Buck Page #6

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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.

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