Buck Page #9

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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 sh*t.

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

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