Buck Page #8

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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 b*tch

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.

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