Buck Page #3

---

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.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes