Not Buck Davidson
And, I’m talking about Buck Brannaman. Truth be told, I had vaguely heard of Buck Brannaman from a cowboy friend out in California a couple years ago. I just threw Buck’s name in with the “rough and tumble” set.
For the last couple of weeks, on the Twin Cities Combined Training email list, there were multiple emails about how wonderful the movie Buck was. So, I took my aunt and decided to see what all the hype was about.
If you don’t know anything about Buck, he’s a cowboy out of Montana. He travels the country 40 weeks out of the year giving clinics on natural horsemanship. Now, I was never a believer in “natural horsemanship” per se, because all I knew about it was a certain pair of trainers with some unsightly videos. However, I have always been a disciple of understanding your horse.
Back to the movie. For starters, the movie is about Buck, not a training DVD, and should be viewed as such. What I can’t get over about the while documentary is how no-nonsense and genuine Buck comes across. And, it’s not something you can fake for the cameras either. He just holds himself so well, so confidently, so quietly, that horses understand him and trust him. He seems like such great fun by the way he uses his dry humor to help humans understand horses.
Buck’s life is an amazing story. I encourage you to see the documentary or read his life story in his book, The Faraway Horses. He overcame severe child abuse to live his life at the opposite end of the spectrum: compassionate and caring for horses as well as humans. Throughout the movie, he is an advocate for the understanding of the horse. He emphasizes that you cannot take horses personally. There is a stallion situation in the movie where an auditor shows contempt for the horse. Buck says you can’t hold that against the horse, as it’s not his fault how he was raised. He emphasizes “feel” to better your communication with your horse. He says a horse can feel a mosquito land on its rump in the pouring rain, so they can feel the slightest change in your balance. We’ve all heard this before in some aspect if you’ve had good trainers, but it was very interesting for me to hear it from a “cowboy”. He also “starts” horses, he doesn’t “break” them. I think that subtle difference in just the words you use to approach your horse makes a difference.
Another aspect that he touches on, that I truly appreciate, is that horses are a reflection of ourselves. I think this is very true, and something I identified with. On the drive home with my aunt, she made some parallels from the movie to her life as a lawyer, mom and wife. This movie is definitely not just for the horsey set.
My favorite piece of advice, or old wisdom, came from his foster mother actually. “Blessed are the flexible, for they will not get bent out of shape.” I’m making that my new motto.
Eventing Nation, get out there and see the movie. It will change your views. I’m not saying that you have to be a disciple of Buck, but I firmly believe there is something to be learned from everyone, and Buck is one of the last true horseman out there. Take your loved ones, because it’s not just about horses, it’s about life.
What did you think of the movie?
