

0:21:57 > 0:21:59And I could do this and say get over.

0:21:59 > 0:22:03Without touching him, your energy moves the horse.

0:22:03 > 0:22:08'Most people think of a feel as when you touch something or someone and what it feels like to your fingers,

0:22:08 > 0:22:12'but a feel can have a thousand different definitions.

0:22:13 > 0:22:15'Sometimes, feel is a mental thing.

0:22:15 > 0:22:18'Sometimes, feel can happen across the arena.'

0:22:18 > 0:22:20That's what I'm looking for there.

0:22:20 > 0:22:23'Sort of an invitation for the horse to come to you.'

0:22:27 > 0:22:31It's not always physical. Sometimes it's mental.

0:22:31 > 0:22:34When you have the physical working for you when you're younger,

0:22:34 > 0:22:37you ride with 90% physical and 10% mental.

0:22:40 > 0:22:44But if you could learn how to use 90% mental and 10% physical,

0:22:44 > 0:22:46you'd be better off.

0:22:48 > 0:22:51I'm looking for the horse to learn how to follow the feel.

0:22:53 > 0:22:55They're supposed to take that much.

0:22:57 > 0:23:00A little bit more. There.

0:23:00 > 0:23:03Left. Right.

0:23:03 > 0:23:05Left. Right.

0:23:05 > 0:23:08Left. Right.

0:23:08 > 0:23:12Everything's a dance. Everything you do with a horse, it's a dance.

0:23:12 > 0:23:16Now I'll open him up a little bit here.

0:23:16 > 0:23:19The problem is when a lot of folks can't get a horse to

0:23:19 > 0:23:23operate on a feel. They'll get a little more shank on it.

0:23:23 > 0:23:27Drive a spur through the horse's shoulder. Then tie his head down.

0:23:27 > 0:23:30Then get a bicycle chain over his nose.

0:23:30 > 0:23:32It doesn't stop. It becomes medieval.

0:23:33 > 0:23:37I'm going to tip the life up in him here, we're moving on a feel.

0:23:37 > 0:23:39A horse is pretty sensitive,

0:23:39 > 0:23:42a horse can feel a mosquito land on their butt in a wind storm.

0:23:42 > 0:23:45Every movement you make on a horse, there is

0:23:45 > 0:23:50a perfect position of balance that takes no energy from the horse.

0:23:50 > 0:23:53He doesn't feel like he's pushing you along with him

0:23:53 > 0:23:56or dragging you along with him.

0:24:09 > 0:24:15He's built to fit a horse. God had him in mind when he made a cowboy.

0:24:15 > 0:24:20I've never actually seen him whisper to a horse, but I guess

0:24:20 > 0:24:24if there's a horse whisperer out there, it's Buck Brannaman!

0:24:24 > 0:24:25I don't know!

0:24:25 > 0:24:27You know?

0:24:32 > 0:24:36Originally, I got connected to The Horse Whisperer through Nick Evans.

0:24:36 > 0:24:40He said, "I'm researching some characters for my book.

0:24:40 > 0:24:44"And I'm trying to find a way to bring this character to life."

0:24:44 > 0:24:47I was doing a clinic in California and kind of a hippy-looking

0:24:47 > 0:24:51guy came up and he said, "I'm a movie producer.

0:24:51 > 0:24:55"I was wondering if you could meet with me and Bob."

0:24:55 > 0:24:57I said, "Bob?"

0:24:57 > 0:25:02In my business, artificiality is part of the business.

0:25:02 > 0:25:04You look for authentic people.

0:25:04 > 0:25:08So when I met Buck, my first thought was, "What the hell is this?"

0:25:08 > 0:25:10Guy walks into an office in Santa Monica,

0:25:10 > 0:25:13he's got a big hat on, he's got his vest and so forth.

0:25:13 > 0:25:15He looks like he's got a costume on.

0:25:15 > 0:25:20"Oh, my God!" And his compatriot was with him in the same outfit.

0:25:20 > 0:25:23I thought, "Oh, what have I gotten in to here?"

0:25:23 > 0:25:30And then, the etiquette...the politeness...the humanity

0:25:30 > 0:25:34that kind of came off real quick, kind of erased that.

0:25:34 > 0:25:37We sat in the office for about an hour and a half

0:25:37 > 0:25:40and talked about things that were authentic.

0:25:40 > 0:25:43And so I realised that I was really dealing with what

0:25:43 > 0:25:47I would call the real deal. No nonsense guy. No nonsense,

0:25:47 > 0:25:50whether with the animal or people.

0:25:50 > 0:25:55He was an adviser that I brought on that slowly worked his way

0:25:55 > 0:25:59into the core of the film-making because he just knew more.

0:25:59 > 0:26:02So Buck contributed everything, as a model and also as a player.

0:26:02 > 0:26:04I used him as a double.

0:26:04 > 0:26:07So he was a huge part of the fabric of the film.

0:26:07 > 0:26:11And he was able to do things that the hired trainer could not do.

0:26:11 > 0:26:18There was a scene that Scarlett was supposed to go into the stall

0:26:18 > 0:26:21with the horse and it was her first time being near the horse

0:26:21 > 0:26:23since the accident.

0:26:23 > 0:26:27And the action for the horse was he was supposed to sort of paw

0:26:27 > 0:26:30the ground and show a little aggression,

0:26:30 > 0:26:32and then come to her,

0:26:32 > 0:26:38and respond to her and more or less put his head in her arms...and...

0:26:38 > 0:26:41It was.. Oh gee, it was a real touching scene.

0:26:41 > 0:26:45And they couldn't get the shot because the horse was a trick horse

0:26:45 > 0:26:51and they are trained to not take their eyes off the trainer.

0:26:51 > 0:26:55The horse nuzzled the wood, the horse nuzzled the frame, the horse

0:26:55 > 0:26:58nuzzled the boots of the trainer, but wouldn't nuzzle Scarlett.

0:26:58 > 0:27:02The metre was ticking and, you know, time is money and all that stuff.

0:27:02 > 0:27:03So I was going into a panic.

0:27:03 > 0:27:08They said, "What are we going to do?" I said, "What do you mean?"

0:27:08 > 0:27:10He said, "We never got that shot."

0:27:10 > 0:27:13I said, "Yeah, we sure spent a long time at it too."

0:27:13 > 0:27:14He said, "Yeah, eight hours.

0:27:14 > 0:27:18"Have you got any ideas?" I said, "Yeah, why don't we use my horse?"

0:27:18 > 0:27:23And at first, everybody said, "Well, you don't understand, Buck.

0:27:23 > 0:27:27"We use Hollywood trick horses for this because they're performers and

0:27:27 > 0:27:29"they can do things on the mark,

0:27:29 > 0:27:31"so we can pull a focus on a certain place.

0:27:31 > 0:27:35"You just don't understand. Not downplaying your thing, Buck,

0:27:35 > 0:27:39"but he doesn't know how to work on a mark, he's not an actor."

0:27:39 > 0:27:42I said, "No, he's a horse."

0:27:42 > 0:27:44I said, "What do you have to lose?"

0:27:44 > 0:27:47So I got my horse and got him where I could lead him

0:27:47 > 0:27:49by the front foot with a rope on him

0:27:49 > 0:27:53and I got him where I could jiggle that rope and he'd paw the ground,

0:27:53 > 0:27:54on the mark.

0:27:57 > 0:27:59HORSE NEIGHS

0:28:01 > 0:28:04'So he came up and he just put his head right in her chest

0:28:04 > 0:28:06'and she wrapped her arms round that horse,

0:28:06 > 0:28:10'laid her head on his forehead and everybody was crying.'

0:28:14 > 0:28:16Within 15-20 minutes, it was done.

0:28:16 > 0:28:20So Buck played a greater role than a lot of people realise.

0:28:20 > 0:28:22He contributed to everything.

0:28:24 > 0:28:28There was a humanity and a kind of gentleness of spirit that

0:28:28 > 0:28:31I adopted for that character because of Buck.

0:28:33 > 0:28:37When I saw the finished product, he looked good.

0:28:37 > 0:28:39I told him, "There is some potential there, Bob,

0:28:39 > 0:28:42"if this movie thing doesn't work out for you.

0:28:42 > 0:28:47"I think I could probably get you to where you can make a living doing this."

0:28:47 > 0:28:50- This what you want me to take right here?- Yeah.

0:28:52 > 0:28:56- OK, Reata. I might have you check and see if he's eating.- OK.

0:28:58 > 0:29:01'I've been travelling with Dad during the summers,

0:29:01 > 0:29:04'usually from the end of June till end of August.

0:29:04 > 0:29:08'It's been two months since I've seen my dad.

0:29:08 > 0:29:11'My dad's on the road nine months out of the year and it's tough,'

0:29:11 > 0:29:15but I'm kind of used to it now. I've been doing it since I was...

0:29:15 > 0:29:17Well, forever.

0:29:17 > 0:29:21We've got a few sacks of feed to schlep across here.

0:29:23 > 0:29:27Reata, you and Nevada need to go and wrap up all the saddles.

0:29:27 > 0:29:30Nevada's going with me. My partner in crime.

0:29:30 > 0:29:33I just started travelling with them last year.

0:29:33 > 0:29:34I spent a month with them.

0:29:34 > 0:29:38Sometimes maybe we're in the way because he has like, a way of doing things.

0:29:38 > 0:29:39What are you doing?

0:29:39 > 0:29:42- Bringing you breakfast. - What is it?- Sticky buns.

0:29:42 > 0:29:46I might just have one. I don't want the....

0:29:46 > 0:29:48That'll do me. Thanks.

0:29:48 > 0:29:52I guess you've got a lot of songs transferred for me on my iPod.

0:29:52 > 0:29:57'Travelling with dad, it can get really stressful sometimes just because he is like a travel Nazi.'

0:29:57 > 0:30:00Make sure you plug that in.

0:30:00 > 0:30:02'Because he has his own way of how he does everything

0:30:02 > 0:30:05'and we kind of mess up the process sometimes.'

0:30:05 > 0:30:08Oh, Reata! You put the top on backwards!

0:30:08 > 0:30:11But then, when it comes to like cleaning pens and saddling

0:30:11 > 0:30:14his horses and stuff like that, I think he kind of appreciates us.

0:30:14 > 0:30:16- How'd you do?- Nasty!

0:30:16 > 0:30:21- Hey, Reata. Bring me back a sack for trash.- Sure.

0:30:21 > 0:30:24'I ride every summer. I usually take one of my horses.'

0:30:24 > 0:30:28Step up here and stop my horse.

0:30:28 > 0:30:29'I learn a lot.'

0:30:29 > 0:30:33'Every clinic that we go to during the summer is different.

0:30:33 > 0:30:36'The horses are different, different people.'

0:30:36 > 0:30:38There, he followed my feel.

0:30:38 > 0:30:41'The horse road can be pretty cliquey.'

0:30:41 > 0:30:44Well, we don't go for cliques around here.

0:30:44 > 0:30:47'There are probably some people here that it's just pittance,

0:30:47 > 0:30:50'pocket change for them to come.

0:30:50 > 0:30:52'And some of them save all year long

0:30:52 > 0:30:54'just to be able to go to this clinic.'

0:30:54 > 0:30:57Put on my Madonna microphone.

0:30:57 > 0:31:00How are we fixed here? Are you getting his chin down a little bit?

0:31:00 > 0:31:02You want to release as quick as you can.

0:31:02 > 0:31:05He's going to give in a second. There. There. Pet him.

0:31:05 > 0:31:09That's the way. My daughter, she had a hard time releasing him.

0:31:09 > 0:31:13I'd say, "Reata, your arms," and she'd go like that.

0:31:13 > 0:31:16Spread your hands a little more. Get them a little lower.

0:31:16 > 0:31:20There you go. Nice.

0:31:20 > 0:31:22You want that horse to be an extension of you,

0:31:22 > 0:31:26but then you don't control your legs, you think you're just controlling this part of the body.

0:31:26 > 0:31:29This is a body, the whole thing is a body.

0:31:29 > 0:31:32If all of you didn't have a horse here and I was trying to talk to you,

0:31:32 > 0:31:33wouldn't that be weird if you said,

0:31:33 > 0:31:35"Hey, I don't have control of my legs"?

0:31:35 > 0:31:38All of a sudden they just tear off you, like, "Oh, geez! Sorry!"

0:31:41 > 0:31:42Waiting on the coffee.

0:31:42 > 0:31:44He's got to have his coffee.

0:31:44 > 0:31:47Black. I'm sure that comes as a big surprise.

0:31:47 > 0:31:52He'll have a coffee and then he lets down and it kind of smoothes out.

0:31:53 > 0:31:56- Going to Sheridan, Montana. - Sheridan, Montana.

0:31:56 > 0:32:02There, and we're up here. Probably seven hours. Not too long.

0:32:08 > 0:32:11It's a great bunch of folks at this place.

0:32:11 > 0:32:13Good to see you. Welcome to Montana.

0:32:13 > 0:32:17'A lot of them I've known since I was a kid.

0:32:17 > 0:32:18'Some of them I went to school with.

0:32:18 > 0:32:21'Some of them, I went to school with their parents.

0:32:21 > 0:32:23'It's coming home for me, here.'

0:32:23 > 0:32:25It's going to be a busy week

0:32:25 > 0:32:27because Mom's going to be in Sheridan.

0:32:29 > 0:32:33- Hi.- How are you?- I'm good.

0:32:33 > 0:32:36'I haven't seen Mary for a couple of months.'

0:32:36 > 0:32:38Hi, Dally. Hi, buddy.

0:32:38 > 0:32:41'So it's been a awful long run.

0:32:41 > 0:32:43'Mary, she doesn't like to travel as much,

0:32:43 > 0:32:46'but I'd sure like her to go with me a little bit more,

0:32:46 > 0:32:49'and she may go with me a little bit more once Reata goes off to college.'

0:32:49 > 0:32:52- So this is Twyler, Rudy, this is Dally.- Hey, Rudy.

0:32:52 > 0:32:55Rudy's grown a little bit since I left.

0:32:56 > 0:33:01I don't know how many dogs you need before you have enough dogs.

0:33:01 > 0:33:05They work their way up the food chain past me.

0:33:05 > 0:33:08But my wife loves them and I love my wife,

0:33:08 > 0:33:13so if it makes her happy, it makes me happy.

0:33:13 > 0:33:16I actually do like travelling on the road.

0:33:16 > 0:33:17It's fun, it's really fun.

0:33:17 > 0:33:20You get to meet a lot of different people,

0:33:20 > 0:33:22see a lot of different, beautiful places,

0:33:22 > 0:33:25like this place, is amazing.

0:33:25 > 0:33:28But I like staying home, too, though.

0:33:28 > 0:33:30OK, are there any of you that have any real problems with them

0:33:30 > 0:33:33- that you'd like to kind of mention? - He runs me over!

0:33:33 > 0:33:36He runs you over? OK, lovely.

0:33:36 > 0:33:40Well, maybe they're not trying to be pushy.

0:33:40 > 0:33:42They might be sort of crowding you just a little bit

0:33:42 > 0:33:44because they still might be scared.

0:33:44 > 0:33:46They come to think that maybe if they get real close to you,

0:33:46 > 0:33:48they'll get some comfort.

0:33:48 > 0:33:51The big thing, you guys,

0:33:51 > 0:33:54is don't be overly critical of them.

0:33:54 > 0:33:56They're just babies.

0:33:56 > 0:34:00If he feels like you're angry at him at all, he will shut down.

0:34:03 > 0:34:08I don't know where Buck draws his real personal strength from,

0:34:08 > 0:34:10because he's lived through a lot.

0:34:10 > 0:34:13I mean, he came out of such dire straits,

0:34:13 > 0:34:16and was virtually plucked from his home

0:34:16 > 0:34:18in the middle of the night, sort of a thing.

0:34:18 > 0:34:22It's a real hard story to tell,

0:34:22 > 0:34:25because, you know, you see him now and...

0:34:25 > 0:34:28I don't even think about that.

0:34:30 > 0:34:32Ace was real hard on those boys.

0:34:32 > 0:34:35You knew there was something wrong there, maybe,

0:34:35 > 0:34:37but you weren't for sure what.

0:34:37 > 0:34:40He kept it hid pretty well, I guess,

0:34:40 > 0:34:44until the point when Coach Cleverly...

0:34:50 > 0:34:53You know, seeing his back.

0:34:58 > 0:35:00That's a hard story to think about.

0:35:02 > 0:35:09Bob Cleverly was a typical football coach that you loved but feared, too, you know.

0:35:09 > 0:35:13He would actually make Buck shower in PE

0:35:13 > 0:35:16when he didn't want to shower.

0:35:16 > 0:35:19He told him that, you know, "Get undressed and get in the shower."

0:35:19 > 0:35:22So as Buck started taking his shirt off,

0:35:22 > 0:35:25he's seen the whip marks,

0:35:25 > 0:35:28and the thing of it is,

0:35:28 > 0:35:31he just basically told him,

0:35:31 > 0:35:34he said, "Your dad will never beat you again,

0:35:34 > 0:35:36"I'll make sure of that."

0:35:36 > 0:35:40Then that's when Johnny France kind of started the ball rolling

0:35:40 > 0:35:44to get Buck and Smokie to a safe place.

0:35:45 > 0:35:50I was present when the boys were forced to disrobe,

0:35:50 > 0:35:53and on their legs and their little buttocks

0:35:53 > 0:35:57were these big whip marks

0:35:57 > 0:36:00where their dad had beat them.

0:36:01 > 0:36:04When I looked at these little boys,

0:36:04 > 0:36:09I said, "No, we'll have none of that."

0:36:09 > 0:36:13I took them to the Shirleys.

0:36:13 > 0:36:17They were two frightened little boys.

0:36:17 > 0:36:22But it wasn't too long before the two boys were just,

0:36:22 > 0:36:25they just turned into Shirleys.

0:36:25 > 0:36:29My mom had just died.

0:36:29 > 0:36:34- She was very loving, wasn't she? - Yeah.- She was a very loving lady.

0:36:34 > 0:36:38So she became my new mom,

0:36:38 > 0:36:42and boy, it was something I really needed.

0:36:44 > 0:36:48They have a wonderful relationship. She's a guiding force.

0:36:48 > 0:36:51God bless and watch over you.

0:36:51 > 0:36:53There is no sense that, "OK, you're raised, you're gone."

0:36:53 > 0:36:57She's their mother. She's truly their mother.

0:36:57 > 0:37:02I think Betsy raised something like 23 foster sons. All boys.

0:37:02 > 0:37:04When our kids were little,

0:37:04 > 0:37:07it was like a zoo.

0:37:07 > 0:37:10It was every man for himself,

0:37:10 > 0:37:13and survival of the fittest.

0:37:13 > 0:37:17My motto that's stood me in good stead is,

0:37:17 > 0:37:23blessed are the flexible for they shall not get bent out of shape.

0:37:31 > 0:37:36My foster dad taught me how to shoe horses. I was 12 years old.

0:37:36 > 0:37:40When I first went to live with him,

0:37:40 > 0:37:42he told me,

0:37:42 > 0:37:45"Kid, you might not ever amount to much,

0:37:45 > 0:37:48"but you'd better learn how to ride a colt and shoe a horse,

0:37:48 > 0:37:51"and then you'll always be able to eat.

0:37:51 > 0:37:53"Even if you can't get much of a job,

0:37:53 > 0:37:55"you'll always be able to eat."

0:37:55 > 0:37:59So he taught me how to shoe a horse over a period of time.

0:38:01 > 0:38:04There were so many things that I learned

0:38:04 > 0:38:07while I was with my foster parents.

0:38:07 > 0:38:11When I first got dropped off at the Shirley ranch,

0:38:11 > 0:38:13I was so terrified of men.

0:38:13 > 0:38:15My foster dad-to-be,

0:38:15 > 0:38:18he pulled in in the truck, and gee, he was tall,

0:38:18 > 0:38:21six-four, just looked like he was made out of rawhide and barbed wire.

0:38:21 > 0:38:25He walked right up to me and he said, "You must be Buck,"

0:38:25 > 0:38:28and I shook his hand but I couldn't even speak. It's real.

0:38:28 > 0:38:33You can be so scared that you can't say anything, no words come out.

0:38:33 > 0:38:37I just sat there. My little knees were just about knocking together.

0:38:37 > 0:38:41I was a little guy.

0:38:41 > 0:38:45Then he spun around, walked back to the truck and opened the door,

0:38:45 > 0:38:47and my heart just stopped,

0:38:47 > 0:38:51because it is almost like a colt that's had some trouble.

0:38:52 > 0:38:57You don't have to do too much to make them suspicious.

0:38:57 > 0:39:00Just even move in a little bit of a way that they don't understand

0:39:00 > 0:39:02or can't comprehend,

0:39:02 > 0:39:08and that quick, they think they need to save themselves.

0:39:08 > 0:39:13So when he went back to that truck and opened the door,

0:39:13 > 0:39:16I didn't know what to do. Scared me to death.

0:39:18 > 0:39:22He came back and he threw me a pair of buckskin gloves.

0:39:22 > 0:39:27He said, "Here, you're going to need them."

0:39:27 > 0:39:30Gee, they were just beautiful.

0:39:30 > 0:39:32They fit me perfect.

0:39:32 > 0:39:36I was so proud of them, and, uh...

0:39:38 > 0:39:43..he looked over at that ranch track and he said, "Get in."

0:39:43 > 0:39:47So we got in and he always had fencing tools in the truck.

0:39:47 > 0:39:51So we took off and we built fence all afternoon,

0:39:51 > 0:39:55pounding steel posts into rocks and pulling wire.

0:39:55 > 0:39:57But I wouldn't wear those gloves.

0:39:57 > 0:40:02There was just that token act of kindness,

0:40:02 > 0:40:04just giving me something like that,

0:40:04 > 0:40:06oh, gee, it meant so much.

0:40:06 > 0:40:09I didn't want to get them all tore up, so I kept them in my pocket

0:40:09 > 0:40:13and I just worked through the barbed wire with my bare hands.

0:40:13 > 0:40:16He realised that I didn't need someone to just pity me

0:40:16 > 0:40:18for what I'd been through.

0:40:18 > 0:40:20He knew I just needed something to do.

0:40:20 > 0:40:22I needed a job to do.

0:40:22 > 0:40:26That's when things started to head in the right direction for me.

0:40:26 > 0:40:29So I learned that about the horses, years later.

0:40:29 > 0:40:34I thought, "Oh, yeah, that's kind of what Forrest did with me,

0:40:34 > 0:40:36"come to think of it."

0:40:36 > 0:40:39NEIGHING

0:40:42 > 0:40:45You see the expression on that horse?

0:40:45 > 0:40:48He moves but he's crabby?

0:40:48 > 0:40:50Flagging the tail, it's annoyed.

0:40:50 > 0:40:53Just like asking a kid to go take the garbage out.

0:40:53 > 0:40:55They take the garbage out

0:40:55 > 0:40:58but they flip you the bird on the way out of the room.

0:40:58 > 0:41:02It's without respect. A little respect isn't fear. It's acceptance.

0:41:02 > 0:41:05He bucks whenever I saddle him.

0:41:05 > 0:41:08Not when I saddle him, but when I get him to go through transitions.

0:41:08 > 0:41:11'I've never started a colt ever in my life.'

0:41:11 > 0:41:14I've always been around really well broke ones,

0:41:14 > 0:41:16so this is my first shot at it.

0:41:16 > 0:41:19He's got a little bit of Buck in him.

0:41:19 > 0:41:20You must be Bill.

0:41:20 > 0:41:23'That's why I asked Bill Seaton to ride him,

0:41:23 > 0:41:27'because Chief needs a confident rider for that first ride.

0:41:27 > 0:41:30'I bought Chief about a year and a half ago. He was one.

0:41:30 > 0:41:33'He had never had any human contact.

0:41:33 > 0:41:36'Born out in the field, wasn't touched, handled - nothing.'

0:41:36 > 0:41:41It's just a rodeo and disaster waiting to happen.

0:41:43 > 0:41:44It's not his fault.

0:41:44 > 0:41:47He's like a kid that just didn't have any good parenting.

0:41:47 > 0:41:49He just doesn't know what's to be expected of him.

0:41:49 > 0:41:52I want to check your horse out. If you're going to do anything shocking,

0:41:52 > 0:41:56I'd rather you did the shocking stuff right here.

0:41:57 > 0:42:02Right here, step over. He says, "Well, I'd prefer you beg me."

0:42:04 > 0:42:06Not a chance.

0:42:06 > 0:42:08There's the good deal offered.

0:42:08 > 0:42:09There's not so good a deal.

0:42:11 > 0:42:12That's the thing with a horse.

0:42:12 > 0:42:15You can't just love on them and buy lots of carrots.

0:42:15 > 0:42:17Bribery doesn't work with horses.

0:42:17 > 0:42:20No different than trying to bribe a kid.

0:42:20 > 0:42:23All it does is make a contemptuous, spoiled horse.

0:42:24 > 0:42:27But you don't want them afraid of you.

0:42:27 > 0:42:31You can be strict, but you don't need to be unfair.

0:42:31 > 0:42:34Like I say, it's not personal. I don't feel any different about him

0:42:34 > 0:42:38than I do my own horse I just stepped off. We're not mad at you.

0:42:38 > 0:42:41One of the biggest challenges of a horseman is to be able

0:42:41 > 0:42:43to control your emotions,

0:42:43 > 0:42:46because a person might be quick to get all mad.

0:42:46 > 0:42:51There you go. That's better. Let's go this way. I said that way.

0:42:51 > 0:42:53'You allow a horse to make mistakes.

0:42:53 > 0:42:57'The horse will learn from mistakes no different than human.'

0:42:57 > 0:43:00But you can't get him to where he dreads making mistakes

0:43:00 > 0:43:03for fear of what's going to happen after he does.

0:43:03 > 0:43:06Sometimes I'll just move this flag around and I don't want him

0:43:06 > 0:43:10to be afraid of it. I am saying, "Just live with that."

0:43:10 > 0:43:14See? Now we'll start again.

0:43:16 > 0:43:18There's a change.

0:43:21 > 0:43:22Attaboy.

0:43:27 > 0:43:30Buck says when you start handling horses,

0:43:30 > 0:43:33your own personal issues start coming out.

0:43:33 > 0:43:37I was so anxious to see the saddle on Chief, I rushed into it.

0:43:37 > 0:43:39Now I've built...

0:43:39 > 0:43:43I feel like I have built this fear and insecurity in him.

0:43:43 > 0:43:46But see, I'm an insecure person, so horses, they mirror you.

0:43:46 > 0:43:47They can't lie.

0:43:47 > 0:43:49There! Good boy.

0:43:50 > 0:43:53Horsemanship, fine horsemanship, becomes a way of life.

0:43:53 > 0:43:56It's not about controlling the horses.

0:43:56 > 0:43:59It becomes how you treat your spouse,

0:43:59 > 0:44:03how you treat strangers.

0:44:03 > 0:44:05Will you give people a chance,

0:44:05 > 0:44:07just like you give the horses a chance?

0:44:07 > 0:44:09It becomes how you discipline your children.

0:44:09 > 0:44:13You can discipline and discourage, or you can discipline and encourage.

0:44:13 > 0:44:15You can say, "I see you tried that.

0:44:15 > 0:44:18"What do you think you should try instead?"

0:44:18 > 0:44:20Tentative, but he tried.

0:44:20 > 0:44:21And I'd pet him with this.

0:44:21 > 0:44:24You can just leave him be for a little while,

0:44:24 > 0:44:26just kind of hang with him, let that soak in.

0:44:26 > 0:44:29That's a more building sort of approach than,

0:44:29 > 0:44:31"That's wrong, that's wrong, that's wrong."

0:44:31 > 0:44:34All right, it's time. Going out that end, going round the corral.

0:44:34 > 0:44:38We're going to go for a little ride here.

0:44:40 > 0:44:42How are you getting along, Bill?

0:44:42 > 0:44:44- Great.- Pretty good.

0:44:44 > 0:44:48Sure does, doesn't it? See if you can get all low.

0:44:48 > 0:44:51Good, well done.

0:44:51 > 0:44:54- Coming through. - There you go. Way to go.

0:44:54 > 0:44:58- I'm sure that felt pretty good to you, Bill.- It did.

0:44:58 > 0:45:02That kind of where you end up on your ride on the horse is so important, you guys.

0:45:02 > 0:45:05It's a little bit like when you guys were younger and you were dating.

0:45:05 > 0:45:08That last two minutes of the date can be a real deal breaker.

0:45:08 > 0:45:11With these horses, it's the same thing.

0:45:11 > 0:45:15You've got to quit on a good note. That was a good day.

0:45:15 > 0:45:18All right, I'll see you guys tomorrow.

0:45:20 > 0:45:24- Raspberry and peach cobbler. Which would you like?- Going for raspberry.

0:45:26 > 0:45:29Hey, Buck, why don't you do some rope tricks?

0:45:42 > 0:45:45This is kind of a trick you want here.

0:45:54 > 0:45:56This is the move I always used to do for Mary

0:45:56 > 0:45:58while I was trying to trap her.

0:46:13 > 0:46:16'He was just a very ordinary boy.'

0:46:16 > 0:46:19Didn't show signs of early genius.

0:46:20 > 0:46:22Thanks, Mom.

0:46:24 > 0:46:27It was one point he thought maybe his trick world

0:46:27 > 0:46:30would be his avenue to success.

0:46:30 > 0:46:36But when he first saw Ray Hunt doing his thing,

0:46:36 > 0:46:39he was so fascinated, he focused on that.

0:46:49 > 0:46:55Pretty much anybody that's been involved in the horse world knows Ray Hunt.

0:46:55 > 0:46:58Ray brought this style of horsemanship to the world.

0:46:58 > 0:47:01Tom Dorrance is sort of the godfather of all of this.

0:47:01 > 0:47:02Tom Dorrance taught

0:47:02 > 0:47:05Ray Hunt. Ray Hunt taught Buck Brannaman.

0:47:05 > 0:47:08That's kind of the lineage, as it were.

0:47:08 > 0:47:11I met Ray right after I got out of high school.

0:47:11 > 0:47:14One of my teachers told me about this guy that could start a horse

0:47:14 > 0:47:18and get on him in just a few minutes and ride him around, no bridle on.

0:47:18 > 0:47:21I thought, "Right..."

0:47:21 > 0:47:23I'd grown up on a ranch, I was pretty punchy.

0:47:23 > 0:47:27Rode a lot of colts. Pretty fair broke-rider for a kid.

0:47:27 > 0:47:31I thought, "Yeah, another song and dance man, some horse show dude."

0:47:31 > 0:47:33I had an opportunity to go

0:47:33 > 0:47:37and get this cowboying job at a place called Madison River Cattle Company.

0:47:37 > 0:47:41They said, "Well, in order for you to get hired, you're going to have to go and talk to the manager,

0:47:41 > 0:47:43"and he's at a Ray Hunt clinic."

0:47:43 > 0:47:46I thought, "Oh, great, here's this Ray Hunt guy again."

0:47:46 > 0:47:47So I go into the fairgrounds,

0:47:47 > 0:47:49sat about as far away as I could

0:47:49 > 0:47:53so that I could show that I was not interested in this.

0:47:53 > 0:47:55And then in come Ray Hunt.

0:47:55 > 0:47:58I saw him do more things with a horse in a couple of minutes

0:47:58 > 0:48:03than I'd ever figured anybody could do with a horse.

0:48:03 > 0:48:07He worked with a colt that was pretty touchy,

0:48:07 > 0:48:10and I'd been around enough to know what a touchy horse looked like.

0:48:20 > 0:48:22You could tell the horse truly understood

0:48:22 > 0:48:24what he was expecting of her.

0:48:24 > 0:48:28He could take those feet anywhere he wanted. They were his feet.

0:48:28 > 0:48:30It was just an extension of him.

0:48:32 > 0:48:35It was like a beautiful dance.

0:48:35 > 0:48:37I took right to it as soon as I saw it.

0:48:37 > 0:48:40I thought, "I don't even know what it is,

0:48:40 > 0:48:43"but whatever it is, I need this."

0:48:45 > 0:48:47So that was the beginning for me.

0:48:47 > 0:48:49I went to Ray's clinics

0:48:49 > 0:48:52if not every week, every other week for the next four, five years.

0:48:52 > 0:48:55I was right down in the arena, hanging over the round corral,

0:48:55 > 0:48:58watching this guy lift a rein or move a foot.

0:48:58 > 0:49:02I might not have known all what he was doing, but I was seeing it.

0:49:02 > 0:49:04We got to be very close.

0:49:04 > 0:49:10Even though he said it wasn't that important that I pleased him

0:49:10 > 0:49:13or that people pleased him,

0:49:13 > 0:49:17I looked for his approval

0:49:17 > 0:49:20in the same way you would a father figure.

0:49:20 > 0:49:25Later on, when Ray passed away,

0:49:25 > 0:49:28I shed way more tears for him than I ever did my dad.

0:49:28 > 0:49:32SPEAKING IN CLINIC: 'You guys don't have to ride like Ray Hunt or talk to horses,

0:49:32 > 0:49:35'but that's a choice I made.'

0:49:35 > 0:49:39First clinic I ever did, probably wasn't a real effective teacher.

0:49:39 > 0:49:41I was a pretty decent hand by then.

0:49:41 > 0:49:44I could get a little bit of stuff done with a horse.

0:49:44 > 0:49:47But I'm sure I just sounded like I was parodying Ray Hunt.

0:49:47 > 0:49:52I didn't have anything original of my own to really talk about,

0:49:52 > 0:49:55and I was so introverted at the time.

0:49:55 > 0:49:57I felt so uncomfortable.

0:49:57 > 0:50:01I committed right then that I was going to do enough

0:50:01 > 0:50:03little local clinics to conquer that.

0:50:03 > 0:50:06Buck has worked so hard to overcome his shyness.

0:50:06 > 0:50:08The clinics were so small when he first started,

0:50:08 > 0:50:10he would offer to haul the horses for free

0:50:10 > 0:50:12just to get them to go to his clinic.

0:50:12 > 0:50:17He couldn't have eye contact with you. He was very shy.

0:50:17 > 0:50:20To see him work that hard to overcome that,

0:50:20 > 0:50:23I think it amazes him to this day

0:50:23 > 0:50:26that people want to even listen to what he has to say.

0:50:26 > 0:50:29Ray used to say that he thought horsemen were born.

0:50:29 > 0:50:34But an average person can be extraordinary at this.

0:50:34 > 0:50:38But if you don't have any guts, if you don't have any try,

0:50:38 > 0:50:41you'll be damn lucky to be ordinary.

0:50:46 > 0:50:49MOOING

0:50:51 > 0:50:55You're going to find out what it's like to actually use a horse

0:50:55 > 0:50:59and how nice they can be when they get used.

0:50:59 > 0:51:01To work a horse properly on a cow,

0:51:01 > 0:51:03that's the coolest feeling there is.

0:51:05 > 0:51:07Let the games begin.

0:51:11 > 0:51:14I want you to build and learn things and do things in real life

0:51:14 > 0:51:18if you were on a ranch, where you have a job to do.

0:51:20 > 0:51:25It's one turn and then a raise. One turn and then a raise.

0:51:25 > 0:51:29Give them a job. Figure out how to build on the horse's pride.

0:51:29 > 0:51:31Make him feel good about himself.

0:51:31 > 0:51:34I wasn't just talking about the horse.

0:51:34 > 0:51:37That's good.

0:51:37 > 0:51:38Mary.

0:51:40 > 0:51:42As long as you can stay between your cow and the herd,

0:51:42 > 0:51:44you're in charge.

0:51:44 > 0:51:47Dang! Out. I'm out.

0:51:47 > 0:51:49See what happens when you're married to him?

0:51:49 > 0:51:52Britt, you're up. Go move that cow.

0:51:52 > 0:51:56There's really nothing more fun than chasing cows at top speed

0:51:56 > 0:51:59and just trying to react. That's crazy fun.

0:51:59 > 0:52:01But that's not really what you're supposed to do.

0:52:01 > 0:52:04So it's this constant battle to bring you back

0:52:04 > 0:52:06to some place that's controlled.

0:52:06 > 0:52:08Stop. Now, see you turned without stopping.

0:52:08 > 0:52:11That's the other half of why this is a really interesting thing,

0:52:11 > 0:52:14because it carries over into every other aspect of your life,

0:52:14 > 0:52:18and I think it's made me a more resourceful and balanced human being,

0:52:18 > 0:52:22on top of just less likely to get killed on a horse.

0:52:22 > 0:52:26I love working cattle with my dressage horses.

0:52:26 > 0:52:29I think it's fabulous for them,

0:52:29 > 0:52:33because dressage is a sport where there are really fine, ballet-type movements

0:52:33 > 0:52:35that you're asking the horse to do.

0:52:35 > 0:52:39It gives meaning and purpose to the dressage work.

0:52:39 > 0:52:43And then when you take that purpose back into the dressage ring,

0:52:43 > 0:52:46the horse says, "I'm practising working cows,"

0:52:46 > 0:52:48and it makes sense to the horse.

0:52:48 > 0:52:51And then he will do it with a greater joy,

0:52:51 > 0:52:53because it has meaning to him. It's not simply an exercise.

0:52:53 > 0:52:58And I think that dressage work gives the cow horse skills

0:52:58 > 0:53:00that even cowboys could use.

0:53:00 > 0:53:02MOOING

0:53:02 > 0:53:03There you go.

0:53:03 > 0:53:06Horses get discouraged by riders who shut the doors.

0:53:06 > 0:53:08Buck's really good at opening doors.

0:53:08 > 0:53:11When you get to artwork or anything else that you do,

0:53:11 > 0:53:14you start to look at it for open doors.

0:53:14 > 0:53:16And then you learn to walk through those.

0:53:16 > 0:53:19You guys want to throw a few heel shocks?

0:53:30 > 0:53:33I knew that Buck was really a special guy.

0:53:33 > 0:53:36Because of his background, which I learned about,

0:53:36 > 0:53:38and the abuse he had suffered as a kid,

0:53:38 > 0:53:41it was even more impressive that he could come through that abuse,

0:53:41 > 0:53:44and, rather than repeating it, that he went the other way

0:53:44 > 0:53:47and decided, "I'm not going to have that in my life."

0:53:47 > 0:53:51- Bill, I'll start with you first. What's your stage name? - Smokie Brannaman.

0:53:51 > 0:53:54Smokie Brannaman. And how about you, Dan? What's your stage name?

0:53:54 > 0:53:58- They call me Buckshot, and I'm seven years old.- Who taught you to perform?

0:53:58 > 0:54:00- Our father did.- Yeah.

0:54:00 > 0:54:04- And that's Ace Brannaman, right? - Yes.- Did he ever do this type of thing?

0:54:04 > 0:54:07'The way that my dad treated me when I was little,

0:54:07 > 0:54:11'and the way he approached us as kids,

0:54:11 > 0:54:17'I wouldn't attribute any of my positive virtues to my dad in any way whatsoever.

0:54:20 > 0:54:22'I know you're not supposed to hate anybody,

0:54:22 > 0:54:26'but the hurt that he caused me, I've never really got over it.

0:54:28 > 0:54:32'So I live in the moment. I like to live in the moment.

0:54:32 > 0:54:36'You worry about yesterday or last week or 20 years ago,

0:54:36 > 0:54:39'it's not going to work out too good for you.

0:54:39 > 0:54:41'You can't live in two places at once.

0:54:41 > 0:54:45'You never forget, but you don't have to keep living in the past.'

0:54:45 > 0:54:49There's a whole bunch of things I learned from all the dark stuff that happened to me.

0:54:49 > 0:54:52There was a hell of a lot of things I learned.

0:54:52 > 0:54:55I wouldn't necessarily recommended it to anybody.

0:54:55 > 0:54:57But it made me what I am.

0:55:00 > 0:55:02It got a little warm there for a while today, didn't it?

0:55:02 > 0:55:04'Thank goodness, my daughter -

0:55:04 > 0:55:07'She's never gone through anything like that.

0:55:07 > 0:55:10'And now she's almost grown up, so...'

0:55:10 > 0:55:12You can just saddle him inside the round corral.

0:55:16 > 0:55:19'I think if a kid is living in an environment like I was,

0:55:19 > 0:55:24'the way you protect yourself is you just don't communicate with anybody

0:55:24 > 0:55:26'and you try your best not to be noticed.

0:55:26 > 0:55:29'And you just sort of withdraw.

0:55:29 > 0:55:34'And you'll see a horse sometimes - that's been mashed on by somebody,

0:55:34 > 0:55:37'and you just look in their eyes and they look like they're dead.

0:55:37 > 0:55:40'Yet that's the time you try to encourage your kid

0:55:40 > 0:55:42'to be outgoing and gregarious.

0:55:42 > 0:55:45'And be able to talk to - not only other kids - but adults.'

0:55:45 > 0:55:47And just see if you can lope him right out of his tracks.

0:55:47 > 0:55:49Cos that's what you might have to do

0:55:49 > 0:55:51if you're going to jump out of your tracks on a cow or something.

0:55:51 > 0:55:54THEY LAUGH

0:55:56 > 0:55:59He kind of got it done in spite of you, didn't he?!

0:55:59 > 0:56:01Oh, dang it!

0:56:01 > 0:56:04Make a cowgirl out of you, yet!

0:56:04 > 0:56:08I'm not doing this so you can laugh!

0:56:08 > 0:56:11'Reata and I are an awful lot alike.

0:56:11 > 0:56:15'Thank goodness, she kind of has her mother's looks.

0:56:15 > 0:56:17'Mentally, she's a lot like I am.

0:56:17 > 0:56:23'Mary'll say - sometimes, in frustration - "She's just like you!"

0:56:23 > 0:56:25And I think - "What's the downside to that?"

0:56:28 > 0:56:31But she may not be seeing it just that away at the time, but...

0:56:32 > 0:56:35If I look at her the way she's developed

0:56:35 > 0:56:38and I think I probably could have been that way when I was her age.

0:56:38 > 0:56:41That was in there all the while.

0:56:41 > 0:56:43There.

0:56:43 > 0:56:45That was a little better!

0:56:45 > 0:56:46Yeah, I could feel it.

0:57:00 > 0:57:03Either, before you get settled, or when you get settled...

0:57:03 > 0:57:08You signed these books last year and I need a translation of Spanish or Latin.

0:57:08 > 0:57:09Latin.

0:57:09 > 0:57:12"Solvitur en modo, firmatur en rey."

0:57:12 > 0:57:14Gentle in what you do, firm in how you do it.

0:57:14 > 0:57:17Good words.

0:57:17 > 0:57:18How are you, Charlene?

0:57:18 > 0:57:20Hello. It's good to see you. I wanted to tell you,

0:57:20 > 0:57:23I was all signed up to ride with you in a couple of weeks

0:57:23 > 0:57:24then I found out I'm having a baby!

0:57:24 > 0:57:26Well, all right!

0:57:26 > 0:57:27Good for you.

0:57:27 > 0:57:30- I always learn, even when I'm watching.- Good. All right.

0:57:30 > 0:57:34OVER PA: OK, you guys, come on over near the round corral,

0:57:34 > 0:57:36where you can get a good chance to see.

0:57:36 > 0:57:38I'll work with this one first here.

0:57:38 > 0:57:40Evidently, he's a little naughty.

0:57:42 > 0:57:46I guess you can see a little disrespect there, huh?

0:57:46 > 0:57:48Had to stick his nose right in my face.

0:57:48 > 0:57:50So I'll work with him...

0:57:55 > 0:58:01Dan, this guy's a paint, and he was an orphan as a baby.

0:58:01 > 0:58:04He was oxygen-deprived, apparently.

0:58:04 > 0:58:05Dan, do you want to...?

0:58:05 > 0:58:07Which way you guys want to bring him in?

0:58:07 > 0:58:09Did you talk to Buck?

0:58:09 > 0:58:11See if he wants him or not.

0:58:11 > 0:58:14Cos that horse may hold up the whole progress of the class.

0:58:14 > 0:58:17- So wait until noon? - He might want to wait.

0:58:17 > 0:58:20- Maybe at lunch?- Even after?

0:58:22 > 0:58:26BUCK OVER PA: I think we have a problem child, we have to work yet.

0:58:26 > 0:58:29Can you bring that one on in, Dan?

0:58:29 > 0:58:32They make it sound like they're bringing in a Siberian tiger.

0:58:32 > 0:58:34WHINNYING

0:58:40 > 0:58:44Was he hard to catch even in the trailer, Dan?

0:58:44 > 0:58:47Just kind of wanted to be a little aggressive.

0:58:47 > 0:58:49Bite, maybe.

0:58:49 > 0:58:51- Uh-huh. - Just a lot of threatening, you know.

0:58:52 > 0:58:54- How old is he?- Just three.

0:58:54 > 0:58:56How much have you worked with him?

0:59:02 > 0:59:06..I got my back broken in two places. So he has not been handled.

0:59:06 > 0:59:09So he was more or less raised like an orphan?

0:59:09 > 0:59:11- Yeah.- Those can be the worst kind.

0:59:11 > 0:59:13The orphans are always the worst

0:59:13 > 0:59:15because they don't learn anything about respect

0:59:15 > 0:59:18that they would have learned from their mother or other horses.

0:59:18 > 0:59:21They don't respect anything or anybody.

0:59:22 > 0:59:25People thought I should maybe put him down.

0:59:25 > 0:59:26That maybe he had some brain damage.

0:59:26 > 0:59:29He's extremely dangerous.

0:59:29 > 0:59:30And he attacks cars.

0:59:30 > 0:59:34I'm sure you're anxious to get that one in here, Dan.

0:59:34 > 0:59:37Kit, step in behind him there.

0:59:37 > 0:59:41When he was an orphan, I didn't have a barn because my house burned down and my barn burned down,

0:59:41 > 0:59:43so I raised him in the house - it was cold.

0:59:43 > 0:59:47So I bottle-fed him every couple of hours

0:59:47 > 0:59:50and I... How do you say? ..potty trained him.

0:59:50 > 0:59:52It started out a good relationship,

0:59:52 > 0:59:56it's just somebody else has to come in and help me.

0:59:59 > 1:00:00He's different.

1:00:02 > 1:00:04And he's a stud, too?

1:00:07 > 1:00:10Yeah. I'd do that the sooner the better.

1:00:10 > 1:00:12It looks to me, the last thing you need is a damn stud.

1:00:12 > 1:00:14If you're going to have one, a lot of you guys,

1:00:14 > 1:00:17you'd just as well get you a grizzly bear, an orang-utan.

1:00:20 > 1:00:22I've known Buck for over 20 years.

1:00:22 > 1:00:27And I've seen one other horse besides Kelly the stallion,

1:00:27 > 1:00:29that stands out.

1:00:29 > 1:00:32But I've never ever witnessed anything like that...

1:00:32 > 1:00:35that dangerous and unpredictable.

1:00:52 > 1:00:55- Is somebody planning on trimming his feet some day?- Yeah.

1:00:55 > 1:00:56Any shoers here?

1:00:58 > 1:01:00Come on, you cowards!

1:01:01 > 1:01:02You want to shoe him right now,

1:01:02 > 1:01:04or would you rather I got him a little better?

1:01:04 > 1:01:07Your bluff!

1:01:07 > 1:01:10Cos Dan's going to saddle him and ride him round here in a minute.

1:01:11 > 1:01:15A lot of you that don't understand much about a rope,

1:01:15 > 1:01:17you'll find out I can stop him.

1:01:17 > 1:01:19And that's going to come in handy for you, Dan.

1:01:19 > 1:01:22When you're on him, you're going to be real glad I can stop him.

1:01:22 > 1:01:25I want you to understand how much more control

1:01:25 > 1:01:28I have by a hind foot than I would by a halter on his head.

1:01:28 > 1:01:30You already know you can't control him with a halter on his head.

1:01:30 > 1:01:33Cos he's been chewing on people and being aggressive,

1:01:33 > 1:01:35and wanting to attack people.

1:01:35 > 1:01:38I want you guys to understand you can't hold it against him

1:01:38 > 1:01:39for how his life has been.

1:01:43 > 1:01:45He'll lead soft...

1:01:45 > 1:01:46OK, Dan, if you come on in.

1:01:46 > 1:01:49We're just going to kind of love on him, right now.

1:01:49 > 1:01:51Just kind of ease up beside him. Pet him.

1:01:53 > 1:01:55Come on over with your blanket.

1:01:55 > 1:01:57Just go up and rub him.

1:02:01 > 1:02:03Good, good... Go get your saddle.

1:02:05 > 1:02:09While his frame of mind is humble like that, you can cuddle him,

1:02:09 > 1:02:11love on him, too.

1:02:11 > 1:02:14So just pet him on the hind leg, see if you can gently pick up the hoof.

1:02:14 > 1:02:18That's the way. You can go round the front.

1:02:18 > 1:02:21Rub him on his face there, when he's being a good guy.

1:02:21 > 1:02:24Watch him though - block him if he wants to bite... Block! Block!

1:02:24 > 1:02:27That's he biggest thing - nobody's ever blocked him.

1:02:27 > 1:02:29We had to put up a sign that says Attack Horse

1:02:29 > 1:02:32because if somebody did walk into the pasture,

1:02:32 > 1:02:34he would have taken them out.

1:02:34 > 1:02:36One time some people started teasing him

1:02:36 > 1:02:39and I went up to him about 12 feet away, in this golf cart,

1:02:39 > 1:02:42thinking that would bring him away from the fence,

1:02:42 > 1:02:45and instead he looked back at me, pinned his ears, ducked his head -

1:02:45 > 1:02:48did the aggressive horse behaviour, and came right at me!

1:02:48 > 1:02:50Going, striking feet, everything,

1:02:50 > 1:02:54and he pretty much came up over the golf cart and nailed me.

1:02:54 > 1:02:57Go for a little walk with him.

1:03:01 > 1:03:03Now we'll stop.

1:03:03 > 1:03:05Pet him.

1:03:06 > 1:03:08You're the good cop, there, Dan.

1:03:08 > 1:03:09You just love on him.

1:03:09 > 1:03:11Rub him down that hind leg.

1:03:11 > 1:03:14Looks good. Just get on him like he's Grandma's horse.

1:03:17 > 1:03:20Pick your rope up so it's not dragging there.

1:03:20 > 1:03:22So you can bend him if you need to... to the left.

1:03:22 > 1:03:23Pet him.

1:03:23 > 1:03:27Rub him all over like you're totally in love.

1:03:28 > 1:03:30There you go.

1:03:30 > 1:03:33OK, walk off again. Go ahead.

1:03:33 > 1:03:37Yeah, go ahead, say, "Come on, let's go, Yeller!"

1:03:37 > 1:03:39There you go. Pet him.

1:03:39 > 1:03:41Pet him when he goes. You've got to remember that.

1:03:41 > 1:03:43Now maybe we can lope him.

1:03:43 > 1:03:45You got an opportunity.

1:03:45 > 1:03:47Go ahead. Go on.

1:03:47 > 1:03:49Pet him. Pet him!

1:03:49 > 1:03:50Rub him on the back.

1:03:50 > 1:03:54Don't want him thinking when he feels anything back there he's just going to get whacked.

1:03:54 > 1:03:56Good job. I'm going to stop you now.

1:03:58 > 1:04:02OK, you can step off him nice and clean.

1:04:02 > 1:04:05This isn't open for discussion - at this point,

1:04:05 > 1:04:09Dan is the only one permitted to lead this horse anywhere.

1:04:09 > 1:04:13And then later on, a little short evening session,

1:04:13 > 1:04:16you can work him on the end of your lead rope in here,

1:04:16 > 1:04:18when it's just you and him by yourself.

1:04:21 > 1:04:25I was really embarrassed cos he said no-one should have a stud horse

1:04:25 > 1:04:29and I'm thinking, God, if he only knew I had a whole pasture full at home!

1:04:29 > 1:04:33And that he's said not letting him get his head over to bite...

1:04:33 > 1:04:34Well, it's healed up pretty well,

1:04:34 > 1:04:38but I'm going to have that the rest of my life. Yeah.

1:04:43 > 1:04:46You know, I have thousands of horses under my belt

1:04:46 > 1:04:48and lots of experience,

1:04:48 > 1:04:52and hell, the safest place around this sonovabitch is on him!

1:04:52 > 1:04:54You felt fine when you were on him.

1:04:57 > 1:05:00But around him on the ground...

1:05:00 > 1:05:02he's treacherous.

1:05:02 > 1:05:05Because of what he's...gotten to be.

1:05:06 > 1:05:10And he could hurt Dan or me or you or anybody else

1:05:10 > 1:05:12just in being spoiled.

1:05:12 > 1:05:14He doesn't want to be that way...

1:05:15 > 1:05:18..but he doesn't know any other way to be.

1:05:19 > 1:05:21He's as close to having been

1:05:21 > 1:05:24turned into a predator as you're going to find.

1:05:27 > 1:05:29Cos he's been wrecked.

1:05:31 > 1:05:35I'd want to give the older horses a chance to get him some manners.

1:05:35 > 1:05:37He's run with some studs.

1:05:37 > 1:05:39You're nuts for having that many studs running together.

1:05:39 > 1:05:41Lady, I'm telling you that.

1:05:41 > 1:05:44Most people don't need studs, and for God's sake they don't need 18 of 'em!

1:05:44 > 1:05:46I don't know what you're trying to prove.

1:05:46 > 1:05:48And if you've got a lot going on in your life,

1:05:48 > 1:05:51probably a lot of it is a lot bigger story than this horse.

1:05:51 > 1:05:54LOUD WHINNYING

1:05:54 > 1:05:56You oughta be a SEAL team member, or something,

1:05:56 > 1:05:58as much risk as you like to take.

1:05:58 > 1:06:01Why don't you learn how to enjoy your life?

1:06:01 > 1:06:03Life's too damn short.

1:06:03 > 1:06:06This horse tells me quite a bit about you.

1:06:06 > 1:06:10So this is just an amplified situation of what is.

1:06:10 > 1:06:15Maybe there's some things for you to learn about you.

1:06:15 > 1:06:19Maybe the horse is going to be the only damn way you're going to learn it.

1:06:19 > 1:06:21Cos you might not listen to somebody else.

1:06:21 > 1:06:25Well, that's all right. Sometimes I don't either, and I should.

1:06:25 > 1:06:27Ask my wife.

1:06:27 > 1:06:28I love the horses,

1:06:28 > 1:06:31but I have a responsibility to my fellow human too.

1:06:31 > 1:06:33If I think maybe it might do something

1:06:33 > 1:06:36to get yourself hurt and you don't even see it coming,

1:06:36 > 1:06:38if I see it coming, you know,

1:06:38 > 1:06:42I have a moral obligation to say you're in big trouble here.

1:06:43 > 1:06:45Sound fair?

1:06:45 > 1:06:47OK.

1:06:47 > 1:06:49He's right. I mean...

1:06:49 > 1:06:51He's right. I've...

1:06:51 > 1:06:53You know.

1:06:53 > 1:06:56He's right. And I'm not... It's not just the horse.

1:06:56 > 1:06:58He's right about my life.

1:07:04 > 1:07:08LOUD WHINNY

1:07:08 > 1:07:11So, Dan, if you feel safer just roping him? Just rope him.

1:07:11 > 1:07:14I need to get my horse warmed up a little bit.

1:07:55 > 1:07:57Dan! Dan! DAN!

1:07:57 > 1:07:59< HEY! HEY! HEY!

1:08:04 > 1:08:06Get out, you're bleeding really bad. >

1:08:06 > 1:08:09He got you in the head. Get out.

1:08:09 > 1:08:10That's it.

1:08:14 > 1:08:16I'm done.

1:08:16 > 1:08:18You got it?

1:08:18 > 1:08:20Dan, hop down, will you?

1:08:20 > 1:08:22Just hop down.

1:08:22 > 1:08:24I need to stay here.

1:08:24 > 1:08:26I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

1:08:26 > 1:08:28It's all right.

1:08:28 > 1:08:30He needs sutures. It's a huge hole.

1:08:30 > 1:08:34That's pretty bad, y'all. You carry something with you, just in case?

1:08:34 > 1:08:37'I'm going to have to put him down.'

1:08:43 > 1:08:46Aw, look what he did to my hat!

1:08:46 > 1:08:47He bit you in the head?!

1:08:47 > 1:08:50- Holy shit!- It knocked me over.

1:08:50 > 1:08:52- Hey, go sit down in my mom's car, right there.- Why?

1:08:52 > 1:08:55Cos I'm taking you to get stitches, it's deep.

1:08:55 > 1:08:58It's deep. You could see the bone.

1:08:58 > 1:09:00Mr Brannaman, you need to talk a little sense into Dan.

1:09:00 > 1:09:03I figure you're probably the only one that can do it.

1:09:03 > 1:09:04Dang!

1:09:04 > 1:09:08About the third tine I got the saddle blanket up over his back,

1:09:08 > 1:09:09boy, I didn't even see him, man.

1:09:09 > 1:09:11He hit me with his teeth, knocked me flat.

1:09:11 > 1:09:13Get it stitched up.

1:09:18 > 1:09:19Know what you're going to do?

1:09:19 > 1:09:22We're going to have to have him put down.

1:09:22 > 1:09:25I won't give him to somebody who'll beat him to a pulp with a 2x4.

1:09:25 > 1:09:28It's not something you do. And he's dangerous.

1:09:28 > 1:09:31I'm going to put him down and that's the most humane thing to do for him.

1:09:31 > 1:09:32Yeah.

1:09:34 > 1:09:38- KELLY HITS CORRAL - Dale, get out of there.

1:09:41 > 1:09:42- MAN SHOUTS:- DAN! DAN!

1:09:42 > 1:09:46- Do not get close to him! - Step back away from him.

1:09:46 > 1:09:49- Is Buck coming?- Yeah. - Please, step back away from him.

1:09:58 > 1:10:00< Come on, Kel.

1:10:00 > 1:10:01LOUD WHINNY

1:10:06 > 1:10:08How is he going to get him in that trailer?

1:10:28 > 1:10:32- Come on, Kel. Come on. Up! - Just sit still.

1:10:32 > 1:10:35- Come on, Kel. Come on.- Just wait.

1:10:35 > 1:10:38Come on. Come on.

1:10:39 > 1:10:46- Come on, Kel. Come on, Kel, come on. Up.- Sit still. Just sit still.

1:10:50 > 1:10:53Just sit still. Just don't do anything.

1:12:18 > 1:12:22OK, we'll see if you have any questions here.

1:12:27 > 1:12:29Well, I'll talk to you right now.

1:12:29 > 1:12:34The colt, when it was born, was not breathing when they got to it, and they didn't know for how long.

1:12:34 > 1:12:40So they figured the horse had been oxygen deprived for quite a long period of time.

1:12:40 > 1:12:43But he still could have made it in spite of his handicap

1:12:43 > 1:12:46that he was born with. He could have made it.

1:12:46 > 1:12:50If you just would treat this as if that horse,

1:12:50 > 1:12:55because of the oxygen deprivation, had a learning disability.

1:12:55 > 1:12:58Well, number one, they should have worked with him

1:12:58 > 1:13:00like you might work with a disabled child and said,

1:13:00 > 1:13:04"Look, you might need a little bit of extra education,

1:13:04 > 1:13:07"because of where you're coming from."

1:13:07 > 1:13:10So you could have taken that disabled child and turned him

1:13:10 > 1:13:15into something of value to himself and everyone else.

1:13:15 > 1:13:17And he may have ended up just a kind, nice little horse

1:13:17 > 1:13:22that didn't have a lot to offer mentally, but was just kind of OK with people.

1:13:22 > 1:13:28And he might have packed someone around. He might have been the absolute opposite of what he is.

1:13:28 > 1:13:31But, you know damn good and well, she would go home

1:13:31 > 1:13:34and she would either get hurt, get killed,

1:13:34 > 1:13:37or someone else would get hurt that was totally innocent.

1:13:37 > 1:13:44The human failed that horse. The human is that X factor.

1:13:44 > 1:13:48That horse is a mirror. All your horses are a mirror to your soul.

1:13:50 > 1:13:55And sometimes you might not like what you see in the mirror.

1:13:55 > 1:13:58Sometimes you will.

1:14:01 > 1:14:04What were you thinking when you were just being so kind

1:14:04 > 1:14:08and patient with that horse, to get him in there

1:14:08 > 1:14:12instead of just, "You're no good", shut the door and go?

1:14:12 > 1:14:18To have contempt for the horse never would even occur to me.

1:14:18 > 1:14:23That's not... Maybe, maybe 30 years ago it would have, maybe.

1:14:23 > 1:14:26One of the biggest challenges of the horseman

1:14:26 > 1:14:28is to be able to control your emotions.

1:14:28 > 1:14:32And it's, uh, you know, probably more of a challenge for me.

1:14:32 > 1:14:34It has been, you know, not so much now

1:14:34 > 1:14:39but it has been because my dad had a violent temper.

1:14:40 > 1:14:43He was a terrifying person.

1:14:43 > 1:14:48So, that kind of followed me around a little bit, thinking,

1:14:48 > 1:14:52"Am I going to be just like that old fart, no way!" No.

1:14:53 > 1:14:55You got a choice, you can make choices,

1:14:55 > 1:14:59you can't blame the whole damn thing on somebody else.

1:14:59 > 1:15:02And I can't help but think that all you guys here,

1:15:02 > 1:15:05when you have a youngster that you are going to be thinking,

1:15:05 > 1:15:07"Oh, I've got some responsibility.

1:15:07 > 1:15:10"I'm going to take care of things and make this as good a life for him

1:15:10 > 1:15:14"as I can and not let things get out of hand and teach him something."

1:15:14 > 1:15:17I hope. I hope.

1:15:30 > 1:15:33So, we're heading from Chico to Red Bluff.

1:15:34 > 1:15:38To the stock horse ranch roping contest there.

1:15:38 > 1:15:42The Californios is the deal every year in Red Bluff.

1:15:42 > 1:15:44Buckaroo-style roping, this is it.

1:15:46 > 1:15:50Reata's doing the kids class, they call it the heritage class.

1:15:50 > 1:15:54She's really looking forward to that and this will be her last

1:15:54 > 1:15:57year to do the kids class, and then she will be too old.

1:16:03 > 1:16:07The Californios is one of the highlights of my dad's season because

1:16:07 > 1:16:10he has been on the road travelling, living in his horse trailer,

1:16:10 > 1:16:12meeting a bunch of new people, having to memorise their names,

1:16:12 > 1:16:17so I think it is definitely one of his highlights.

1:16:17 > 1:16:18INAUDIBLE ANNOUNCEMENTS

1:16:23 > 1:16:27That's about the most fun for me, is out there roping with my daughter.

1:16:29 > 1:16:33She wants to be, she emulates everything her dad does,

1:16:33 > 1:16:35she wants to be just like him.

1:16:35 > 1:16:39She is her father's daughter.

1:16:39 > 1:16:42We did teach her how to ride, but it was already in her.

1:16:42 > 1:16:45She could ride from the very beginning, I mean, the very

1:16:45 > 1:16:50first time I watched her rope I thought, "Who has been teaching you?"

1:16:50 > 1:16:56- ANNOUNCER:- OK, we're good to go, Reata Brannaman and her lovely assistant.

1:16:56 > 1:16:58FEMALE VOICE: Yes, lovely assistant.

1:17:15 > 1:17:17APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

1:17:24 > 1:17:27She's a handy kid, she outropes most men now.

1:17:29 > 1:17:33There will come a time when she will be beating me. That will be fine.

1:17:33 > 1:17:36It will be time to turn it over to her.

1:17:36 > 1:17:38And I will just sit around in the grandstands

1:17:38 > 1:17:40and talk about all the stuff I used to be.

1:17:46 > 1:17:49But hopefully that'll be about another 30, 40 years.

1:17:51 > 1:17:54People say they're too old when they are, like 40, and you think,

1:17:54 > 1:17:57"Shut up! Too old(!)"

1:17:57 > 1:18:00Bill Dorrance was roping when he was 94.

1:18:01 > 1:18:04That's how I want to be when I grow up, if I ever do.

1:18:12 > 1:18:16It's always neat to see them after I have been gone for a long time.

1:18:18 > 1:18:21But it's always hard to leave, too -

1:18:21 > 1:18:24once you're around them for a few days, you start getting used

1:18:24 > 1:18:28to being around them and then you go back to your life of solitude.

1:18:38 > 1:18:40So, I am still on the move.

1:18:40 > 1:18:43I'm getting better, because I'm still studying,

1:18:43 > 1:18:46I still want to be a better horseman.

1:18:49 > 1:18:52I've learned so many things

1:18:52 > 1:18:56and I thought originally I was just going to be there to figure

1:18:56 > 1:19:01out how to get a colt started, how to be a little better cowboy.

1:19:05 > 1:19:08That's what I thought it was about.

1:19:08 > 1:19:11I came to find out that wasn't what it was about at all.

1:19:21 > 1:19:25'Out of a group like this, there might be some become artists.

1:19:25 > 1:19:29'Or you become creative and you use your imagination.'

1:19:29 > 1:19:31Now, that was a thing of beauty.

1:19:32 > 1:19:34You look like one mind and one body.

1:19:38 > 1:19:41If you got a taste of it, if you got a taste of what I'm

1:19:41 > 1:19:45talking about you couldn't get enough of it.

1:19:46 > 1:19:48You'd rather do that than eat.

1:19:54 > 1:19:56You may spend your whole life chasing that.

1:19:57 > 1:19:59And that's possible.

1:19:59 > 1:20:01But it's a good thing to chase.

1:20:52 > 1:20:56This is Buck's favourite joke.

1:20:56 > 1:21:01It's a pirate scene, and the guy up in the crow's nest says,

1:21:01 > 1:21:06"One enemy ship coming on the horizon."

1:21:06 > 1:21:07And the captain says,

1:21:07 > 1:21:12"Quick, bring me my red shirt because if I get

1:21:12 > 1:21:18"wounded in battle the blood won't show and my men will fight on."

1:21:19 > 1:21:23So they had the battle, and after a bit,

1:21:23 > 1:21:29the guy in the crow's nest says, "Ten enemy ships on the horizon."

1:21:30 > 1:21:37And the captain says, "Quick, bring me my brown pants!"

1:21:37 > 1:21:39LAUGHTER

1:21:50 > 1:21:52Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd