[Wind howling]
[Rustic acoustic guitar music]
How you doing there, buddy?
See, that feels good,
doesn't it, huh?
All right, well,
I'm off to the office.
To start off,
are there any of you
that have
any particular problems
you'd like to tell me about?
Don't be bashful.
You're among friends.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Let him be,
'cause he's learning
how to kind of settle in
with you.
A lot of times,
rather than helping people
with horse problems,
I'm helping horses
with people problems.
And for a lot of people,
they want it all to be fuzzy
and warm and cosmic,
but it is no different
with a horse than with a kid.
You can't always be
the kid's best friend.
First you have to be the parent.
A horse like this
isn't any different
than a kid that takes
everybody's milk money
on the way to school,
beats up old people.
Maybe it isn't the kid's fault.
Maybe the parent
ought to be in jail.
Boy, do you feel like a fool
and kind of like a failure.
- You know?
- Aw, it's all right.
People bring a lot of baggage
to the table
when they come to these.
Sometimes they're here
for a different reason
other than just
getting to where
they can ride their horse
a little bit better.
If you find a way
to fit this thing right here,
it'll make you better.
It'll make you better in areas
that you didn't think
related to horses.
Good job, buddy.
Horses are my life,
and because of some
of the things
I've been through as a kid,
I found some safety
and some companionship
in the horses.
I was just looking for kind of
a peaceful place to be
where I wasn't threatened,
where my life wasn't threatened.
So I have an empathy for horses
that when something
is scared for their life,
I understand that.
He's a pretty nice horse,
six years old.
Making some good progress,
anyway.
Just a youngster,
just telling him...
I want him to be aware of me.
If I slow down,
I want him to slow down.
See, if I go like this...
I have to practice
my old man walk.
So when I'm really old,
it might take me an hour
to get over there.
He ought to be able
to just go with me,
as slow as I want to go,
and not crowd me.
Might be a little slower
than what he'd like to go.
If I stop, he ought to stop.
If I go back,
he ought to go back,
and I ought not to have
to beg him.
Right now, I walk
at a little faster pace,
but I'm always testing him
to see if he's with me.
When I first seen him,
I thought,
"What kind of voodoo stuff
is this, you know?
How are you getting this done,
you know?"
He walks into a round pen.
In five minutes, he's got
a horse following him around
like a dog.
He and I go together.
Most of us have
a bag of tricks,
and Buck has an arsenal.
Hey, boys.
Morning.
Hello, how you doing?
- Good.
- Good.
Colt starting
is always interesting
because most of the youngsters
have never been saddled,
never had anyone on their back
or a bit in their mouth.
So there is a lot of fear
in both the horse and the human.
The way I do these colt classes,
you guys,
you'll have to get them exposed
to a lot of things
that seem perfectly normal
to you,
but it doesn't seem normal
to the horse.
You walk up to them smelling
like a Big Mac, you know,
or something...
[horse neighing]
Your diet is gonna make you
smell different to the horse,
and then you're gonna
tell the horse,
"Don't worry.
I want to crawl on you..."
[laughter]
In a similar posture
to how a lion would attack
and kill a horse.
They jump right up
in the middle of them,
and they reach
their front claws around,
and as they're biting down
on their spine,
they're cutting their throat
with their claws.
You're asking the horse
to let you be in that posture
and crawl on him.
And then about the time
he says, "All right, maybe,"
and then you say,
"Oh, oh, one more thing.
"I want to strap some hides
of other dead animals around you
before I crawl on you."
You damn sure have to have
some trust.
He's got to believe in you
to let you do that,
and amazingly enough,
they'll let you do it.
Now, the first thing
that I'm gonna show you
is leading the horse by.
Step in here.
Extend the front over like that.
Then he'll go on forward
around me.
This takes some practice
to get good at.
Your horse might be afraid
to move.
It's a real trust thing
between the two of you.
What's your name, dear?
Martha?
Okay, Martha, you want to go
the other way.
You got your horse
leading by good,
just the wrong direction.
That's all right.
Tap her.
Don't be afraid of tapping her
with that flag.
You aren't gonna hurt her.
It would be like you
getting spanked with a sock.
There, yeah.
Dave, lead with the right hand.
Yeah, it's in your left hand.
The other left.
Walk to the hip.
No, walk to the hip.
You're at the head.
That's the eating end.
This is always a hard one
for folks.
[Horse neighs]
Pam, that walking on you.
Now, your horse
is kind of naughty.
You guys make a big old circle
around me.
This horse,
it knows to get away,
'cause she's pretty fearful.
No, you won't get away.
She said, "I thought I had
the angle on you there."
See that head slinging
to the outside?
That's unacceptable.
But she doesn't know
the difference.
She said,
"Well, up to this point,
I've had some pretty damn
good luck with that technique."
See there where she went
to run me over?
That means she's trying
to protect herself.
But when I get done,
I will not have to close my hand
on the end of this rope.
Now, I'd touch her here
on the neck.
I'd say, "You find out this flag
won't hurt you.
Nobody's here to hurt you."
One of the things
that really struck me
was that you always grow up
hearing about breaking horses
or breaking broncos
or something.
There's a whole element
of abuse, really, of, it's...
man is stronger
than this big animal.
We can break them down
almost like Parris Island
and a drill instructor,
and I think it first clicked
for me with Buck
at the whole concept
of starting.
My early exposure to horses
was severe:
Tying horses to posts
with an inner tube tire
so that when the horse
pulled back,
they would slam back
into the post.
It was really brutal,
really, truly brutal.
It was heartbreaking.
I didn't know any different.
I was a child.
But I remember crying a lot.
I felt very, very bad
for the animals.
So when I met Buck,
I was the instant convert.
You can't be a good guy
when you leave the barn
and a bad guy
when you get to the barn.
And if I treat animals this way,
do I treat people that way too?
We all know the answer to that.
I met Buck probably at
his first clinic that he gave.
If I wasn't at his first clinic,
I was probably at his second.
There was a nice change.
And the first time I saw
was amazing to me.
L... l... it just blew my mind.
It just blew my mind
that it could be done in a way
that the horse would cooperate,
like the people,
and not be scarred up
and afraid for life.
I couldn't believe
what that man could do
with a horse
without anything on it.
I mean, he could load horses
in a horse trailer
without touching them.
I mean, it... the horse
has never been in a trailer.
That's phenomenal.
Why let an animal live in fear?
Why not fix it?
That's pretty good.
You notice how I don't have
to have a death grip
on the doggone lead rope now.
In this particular discipline,
if you want to be great,
you have to be
a sensitive person.
That vulnerability,
that sensitivity to feel
the subtle change
is what makes you great.
That's why so many of the folks
that are really good at this
are... you know, sometimes they're
tortured souls, you know?
[Horse neighs]
I've seen some
kind of dark things in my life,
but everybody has a bit
of a burden to bear
of some sort,
so it's all relative.
It's all I ever wanted to be
was a cowboy.
I grew up as a trick roper.
That wasn't necessarily
by choice,
but the first thing is,
we were entertainers,
my brother and I.
I started doing rope tricks
when I was three years old.
You wouldn't think
that a three-year-old
could be doing rope tricks,
but I was doing rope tricks.
I turned professional
when I was six.
And as far as I know,
we are still the youngest kids
to ever get a PRCA card,
which it was the RCA
in those days,
Rodeo Cowboy Association.
And we went to fairs and rodeos
and performed all over.
But we really enjoyed
the attention of the crowds.
We were kind of
childhood celebrities, you know.
We were
the Kellogg's Sugar Pops kids.
You know, fancy roping
takes hard work,
plenty of sleep,
and good nutrition every day.
Here's a good
hardworking breakfast.
Oh, it must have been 1970,
'71, right around in there.
It was just before my mom
passed away.
That was quite a thing.
And all I remember
about that commercial,
it should have been real fun,
'cause it was a big thrill
to all the kids in school
that we were on
national television
doing these TV commercials.
All I really remember about that
is that my dad beat us
unmercifully
for not putting on
a perfect performance,
and then he drove us home,
and, heck, he couldn't even wait
till we got home.
He stopped and knocked on us
a little bit more.
I remember my mom
would drop us off at school.
The last couple of years
she was alive,
she was working as a waitress
in Ennis, Montana,
and I would beg her
not to leave,
and every day, I would cry;
Every day, she would cry,
because I was just terrified
of the fact
that I was gonna be five
or six hours alone with our dad
when we got home from school
before my mom would get home,
'cause things always went better
when she was around.
But then when my mom died,
I knew my life was over
as I knew it,
and I no longer had
my protector.
Well, after my mom passed away,
my dad really fell apart,
and night after night
after night,
he would come yank us
out of the bed
in the middle of the night
and make us sit at this
kitchen table, this oak table.
I could draw the grain in
that table for you to this day,
'cause you'd just stare down
at the table,
because even to just look
at my dad
when he was ranting and raving
in a drunken stupor,
he would take that
as an aggressive expression.
And one night, I just said,
"I'm not gonna get beat up
again tonight.
I'm just... I can't do it."
And I made a mad dash outside
and not thinking about the fact
that I wasn't very well-dressed
for being outside
in the middle of the winter,
'cause it was cold.
It was somewhere
between 10, 20 below zero.
Well, damn,
then I was really stuck,
because I knew
if I went back inside,
he was gonna beat me
half to death,
and I just couldn't go back in.
I just couldn't.
We had a dog,
and his name was Duke,
and I loved that dog.
It sounds real trailer park,
I know,
but he lived
in a 55-gallon barrel
with straw in it for his bed,
and I crawled
in that 55-gallon barrel
with that bloodhound.
It wasn't warm,
but it kept me from freezing,
and I finally,
after two or three hours,
went back in the house,
and he just looked at me like,
"Where you been?"
Reata, I can't believe
you answered your phone.
Where are you?
[speaking indistinctly]
Oh, cool.
What are you doing?
[speaking indistinctly]
For your mom or for school?
For school.
All right, well,
I'll call her back,
and then I'll talk to you
tomorrow, huh?
Okay, sounds good.
Okay, love you, buddy.
Bye.
I was watching Oprah.
I don't know if I should
admit to that.
But I was watching Oprah,
and she said that
the greatest aphrodisiac
there was for a man
was to have a vacuum
and to actually run it
in the presence of his wife.
So she knows quite a bit,
so I thought, "Well, I'll...
it can't hurt."
You know, you never know
where you're gonna get
some information.
Hey, you.
Gonna put the smaller one
in the back.
There's not quite as much room.
We got 27 years in now.
Yeah, 27 years.
I get to where I don't even
worry about what day it is.
All I know is, it's just all
in four-day intervals for me.
I don't know; you get
in a rhythm by doing this,
and you... oh, after just
a few days of being somewhere,
you're kind of ready to go
to the next one.
Hey, Mary, it's just me.
Good.
What are you doing?
Got the clinic done here.
Didn't make anybody cry.
[Chuckles]
Talk to you later on.
All right, Mary,
I miss you.
I do this 40 weeks
out of the year.
For the rest of the year,
you could say,
"Where are you gonna be
on such and such a day?"
And I could tell you
exactly where I'm gonna be
till about Thanksgiving.
Walkertown, North Carolina.
Huntsville, Alabama.
Limerick, Maine.
Bay Harbor, Michigan.
Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Longmont, Colorado.
Thermopolis, Wyoming.
Bend, Oregon.
Bozeman, Montana.
Libby, Montana.
Yeah, there's some loneliness.
You know, it's truck stops
and driving late at night
and just trying to get
to your next spot,
and you're alone, you know?
That's when you really
miss your family,
and you want to be home,
and you think
of what it would be like
just walking barefoot
across the living room
and going to bed.
But there is no way
that's ever gonna be anything
other than what it is.
- How are you?
- Hey, how are you?
[Indistinct chatter]
She's gonna make me
a Manhattan.
And I can make more than one
if somebody wants one.
They're in the back.
Were you at that clinic
in Ellensburg
when it was so cold,
when Bob Blackwell...
Yeah, that was 17 years ago.
That was my first clinic
with you.
And they brought them in,
these horses in,
in stock trailers, literally.
They opened up the door,
and they went
into the round pen,
and there was
and he roped every one of them.
A mutual friend invited me,
and I was pretty skeptical
about the clinic
and the approach.
And I went pretty convinced
that I wasn't gonna
appreciate anything that I saw.
And then he started working
with all these babies...
And I was blown away.
I mean, I couldn't believe
what I saw
and the rapport
that he had with them.
You know, it just kind of
stopped me in my tracks.
My whole life has been
encompassed around Arabian
and half-Arabian show horses
from the time
I was a little girl.
I was showing horses
and thinking that everything
was cool,
the way I was doing things
and the way I saw things
being done,
and I'm proud of a lot
of those prizes that I won,
but I'm equally ashamed
of a lot of them too.
Horses are put
into forced positions
that they're neither mentally or
physically prepared to handle,
and these practices aren't used
nearly as much now
as they were years ago,
but the horses would be
put into hock hobbles
that would go from the hocks
up through the snaffle
and back down
so that every time
he took a step with his hocks,
you know, it'd take
ahold of his face
to teach him to stay
into that real infixed position.
But there's no connection
for the horse.
There's no understanding of that
except for it hurts.
So they're gonna stay away
from those pressures
and learn to infix themselves
into those positions
because... through intimidation.
And I just thought that that's
the way you did it.
And that's what the horses
had to do to be show horses,
and you don't realize
how unjust it is until you...
until someone shows you
a different path.
Come on.
Let's say the horse
needed you to be firm.
There's a difference
between firm and hard.
Let's say I needed
to take ahold of the horse
with 20 pounds.
The way I go about
getting to 20 pounds
is gonna have a lot to do
with whether
you're successful or not.
Hold on to that.
I'm gonna pull on you some,
so don't let me
get it away from you.
Okay, so close your hand
on that,
or it's gonna come away
from you,
and don't give to me.
Let's say I needed to pull
on this horse about that hard.
The way I took ahold of you
wasn't really offensive,
wouldn't make you afraid.
But let's say I was abrupt
and had hands like a butcher
and I took ahold of the horse
like that.
Now, I'm pulling
about like what I said,
but it's how I got there.
Be ready.
It's how I got there
that could be rude to the horse.
Now, watch Robert closely.
I'm just riding with bad hands.
Oh, you braced.
I didn't hit you.
Why'd you do that?
He's protecting himself.
Once I've done this
a few times with him,
he'll brace all the time
like that.
See him brace?
You can't help yourself.
And I'm even telling you
you're gonna do it,
and you still can't help it.
But if I took ahold like this,
you might give to me,
and then I'd give to you.
But it's the way I go about it,
and whenever you're ready,
maybe you'd give to me, see.
Otherwise I'll just wait here.
Nobody's gonna get
any lunch today.
When you started to soften,
so did I,
and you both feel together.
If you were real sensitive to me
when I feel of you here,
you'd already be giving, see?
That means something
to my horse.
That's what a soft feel...
that's what I do to get
a soft feel right there.
And I want you to get
at least a mental picture
of what a horse
operating on a feel is
to where hopefully
it looks good to you,
that you'll want that,
that you'll strive for that.
So this is one example
of a feel, see.
I could even take on this rope
right here like this, see.
That's operating on a feel, see.
I could do this
and say, "Get back."
And I could do this
and say, "Get over."
Without touching him,
your energy moves the horse.
Most people think of a feel
as when you touch something
or someone and what it
feels like to your fingers,
but a feel can have a thousand
different definitions.
Sometimes feel
is a mental thing.
Sometimes feel can happen
clear across the arena.
That's what
I'm looking for there.
Sort of an invitation
from the horse to come to you.
It's not always physical.
Sometimes it's mental.
When you have the physical
working for you
when you're younger,
you ride with 90% physical
and 10% mental.
But if you could learn
how to use 90% mental
and 10% physical,
you'd be better off.
I'm looking for the horse
to learn how to follow a feel.
It's supposed to take
that much.
Little bit more.
There.
Left, right,
left, right,
left, right.
Everything is a dance.
Everything you do with a horse
is a dance.
Now I'll open him up
a little bit here.
Problem is, when a lot
of folks can't get a horse
to operate on a feel,
they'll get
a little more bridle,
get a little more shank on it,
drive a spur through
the horse's shoulder,
then tie his head down,
then get a bicycle chain
over his nose.
I mean, it doesn't stop.
It becomes medieval.
Now, I'm gonna tip the life
up in him here.
We're moving on a feel.
You know, a horse
is pretty sensitive.
A horse can feel a mosquito land
on their butt in a windstorm.
Every movement you make
on a horse,
there is a perfect position
of balance
that takes no energy
from the horse.
He doesn't feel like
he is pushing you along with him
or dragging you along with him.
He's built to fit a horse,
you know?
God had him in mind
when he made a cowboy, you know?
I've never actually seen him
whisper a horse,
but I guess if there's
a horse whisperer out there,
it's Buck Brannaman.
I don't know, you know?
Originally, I got connected
to The Horse Whisperer
through Nick Evans,
and he said,
"I'm researching some characters
for my book,
and I'm trying to find a way to
bring this character to life."
And I was doing a clinic
in California,
and kind of a hippie-looking guy
came up, and he said,
"I'm a movie producer."
He said, "I was wondering if you
could meet with me and Bob."
I said, "Bob?"
In my business, artificiality
is part of the business.
You look for authentic people.
And so when I met Buck,
my first thought was,
"Well, what the hell is this?"
Guy walks into an office
in Santa Monica.
He's got a big hat on.
He's got his vest
and so forth.
He looks like he's got
a costume on,
and I thought "Oh, my God,
you know, what's"...
And his compatriot
who was with him,
the same outfit,
and I thought,
"Oh, jeez,
what have I gotten into here?"
And then the etiquette,
the politeness,
the humanity that kind of
came off real quick
kind of erased that,
and then we sat in the office
for about an hour and a half
and talked about things
that were authentic,
and so I realized
that I was really dealing
with what I would call
"the real deal."
No-nonsense guy,
no-nonsense, you know,
whether with the animal
or people.
He was an advisor
that I brought on
that slowly worked his way
into the core of the filmmaking
because he just knew more.
So Buck contributed everything
as a model
and also as a player.
I used him as a double.
So he was a huge part
of the fabric of the film,
and he was able to do things
that the hired trainer
could not do.
There was a scene
that Scarlett was supposed
to go into the stall
with the horse,
and it was her first time
being near the horse
since the accident,
and the action
for the horse was,
he was supposed to sort of
paw the ground
and show a little aggression
and then come to her
and respond to her
and more or less
put his head in her arms,
and it was an, "Aw, gee,"
a real touching scene,
and they couldn't get the shot
because the horse
was a trick horse,
and they are trained to not take
their eyes off the trainer.
The horse nuzzled the wood.
The horse nuzzled the frame.
The horse nuzzled
the boots of the trainer
but wouldn't nuzzle Scarlett.
The meter was ticking,
and, you know, time is money
and all that stuff.
So I was going into a panic.
They said,
"What are we gonna do?"
I said, "What do you mean,
what are you gonna do?"
He said,
"Well, we never got that shot."
I said, "Yeah, we sure spent
a long time at it too."
He said, "Yeah, eight hours.
You got any ideas?"
I said, "Yeah, why don't we use
my horse, Pet?"
And at first,
everybody said,
"Well, you know,
you don't understand, Buck.
"You know, we use
Hollywood trick horses for this
"because they're performers,
"and they can do things
on the mark
"so we can pull a focus
on a certain place,
"and you just don't
understand that.
"We don't... not downplaying
your thing, Buck,
"but it's like... but Pet,
"he doesn't know how to work
on a mark.
He's not an actor."
I said, "No, he's a horse."
I said, "What do you have
to lose?"
So I dinked around
with my horse
and got him
where I could lead him
by front foot
with a rope on him,
and I got him
where I could jiggle that rope,
and he'd paw the ground
on the mark.
So he came up,
and he just put his head
right in her chest,
and she wrapped her arms
around that horse,
laid her head on his forehead,
and everybody was crying.
God, within 15,
So Buck played a greater role
than a lot of people realize.
He contributed everything.
There was a humanity
and a kind of gentleness
of spirit
that I adopted for
that character because of Buck.
When I saw
the finished product,
he looked good.
I told him, "There is some
potential there, Bob,
"if this movie thing
doesn't work out for you.
"I think I could probably
get you
to where you could make
a living doing this."
[Laughs]
This one you want me
to take right here?
Yeah.
Okay, Reata.
I might have you check on Charro
and see if he's eaten.
Okay.
I've been traveling with Dad
during the summers,
usually from end of June
till end of August.
It's been two months
since I've seen my dad.
My dad's on the road
nine months out of the year,
and it's tough,
but I'm kind of used to it now.
I mean, I've been doing it
since I was... well, forever, so...
Heads up.
We've got a few sacks of feed
to schlep across here.
Reata, you and Nevada need
to go wrap up all the sound.
Yeah, Nevada's going with me.
My partner in crime.
I just started traveling
with them last year.
I spent a month with them.
I think we're helpful
to a point.
Sometimes maybe
we're in the way,
'cause he has, like,
a way of doing things, you know?
What are you doing?
Bringing you breakfast.
- What is it?
- Sticky buns.
I might just have one.
I don't want the...
That'll do me.
Thanks, mate.
So I guess you got
a lot of songs transferred
for me on my iPod.
Traveling with Dad, it can get
pretty stressful sometimes
just because he is, like,
a travel Nazi.
Make sure you plug
that little deal... give me that.
'Cause he has his own way
of how he does everything,
and we kind of mess up
the process sometimes.
Aw, Reata.
Aw, you put the top
on backwards.
But then when it comes
to, like, cleaning pens
and saddling his horses
and stuff like that,
I think he kind of
appreciates us.
How'd you do?
Nasty.
- Hey, Reata.
- Yeah.
Bring me back
a sack for trash when you...
after you feed.
Sure.
I ride every summer.
I usually take one of my horses.
Step up in here and get
a dally on and stop my horse.
I get a lot...
I learn a lot on it.
Every clinic that we go to
during the summer is different.
The horses are different,
different people.
There, you followed by feel.
The horse world can be
pretty cliquey.
Well, we don't go for cliques
around here.
There are probably
some people here
that it's just pittance,
pocket change for them to come,
and some of them save
all year long
just to be able to go
to this clinic.
Put on my Madonna microphone.
How we fixed here, Maggie?
You getting his chin down
a little bit?
You want to release
as quick as you can.
He's gonna give in a second.
There, there.
Pet him.
That's the way.
My daughter,
she had a hard time releasing.
I'd say, "Reata, your arms,"
and she'd go like that.
Spread your hands a little more.
Get them a little lower.
There you go.
Nice.
You want that horse
to be an extension of you,
but then you don't control
your legs.
You think you're just gonna
control this part of the body.
This is a body.
The whole thing is a body.
If all of you didn't have
a horse here
and I was trying to talk to you,
wouldn't that be weird
if you said,
"Hey, I don't have control
of my legs."
All of a sudden,
they just tear off,
and you're like,
"Oh, jeez, sorry."
Waiting on the coffee.
He's got to have his coffee.
Black, I'm sure that comes
as a big surprise.
He has the coffee,
and then he lets down,
and it kind of smooths out.
Going to Sheridan,
Montana.
Sheridan, Montana, is there,
and we're up here,
probably seven hours.
Not too long.
Yeah, it's a great
bunch of folks at this clinic.
- Good to see you.
- Good to see you.
Welcome to Montana.
A lot of them,
I've known since I was a kid.
Some of them,
I went to school with.
Some of them, I went to school
with their parents.
It's like... it's coming home
for me here.
It's gonna be a busy week,
'cause Mom's gonna be
in Sheridan.
Hi.
How are you?
I'm good.
How are you?
I haven't seen Mary
for a couple of months.
Hi, Dally.
Hi, buddy.
So it's been an awful long run.
Mary, she doesn't like
to travel as much,
but I'd sure like her to go
with me a little bit more,
and she may go with me
a little bit more
once Reata goes off to college.
So this is Twyla, Rudy.
This is Dally.
- Oh, Dally.
- Hey, Rudy.
Rudy's grown a little bit
since I left.
I don't know how many dogs
you need
before you have enough dogs.
They worked their way up
the food chain past me,
but my wife loves them,
and I love my wife,
so if it makes her happy...
makes me happy.
I actually do like traveling
on the road.
It's fun.
It's really fun.
I mean, you get to meet
a lot of different people
and see a lot of different
beautiful places.
Like, this place is amazing.
But I like staying home too,
though.
Okay, are there any of you
that have any real problems
with them
that you'd like
to kind of mention?
He runs me over.
He runs you over?
Okay, lovely.
Well, a baby like that,
they're not trying to be pushy.
They might be sort of
crowding you just a little bit
because they still might
be scared.
They kind of think that maybe
if they get real close to you,
they'll get some comfort.
And the big thing, you guys, is,
don't be overly critical
of them,
'cause they're just babies.
If he feels like you're angry
at him at all,
he will shut down.
I don't know where Buck draws
his real personal strength from,
because he's lived
through a lot.
I mean, it...
He came out of such dire straits
and, you know, was virtually,
I think, plucked from his home
in the middle of the night
sort of a thing.
It's a real hard story
to tell, 'cause, you know,
you see him now,
and, you know,
I don't even think about that.
Ace was real hard on those boys.
You knew there was
something wrong there maybe,
but you weren't for sure what.
You know, he kept it hid
pretty well, I guess,
until the point
when Coach Cleverly...
You know, seen his back.
Ah, that's a hard story
to think about.
Bob Cleverly was a typical
football coach that you loved
but feared too, you know,
and he'd actually made Buck
shower in PE,
and when he didn't want
to shower, you know,
and he told him to,
you know, get undressed
and get in the shower,
you know, as soon as Buck
started taking his shirt off,
he seen the whip marks,
and the thing of it is,
is, you know,
he just basically told him,
he said, "Your dad
will never beat you again.
I'll make sure of that,"
you know.
And then that's
when Johnny France
kind of started the ball rolling
to get Buck and Smokie
to a safe place.
I was present when the boys
were forced to disrobe,
and on their legs
and their little buttocks
were these big whip marks
where their dad had beat them.
When I looked at these
little boys, I said,
"No, we'll have
none of that."
I took them to the Shirleys.
They were two frightened
little boys,
but it wasn't too long
before the two boys were just...
they just turned
into Shirleys.
My mom had...
had just died.
And she was very loving,
wasn't she?
- Yeah.
- She was a very loving lady.
So she became my new mom,
and, boy, that was something
I really needed.
Sleep good?
I did.
They have
a wonderful relationship,
and she's a guiding force.
May God bless you
and watch over you.
There's no sense that,
"Okay, you're raised.
You're gone."
I mean, she's their mother.
She's truly their mother,
and I think Betsy raised
something like 23 foster sons.
I mean, all boys, all boys.
When our kids were little,
it was like a zoo,
and it was every man
for himself
and survival of the fittest.
My motto that's stood me
in good stead is,
"Blessed are the flexible,
for they shall not get
bent out of shape."
[Laughs]
My foster dad taught me
how to shoe horses.
I was 12 years old.
When I first went to live
with them,
he told me, "Kid, you might not
ever amount to much,
"but you better learn how
to ride a colt and shoe a horse.
"And then you'll always
be able to eat.
"Even if you can't
get much of a job,
you'll always be able to eat."
So he taught me how to shoe
a horse over a period of time.
There were so many things
that I learned
while I was with
my foster parents.
When I first got dropped off
at the Shirley ranch,
I was so terrified of men,
and my foster-dad-to-be,
he pulled in in the truck,
and, gee, he was tall, 6'4",
just looked like he was made
out of rawhide and barbwire.
But he walked right up to me,
and he said,
"You must be Buck,"
and I shook his hand,
but I couldn't even speak.
It's real; you can be so scared
that you can't say anything.
No words come out.
I just sat there,
and my little knees were
just about knocking together.
I was a little guy.
And then he spun around,
walked back to the truck,
and opened the door,
and my heart just stopped.
Because it's almost like a colt
that's had some trouble.
You don't have to do too much
to make them suspicious,
just even move
in a little bit of a way
that they don't understand
or can't comprehend,
and that quick, they...
they think they need
to save themselves.
So when he went back to
that truck and opened the door,
I didn't know what to do.
Scared me to death.
He came back, and he threw me
a pair of buckskin gloves.
He said, "Here."
He said,
"You're gonna need them,"
and, gee,
they were just beautiful,
and they fit me perfect.
I was so proud of them.
And he looked over
at the ranch truck,
and he said, "Get in."
So we got in,
and he always had fencing tools
in the truck.
So we took off,
and we built fence
all afternoon,
pounding steel posts into rocks
and pulling wire,
but I wouldn't wear
those gloves.
There was just that...
that token act of kindness,
just giving me
something like that.
Oh, gee, it meant so much.
I didn't want to get them
all tore up,
so I kept them in my pocket,
and I just worked with
the barbwire with my bare hands.
And he realized
that I didn't need someone
to just pity me
for what I'd been through.
He knew I just needed
something to do.
I needed a job to do.
And that's when things
started to head
in the right direction for me.
So I learned that
about the horses years later.
I thought, "Oh, yeah.
"That's kind of what Forrest did
with me, come to think of it."
[Horse neighs]
You see the expression
on that horse?
It moves, but he's crabby.
Flagging the tail,
it's annoyed.
It's like asking your kid
to go take the garbage out.
They take the garbage out,
but they flip you the bird
on the way out of the room.
It's without respect,
and respect isn't fear.
It's acceptance.
He bucks
whenever I saddle him...
not when I saddle him
but when I get him
to go through transitions.
I've never started a colt
ever in my life.
I've always been around
really well-broke ones.
So this is my first shot at it.
And he's got a little bit
of Buck in him.
So you must be Bill.
I am Bill.
That's why I asked Bill Seaton
to ride him,
'cause Chief needs a confident
rider for that first ride.
I bought Chief
about a year and a half ago.
He was one.
He had never had
any human contact.
Born out in the field,
wasn't touched, handled,
nothing.
It's just a rodeo and disaster
waiting to happen.
It's not his fault.
He's like a kid that just didn't
have any good parenting.
He just doesn't know
what's to be expected of him.
I want to check your horse out.
If you're gonna do
anything shocking,
I'd rather you did
the shocking stuff right here
than when you're on their back.
Right here.
Step over.
He says, "Well, I prefer
you beg me."
Not a chance.
There's the good deal offered.
There's not so good a deal.
That's the thing with a horse.
You can't just love on them
and buy lots of carrots.
Bribery doesn't work
with horses.
No different than trying
to bribe a kid.
All it does is make
a contemptuous, spoiled horse.
But you don't want them
afraid of you.
You can be strict,
but you don't need to be unfair,
and like I say,
it's not personal.
I don't feel any different
about him
than I do my own horse
I just stepped off.
We're not mad at you.
One of the biggest challenges
of a horseman is,
is to be able to control
your emotions,
because a person
might be quick to get all mad.
There you go.
That's better.
Let's go this way.
I said that way.
You allow a horse
to make mistakes.
The horse will learn
from mistakes
no different than the human.
But you can't get him to where
he dreads making mistakes
for fear of what's
gonna happen after he does.
Sometimes I'll just
move this flag around,
and I don't want him
to be afraid of it.
I'm saying just live with that.
Now we'll start again.
There's a change.
Attaboy.
Buck says when you start
handling horses,
your own personal issues
start coming out.
And I was so anxious
to see the saddle on Chief,
I rushed him to it,
and now I've built...
I feel like I've built
this fear
and this insecurity in him.
But see,
I'm an insecure person,
so they...
horses, they mirror you.
They can't lie.
There.
Good boy.
Horsemanship,
fine horsemanship,
becomes a way of life.
It's not about controlling
the horses.
It becomes
how you treat your spouse,
how you treat strangers.
Will you give people a chance,
just like you give
the horses a chance?
It becomes how you discipline
your children.
You know, you can discipline
and discourage,
or you can discipline
and encourage.
You can say,
"I see you tried that.
What do you think
you should try instead?"
Tentative, but he tried,
and I'd pet him with this.
You can just leave him be
for a little while.
Just kind of hang with him
and let that soak in.
That's a more building
sort of approach
than, "That's wrong.
That's wrong. That's wrong."
All right, it's time.
Go on out that end.
Go into the round corral.
We're gonna go
for a little ride here.
- How you getting along, Bill?
- Great.
Looks pretty good.
Sure does, doesn't it?
See if you can get on a lope.
Good.
Well done.
- Coming through.
- There you go.
Way to go.
That should have felt
pretty good to you, Bill.
It did.
Kind of where you end up
your ride on a horse
is so important, you guys.
It's a little bit like
when you guys were younger
and you were dating.
That last two minutes
of the date
can be a real deal breaker.
With these horses,
it's the same thing, you know?
You got to quit
on a good note.
That was a good day.
All right,
I'll see you guys tomorrow.
Raspberry and peach cobbler,
which would you like?
Going for raspberry.
Oh, that one?
Hey, Buck, why don't you do
some rope tricks?
This is kind of
a tricky one here.
This is the move
I used to always do for Mary
when I was trying
to trap her.
[Laughter]
[Dog barking]
[People cheering]
He was just
a very ordinary boy,
didn't show signs
of early genius.
[Laughs]
Thanks, Mom.
There was one point he thought
maybe his trick roping
would be his avenue
to success,
but when he first saw Ray Hunt
doing his thing,
he was so fascinated,
he focused on that.
[Cheers and applause]
Pretty much anybody that's
been involved in the horse world
knows Ray Hunt,
and Ray brought this style
of horsemanship to the world.
Tom Dorrance was sort of
the godfather of all of this.
Tom Dorrance taught Ray Hunt.
Ray Hunt taught Buck Brannaman.
That's kind of the lineage,
as it were.
I met Ray right after
I got out of high school.
One of my teachers
told me about this guy
that could start a horse
and get on him
in just a few minutes
and ride him around
with no bridle on,
and I thought, "Right."
I'd grown up on a ranch.
I was pretty punchy.
Rode a lot of colts
and a pretty fair bronc rider
for a kid.
I thought, "Yeah,
another song-and-dance man,
some horse show dude."
I had an opportunity
to go get this cowboying job
at a place called
Madison River Cattle Company.
They said, "Well, in order
for you to get hired,
"you're gonna have to go talk
to the manager,
and he's at a Ray Hunt clinic."
And I thought, "Aw, great.
Here's this Ray Hunt guy again."
So I go into the fairgrounds.
Sat about as far away
as I could
so that I could show that
I was not interested in this.
And then in come Ray Hunt.
I saw him do more things with
a horse in a couple of minutes
than I'd ever figured anybody
could do with a horse.
He worked with a colt
that was pretty touchy,
and I had been around enough
to know what
a touchy horse looked like.
You could tell the horse
truly understood
what he was expecting of her.
He could take those feet
anywhere he wanted.
They were his feet.
It was just an extension
of him.
It was like a beautiful dance.
I took right to it
as soon as I saw it.
I thought, "I don't even know
what it is,
but whatever it is,
I need this."
So that was the beginning
for me.
I went to Ray's clinics,
if not every week,
every other week,
for the next
four or five years.
I was right down in the arena
hanging over the round corral
watching this guy lift a rein
or move a foot.
I might not have known
all what he was doing,
but I was seeing it.
We got to be very close,
and even though he said
it wasn't that important
that I pleased him
or that people pleased him,
I looked for his approval,
you know, the same way you would
a father figure.
And later on,
when Ray passed away,
I shed way more tears for him
than I ever did my dad.
Now, you guys don't have to ride
like Ray Hunt or Tom Dorrance,
but that's the choice I made.
First clinic I ever did,
I probably wasn't, you know,
a real effective teacher.
I was a pretty decent hand
by then.
I could get a little bit
of stuff done with a horse.
But I'm sure I just sounded like
I was parodying Ray Hunt.
I didn't have anything original
of my own to really talk about,
and I was so introverted
at the time,
and I felt so uncomfortable.
I committed right then
that I was gonna do enough
little local clinics
to conquer that.
Buck has worked so hard
to overcome his shyness.
The clinics were so small
when he first started,
he would offer to haul
the horses for free
just to get 'em to go
to his clinic.
And he couldn't have eye contact
with you.
I mean, he was very shy,
and to see him work that hard
to overcome that...
and I think it amazes him
to this day
that people want to even listen
to what he has to say.
Ray used to say that
he thought horsemen were born,
but an average person
can be extraordinary at this.
But if you don't have any guts,
if you don't have any try,
you'd be damn lucky
to be ordinary.
[Cows mooing]
You're gonna find out
what it's like
to actually use a horse
and how nice they can be
when they get used.
To work a horse properly
on a cow,
that's the coolest feeling
there is.
Let the games begin.
I want you to be able
to learn things
and do things in real life
if you were on a ranch
where you had a job to do.
It's one turn
and then a race.
One turn and then a race.
Give him a job.
Figure out how to build
on the horse's pride.
Make him feel good
about himself.
And I wasn't just talking
about the horse.
Reata, that's good.
Nice, nice.
Mary.
As long as you can stay
between your cow and the herd,
you're in charge.
Dang, out.
I'm out.
See what happens
when you're married to him?
Britt, you're up.
Go move that cow.
There's really nothing
more fun
than chasing cows at top speed
and just trying to react.
That's crazy fun,
but that's not really
what you're supposed to do.
So it's this constant battle
to bring it back
to some place
that's controlled.
Stop.
See, you turned
without stopping.
You know,
that's the other half
of why this is
a really interesting thing,
'cause it carries over into
every other aspect of your life,
and I think it's made me
a more resourceful
and balanced human being
on top of just less likely
to get killed on a horse.
I love working cattle
with my dressage horses.
I think it's fabulous for them,
because dressage is a sport
where there are really fine
ballet-type movements
that you're asking the horse
to do.
It gives meaning and purpose
to the dressage work,
and then when you take
that purpose
back into the dressage ring,
the horse says,
"I'm practicing working cows,"
and it makes sense
to the horse,
and then he will do it
with a greater joy,
because it has meaning to him.
It's not simply an exercise.
And I think that dressage work
gives the cow horse skills
that even cowboys could use.
[Cattle mooing]
There you go.
Horses get discouraged
by riders who shut the doors,
and Buck's really good
at opening doors.
And you get to artwork
or anything else that you do,
you start to look at it
for the open doors,
and then you learn
how to walk through those.
You guys want to throw
a few heel shots?
I knew that Buck
was really a special guy,
and because of his background,
which I learned about,
and the abuse
that he had suffered as a kid,
it was even more impressive
that he could come
through that abuse
and, rather than repeating it,
that he went the other way
and decided,
"I'm not gonna have that
in my life."
Bill, I'll start
with you first.
What's your stage name?
- Smokie Brannaman.
- Smokie Brannaman.
And how about you, Dan?
What's your stage name?
They call me Buckshot,
and I'm seven years old.
Well, who taught you
to perform?
Our father did.
And that's Ace Brannaman,
right?
Did he ever do this type
of thing?
Was he... did he ever do...
The way my dad treated me
when I was little,
the way he approached us
as kids...
We've arranged a short
demonstration, right, fellas?
I wouldn't attribute
any of my positive virtues
to my dad in any way whatsoever.
I know you're not supposed
to hate anybody,
but the hurt that he caused me,
I never really got over it.
So I live in the moment.
I like to live in the moment.
You worry about yesterday
or last week or 20 years ago,
it's not gonna work out
too good for you.
You can't live
in two places at once.
You know,
I mean, you never forget,
but you don't have
to keep living in the past.
I mean, there's a whole bunch
of things I learned
from all the dark stuff
that happened to me.
There's a hell of a lot
of things I learned.
Now, I wouldn't necessarily
recommend it to anybody,
but it made me what I am.
Yeah, it got a little warm there
for a while today, didn't it?
Thank goodness my daughter...
she's never gone through
anything like that,
and now she's almost
grown up, so...
You can just saddle them
inside the round corral.
I think if a kid is living
in an environment
like I was when I was little,
sometimes the way
you protect yourself is,
you just really
don't communicate with anybody,
and you try your best
not to be noticed,
and you just sort of withdraw,
and you'll see a horse sometimes
that they've been mashed on
by somebody to where
you just look in their eyes,
and they look
like they're dead.
Yet that's the time when you try
to encourage your kid
to be outgoing
and gregarious
and be able to talk to not only
other kids but adults.
Then just see if you can lope
him right out of his tracks,
'cause that's what you might
have to do
if you're gonna jump out
of your tracks
on a cow or something.
You know what I mean?
There.
[Laughs]
He got it.
He kind of got it done
in spite of you, didn't he?
Dang it.
We'll make a cowgirl
out of you yet.
You're only doing this
so you can laugh.
[Laughs]
Reata and I
are an awful lot alike.
Thank goodness she kind of
has her mother's looks.
Mentally,
she's a lot like I am.
You know, Mary'll say,
sometimes in frustration,
"She's just like you,"
and I think,
"What's the downside to that?"
[Laughs]
But she may not be seeing it
just that way at the time.
And I look at her
and the way she's developed,
and I think, "I probably
could have been that way
when I was her age."
That was in there all the while.
Do it again.
There.
That was a little better.
Yeah, I could feel it.
Buck, either before
you get settled
or when you get settled,
you signed these books
last year,
and I need a translation.
It's Spanish or Latin.
Latin.
Solvitur en modo.
Firmitur en ray.
"Gentle in what you do,
firm in how you do it."
- Yep.
- Good words.
How are you, Charlene?
Nice to see you.
It's good to see you.
I wanted to tell you I was all
signed up to ride with you,
and a couple of weeks
before the clinic,
I found out I'm having a baby.
- Well, all right.
- Good for you.
I always learn
even when I'm watching.
Good, all right.
Okay, you guys can come on over
near the round corral here
where you can get
a good chance to see.
I'll work with this one
first here.
Evidently he's a little naughty.
I guess you can see
a little disrespect there, huh?
He had to come up and stick
his nose right in my face.
So I'll work with him,
and we'll see the same things
on about all the colts, but...
Dan?
This guy's a paint,
and he was an orphan
as a baby,
and he was oxygen-deprived,
apparently.
Dan, do you want to...
which way do you guys
want to bring him in?
I'm gonna talk to Buck,
see if he wants him or not.
He may want to...
'cause that horse might hold up
the whole progress
of the whole class.
So wait until noon.
So he might want
to wait until, yeah,
when it's convenient for Buck.
Maybe even after the whole deal.
I don't know.
I think we have a problem
child we have to work yet.
All right, you can bring
that one on in, Dan.
They make it sound like they're
bringing in a Siberian tiger.
Was he hard to catch
even in the trailer, Dan?
He just kind of wanted to be
a little aggressive in there.
Bite maybe.
- Uh-huh.
Just a lot of threatening,
you know?
How old is he?
He's three.
- Uh-huh, how much
have you worked with him?
I got my back broken
in two places.
So he has not been handled.
So he was more or less raised
like an orphan.
Yeah.
Those can be the worst kind.
The orphans are always
the worst,
'cause they don't learn anything
about respect
that they would have learned
from their mother
or from other horses.
They don't respect anything
or anybody.
You know, people thought
I should put him down.
They thought maybe he had
some brain damage.
He's extremely dangerous,
and he attacks cars.
I'm sure you're anxious
to get that one in here, Dan.
Don't get hit.
Step in behind him there.
When he was an orphan,
I didn't have a barn,
'cause my house burned down,
and my barn burned down.
So I raised him...
It was cool, so I raised him
in the house.
It was cold, and l...
so I bottle-fed him
every couple of hours.
And l... how do you say it...
potty-trained him.
It started out
a good relationship.
It's just, somebody else
has to come in and help me.
He's different.
And he's a stud too?
Yeah, I'd do that
the sooner, the better.
I mean, it looks to me
like the last thing you need
is a damn stud.
If you're gonna have one,
a lot of you guys,
you just as well get you
a grizzly bear, an orangutan.
I've known Buck
for over 20 years,
and I've seen one other horse
besides Kelly, a stallion,
that stands out,
but I've never ever witnessed
anything quite like that,
that dangerous
and unpredictable.
Is somebody planning
on trimming his feet someday?
- Yeah.
- Any shoers here?
Come on, you cowards.
You want to shoe him right now,
or would you rather
I got him a little better?
You're booked.
'Cause Dan's gonna saddle him
and ride him around here
in a minute.
A lot of you that don't
understand much about a rope,
you'll find out I can stop him,
and that's gonna come in handy
for you, Dan.
When you're on him,
you're gonna be real glad
that I can stop him,
once you understand how much
more control I have by hind foot
than I would by a halter
on his head.
You already know
you can't control him
with a halter on his head,
'cause he's been
chewing on people
and has already been aggressive
and wanting to attack people.
Hey, I want you guys
to understand.
You can't hold it against him
for kind of how
his life has been.
Little bit, he'll lead soft.
Okay, Dan, you can come on in.
We're just gonna kind of
love on him for right now.
You just kind of ease up
beside him and just pet him.
Come on over with your blanket.
You'll just go up
and rub him.
Yeah, good.
Good.
Go get your saddle.
And you kind of...
while his frame of mind
is kind of humble like that,
you can cuddle him
and kind of love on him too,
so just pet him
on the hind leg.
Now just see if you can
just gently pick up the hoof.
That's the way.
There you go.
You can go around the front.
Rub him on his face there
when he's being a good guy.
Watch him, though.
Block him when he wants
to bite you, block, block.
That's the biggest thing is,
nobody's ever blocked him.
We had to put up a sign
that says "attack horse,"
because if somebody did
walk into the pasture,
he would have taken 'em out.
One time, some people
started teasing him,
and I went up to him
about 12 feet away
in this golf cart,
thinking that would bring him
away from the fence,
and instead
he looked back at me,
pinned his ears,
ducked his head,
and did that aggressive
horse behavior
and came right at me.
Going, striking, feet,
everything,
and he pretty much came up
over the golf cart
and nailed me.
Now go for a little walk
with him.
Now we're gonna stop him.
Pet him.
You're the good cop
there, Dan.
You just love on him.
Rub him down that hind leg.
Looks good.
Just get on him
like he's Grandma's horse.
All right.
Pick your lead rope up
so it's not dragging there.
So you can kind of bend him
if you need to, to the left.
Pet him.
You just rub him all over
like you're
just totally in love.
There you go.
Okay, walk off again.
Yeah, go ahead,
just say,
"Come on.
Let's go, Yeller."
There you go.
Pet him.
Pet him when he goes, see.
You got to remember that.
Now maybe we can lope him.
You got an opportunity.
There. Go ahead.
Go on.
Pet him. Pet him.
Rub him on the butt.
We don't want him to think
every time he feels anything
back there,
he's just gonna get whacked.
Good job.
I'm gonna stop you now.
Okay, you can step off him
nice and clean.
This isn't open for discussion.
At this point,
Dan is the only one permitted
to lead this horse anywhere,
and then later on,
maybe a little short
evening session,
you can work him on the end
of your lead rope in here
when it's just you and him
by yourself.
I was really embarrassed,
because he said nobody
should have a stud horse,
and I'm thinking,
"God, if he only knew
I had a whole pasture full
at home, that I have,"
and then he said
not letting him
get his head over
so he can bite,
well, it's healed up
pretty well,
but I'm gonna have that
the rest of my life, yeah.
You know, I have thousands
of horses under my belt
and lots of experience.
And, hell, the safest place
around this son of a bitch
is on him.
You felt fine
when you were on him.
But around him on the ground,
he's treacherous
'cause of what he's,
you know, gotten to be.
And he could hurt Dan or me
or you or anybody else
just in being spoiled,
and he doesn't want
to be that way,
but he doesn't know
any other way to be.
He's as close to having been
turned into a predator
as you're gonna find.
[Horse whinnying]
'Cause he's... he's been wrecked.
I'd want to give
the older horses a chance
to get him some manners.
He's run with some studs,
and they take...
You're nuts for having
that many studs
running together, lady;
I'm telling you that.
Most people don't need studs,
and for God's sake,
they don't need 18 of them.
I don't know
what you're trying to prove.
And if you got a lot going on
in your life,
probably a lot of it's
a lot bigger story
than this horse.
Yeah.
You ought to be
a SEAL team member or something,
as much risk
as you like to take.
Why don't you learn
how to enjoy your life?
Life's too damn short.
This horse tells me
quite a bit about you.
So this is just an amplified
situation of what is.
Maybe there...
maybe there are some things
for you to learn about you
that maybe the horses
is gonna be the only damn way
you're gonna learn it,
'cause you might not listen
to somebody else.
Well, that's all right.
Sometimes I don't either,
and I should.
Ask my wife.
I love the horses,
but I have a responsibility
to my fellow human too,
you know,
if I think maybe you might
do something
to get yourself hurt
and you don't even
see it coming,
if I see it coming, l...
you know,
I have a moral obligation
to say
you're in big trouble here.
Sound fair?
Okay.
He's right.
I mean, he's right.
L... you know?
He's right,
and I'm not...
It's not just the horse.
He's... he's right
about my life.
Yeah.
[Horse whinnies]
So, Dan, if you feel safer
just roping him,
can you rope him?
I need to get my horse
kind of warmed up a little bit.
Dan, Dan, Dan!
Watch out!
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey!
He's a psychopath.
Get out.
You're bleeding really bad.
He got you in the head.
Get out.
That's it.
You're done.
You got it?
Here, Dan.
Hop down.
Just hop down.
Well, I need to stay here.
I know. I know.
I know.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
Dan, you've got a huge hole.
You need sutures.
It's a huge hole.
That's pretty bad,
and you always carry something
with you just in case.
I'm gonna have
to put him down.
You want a ride in
and throw some stitches on?
- No, no.
- Not your chin.
Oh, look what he did
to my hat.
He bit you.
He bit you in the head?
Holy shit.
Then he knocked me over.
Okay, go sit down
in my mom's car right there.
Why?
'Cause I'm taking you
to get stitches.
It's deep.
You could see the bone
in the...
Big fuss
they make about it,
just get it cleaned
and closed.
Mr. Brannaman,
you need to talk
a little sense into Dan,
and I figure you're probably
the only one that can do it.
Dang.
About the third time
I got that saddle blanket
up over his back, boy,
I didn't even see him, man.
He hit me with his teeth, boy,
and knocked me flat.
Get it stitched up.
What you gonna do?
We're gonna have
to put him down.
I won't give him off to somebody
who's gonna beat him to a pulp
with a 2x4.
It's not something you do,
and he... he's dangerous.
I'm gonna put him down,
and that's the most humane thing
to do for him.
Yeah.
Get out of there.
Dan.
- Dan, Dan, Dan!
- Hey!
Yeah, do not get close to him.
Step back away from him.
- Is Buck coming?
- Yeah.
Please step back
away from him.
I was just backing up
to get the shot.
[Horse whinnies]
How are they gonna get him
in that trailer?
Come on, Kel.
[Buck clears throat]
Come on, Kel.
Come on.
Just sit still.
Just wait.
[Sighs]
Come on, Kel.
Come on, Kel.
Come on.
Up.
Sit still.
Just sit still.
Just sit still.
Just don't do anything.
[Gate clattering]
Okay, we'll see if you have
any questions here.
Well, I'll talk to you
right now.
The colt, when it was born,
was not breathing
when they got to it,
and they didn't know
for how long.
So the vet even figured
that the horse
had been oxygen-deprived
for quite a long period of time,
but he still could have made it
in spite of his handicap
that he was born with.
He could have made it.
If you just would treat this
as if that horse,
because of
the oxygen deprivation,
had some sort
of a learning disability.
Well, number one,
they should have worked with him
like you might work
with a disabled child
and said, "Look, you might need
a little bit of extra education
because of where
you're coming from."
So you could have taken
that disabled child
and turned him
into something of value
to himself and everyone else,
and he may have ended up
just a kind, nice little horse
that didn't have a lot
to offer mentally
but was just kind of
okay with people,
and he might have
packed someone around.
He might have been the absolute
opposite of what he is.
But you know damn good and well,
she would go home,
and she would either get hurt,
get killed,
or someone else would get hurt
that was totally innocent.
The human failed that horse.
The human is that X factor.
That horse is a mirror.
All your horses are a mirror
to your soul.
And sometimes you might not like
what you see in the mirror.
Sometimes you will.
What were you thinking
when you were just being
so kind and patient
with that horse
to get him in there
instead of just,
"You're no good,"
shut the door, and go?
To have contempt for the horse
never would even occur to me.
That's not...
Maybe... maybe 30 years ago,
it would have, maybe.
One of the biggest challenges
of a horseman is,
is to be able to control
your emotions,
and it's a...
you know, probably
more of a challenge for me...
has been, you know,
not so much now,
but it has been...
because my dad
had a violent temper.
He was a terrifying person.
So that kind of followed me
around a little bit, thinking,
"Am I gonna be just like
that old fart," you know?
No.
No, you got a choice.
You can make choices.
You can't blame the whole
damn thing on somebody else.
And, you know,
I can't help but think
that all you guys here,
when you have a youngster,
that you're gonna be thinking,
"Hoo, hoo, hoo,
I've got some responsibility.
"I'm gonna take care of things
and try to make this
"as good a life for him
as I can
"and not let things
get out of hand
and teach him something,"
I hope.
I hope.
[Engine revving]
So we're headed from Chico
to Red Bluff
to the stock horse
and ranch roping contest there.
The Californios is the deal
every year in Red Bluff.
Buckaroo, vaquero-style roping,
this is it.
Reata's doing the kid's class.
They call it
the heritage class.
She's really looking forward
to that,
and this'll be her last year
to do the kid's class.
Then she'll be too old.
The Californios
is one of the highlights
of my dad's season,
'cause he's been on the road
traveling,
living in his horse trailer,
meeting a bunch of new people,
having to memorize
their names.
So I think it is definitely
one of his highlights.
She won this event last year,
Reata Brannaman,
and she's showing
a lot of these guys
how to throw that thing.
That's about
the most fun for me
is out there roping
with my daughter.
She wants to be...
She emulates everything
her dad does.
She wants to be just like him.
She's her father's daughter.
We did teach her how to ride,
but it was already in her.
She could ride
from the very beginning.
I mean, the very first time
I ever watched her rope,
I thought,
"Who's been teaching you?"
Okay, we're good to go.
Reata Brannaman
and her lovely assistant.
Yes, lovely assistant.
The way this works is,
they've got seven minutes
to do this.
[Cheers and applause]
Yeah!
Yeah!
Gee, she's a handy kid.
Outropes most men now.
There'll come a time
when she'll be beating me,
and that'll be fine.
It'll be time
to turn it over to her.
Then I'll just sit around
in the grandstands
and talk about all the stuff
I used to be.
But hopefully that'll be
about another 30, 40 years.
People say they're too old
when they're, like, 40,
and you think, "Shut up.
Too old."
Bill Dorrance was roping
when he was 94.
That's how I want to be
when I grow up, if I ever do.
Oh, it's always neat
to see them
after I've been gone
for a long time, yeah.
But it's always hard
to leave too.
You know, once you're
around them for a few days,
kind of start getting used
to being around them.
Then you go back
to your life of solitude.
So I'm still on the move.
I'm getting better,
because I'm still studying.
I still want to be
a better horseman.
I've learned so many things,
and I thought originally
I was just gonna be there
to figure out
how to get a colt started
and figure out how to be
a little better cowboy.
That's what I thought
it was about.
Come to find out, that wasn't
what it was about at all.
Out of a group like this,
there might be some
who become artists,
where you become creative,
and you use your imagination.
Now, that was a thing
of beauty.
You look like one mind
and one body.
If you got a taste of it,
if you got a taste
of what I'm talking about,
you couldn't get enough of it.
You'd rather do that than eat.
You may spend your whole life
chasing that,
and that's possible,
but it's a good thing to chase.
This is Buck's favorite joke.
It's a pirate scene,
and the guy
up in the crow's nest says,
"One enemy ship coming
on the horizon!"
And the captain says,
"Quick, bring me my red shirt,
"because if I get wounded
in battle,
"the blood won't show,
and my men will fight on."
So they had the battle,
and after a bit,
the guy in the crow's nest says,
"Ten enemy ships
on the horizon!"
And the captain says, "Quick,
bring me my brown pants!"
[Laughter]
[Cheers and applause]
[Soft acoustic guitar music]
# Yes, I understand
that every life must end #
# Uh-huh #
# As we sit alone,
I know someday we must go #
# Uh-huh #
# Oh, I'm a lucky man
to count on both hands #
# The ones I love #
# Some folks just have one #
# Yeah, others, they got none #
# Uh-huh #
# Stay with me #
# Let's just breathe #
# Practiced on our sins #
# Never gonna let me win #
# Uh-huh #
# Under everything,
just another human being #
# Uh-huh #
# Yeah, I don't want to hurt #
# There's so much in this world
to make me believe #
# Stay with me #
# All I see #
# Did I say that I need you? #
# Did I say that I want you? #
# Oh, if I didn't,
I'm a fool, you see #
# No one knows this
more than me #
# As I come clean #
# I wonder every day
as I look upon your face #
# Uh-huh #
# Everything you gave
and nothing you would take #
# Uh-huh #
# Nothing you would take #
# Everything you gave #
# Did I say that I need you? #
# Oh, did I say
that I want you? #
# Oh, if I didn't,
I'm a fool, you see #
# No one knows this
more than me #
# As I come clean #
# Hold me till I die #
# Meet you on the other side #