Buck

Most people are unfamiliar with the unique bond one can have with a horse. However, Buck Brannaman is very unlike most people.

The foundation of the film lies within Buck's violently disturbing back story. We find out, early on, that he was abused by his father throughout his childhood. As the documentary progresses, we learn more and more about Buck's incredible journey of self rebuilding. He has gone through extreme hardship to become the outstanding man that he is today.

Buck's history and inherent sensitivity allow him to relate to horses in ways the majority of us cannot. As, experienced horseman know, horses are remarkably sensitive and perceptive creatures. So much so, that they can sense a person's emotional state and recognize their personality. With this, Buck shows us how he builds an unbreakable relationship with his horses based on trust and mutual respect. At one point Buck is questioned about a particularly naughty colt.

He responds with, "That horse is a mirror. All of your horses are a mirror to your soul. And sometimes you might not like what you see in the mirror. Sometimes you will."

Buck is a cowboy that understands the true depth of these animals. No horse is inherently evil. Just as Buck knows, if one is only given punishment they will lose all trust in others. A person has failed a horse when that horse loses faith in human kindness. Buck, however helps us to succeed in gaining this trust. Not surprisingly, he advises us to start with self reflection.

The film makes one contemplate one's own character and emotions. Horses can teach us more about ourselves than any other organism on this earth. The message of this documentary is clear and backed with extreme validity. Buck teaches us to take a look inside ourselves before judging the world around us.

From the start of the documentary, Buck's calm, quiet, and humble demeanor captures our attention. His low voice encourages you to edge your seat forward, just so you can hear what he's saying-almost as if he's whispering a secret into your ear. Buck maintains eye contact with horses more than he does with people, simply because he understands them better. He cares for them, nurtures them, and loves them with all his heart, so much so that he sacrifices family time for a life of solitude so that he can hold clinics across the country.

Buck is truly an inspiring person. No matter how violent a colt may be when entering his clinic, Buck is always able to build a rapport with it without the use of words. He comforts and pets the horse, almost as if to say, "You're okay. Don't be afraid to let your walls down." Buck is able to show the horses that he is there to love them and that no one is there to hurt them. He even patiently ushers a violent, uncooperative 3 year old horse into the truck. Buck wants people to be able to relate to the horse before asking the horse to do something for them. He wants to help build strong and understanding relationships between horses and people.

Buck's clinics not only show how people should treat horses, but also reveal how this is about a person's life and the people in it. Buck shows others how there is always an alternative path-whether it be the way a person treats a horse or the choices a person makes in his/her life. Buck grew up with an abusive father, but refused to grow up like him. Although this seems like a gruesome childhood, Buck never needed the sympathy of others-not even when his foster father handed him a pair of beautiful working gloves the very first day he arrived. Buck shows that like people, horses are vulnerable and are capable of shutting down. He says that usually, it is the human who fails the horse through neglect and mistreatment. Towards the end of the movie, Buck regards the unfortunate event between the violent horse and its crestfallen owner, "A horse is a mirror-a mirror into your soul." This quote is truly breathtaking because it shows that not only are the participants learning about the horse, but the horse is also teaching the participants aspects about themselves that they may not realize until someone breaks the truth to them.

He opens the public's eyes to how a person and a horse can become so incredibly connected that they become one mind and one body. By simply leaning back and forth atop a horse, Buck is proof that people can gain the full cooperation of a horse without a single touch! Buck's voice and actions will seize your attention the way they did with mine.

If you are looking for a movie to get pumped for and to watch with a bunch of your friends, do not watch this movie. "Buck" serves as the perfect film for a moviegoer who wishes to enjoy a moving yet informative film that will make you rethink everything you know.

Buck Brannaman is has drastically changed the lives of many horses. Touring across the United States for nine months out of the year, Buck provides four day clinics in which he helps fellow horse lovers how to interact with horses in a structural yet caring way. He helps individuals see healthier ways to train their horses, rather than use dangerous techniques or have a dangerous attitude. In the past generations, people would torture horses in order to make them tame. They would use torture, ropes, whips, and many other scary devices to try to conquer the animal's soul by force. These practices were inhumane and a stain on our relationship with animals. Thank goodness that these are not common practices today, however, most of us are still not able to conquer the challenge of training a horse in a perfectly tame and respectful manner. Buck Brannaman understands horses and truly wants others to be able to understand their horses as well. In his clinics, he compares horse emotions to that of human emotions in a way that people can understand.

Buck Brannaman says at one point in the movie that your "horse is a mirror to your soul." You may wonder where that idea may come into play in a documentary about some horse whisperer, but this idea of introspection and finding your inner self comes into play every once in awhile. Some other interesting discussions that arise throughout the film include the ideas of speciesism and the close comparison between child rearing and horse rearing.

I started watching this movie, hoping that I wouldn't fall asleep from the knowledge that I couldn't grasp with my mind's butterfly net. But thankfully, "Buck" ended up becoming one of the the most interesting and captivating documentaries I have ever seen. This movie is the bomb and be careful when you watch it because your mind will explode.

The documentary "Buck" follows Buck Brannaman, the man most known for being a "horse whisperer" and working with Robert Redford on a movie with the same title. He runs four day training camps across the country 40 weeks out of the year in order to help people and their horses get along. The thing that really struck me with this movie was the look into another world. Now, I say another world, but what I really mean is a different kind of culture, the one you might think of when you think about old western movies. Cowboys, cowgirls, horses, and cows. Well, its not exactly the wild west, but it's as close as you're gonna get nowadays.Buck Brannaman is sort of an icon in this world. The film delves deep in to his life, the struggle he had as an adolescent, and how he conquered his life and himself. "Buck" really drives home a message of moving past the events that previously happened in your life. Through interviews of loved ones and filmed demonstrations of his, it really shows the affect he had on other peoples and their horses lives because of his own struggles. Many things from the films such as the music and the way it followed him and his family, showing his love for people and horses made the movie both interesting and heartwarming. "Buck" is an inspiring tale about a man who loves horses. It is a wonderful film experience for people who do and do not know about Buck Brannaman and his world.

"I'm helping horses with people problems." Buck Brannaman

If you love horses, Buck will not buck you. If you don't love them, this documentary will make you love Buck Brannaman, the inspiration for the novel The Horse Whisperer and technical adviser to Robert Redford on the film of the same name.

Interestingly enough, you don't see him whisper; he just snaps and waves a couple of red flags to convince the animal he cares about them. His results, even with the feistiest and most deadly horses, are remarkably successful. Buck is a soft song of praise to a wrangler psychologist whose gift with horses defies analysis, so unassuming is he, so gentle that he appears not to be working at all.

His interaction with humans is just as successful with clinics all over the West to show owners and trainers how to tame the liveliest colts. His loving relationship with his wife and daughter, who performs at rodeos with him, is a testimony to his belief that humans are key to the happiness of the animals.

His no nonsense advice is nowhere more effective than when he tells a rancher about the effect of her neuroses on the troubled horse he is attending to. Tough love.

When Buck asks, "Why let an animal live in fear?" it is apparent Buck has a connection with horses that goes beyond breaking them for riding. When he describes how a horse naturally fears a human on his back in the same way one jumped by a lion does, the lesson about empathy is clear.

Buck is a cowboy with a remarkably wry sense of humor and self-effacing pride. His tough love melts into a universal love that straddles the beast and human worlds.

The back story about his abuse by his father adds to his credibility and mitigates the otherwise thin deconstruiction of his persona. While I am frustrated because of the film's unwillingness to probe deeper into his talent and his psyche, what you get is what you get: a man gifted with horses—and humans.