Buck Brannaman - Believe: A Horsemans Journey

Copyright 2004 by Buck Brannaman and William Reynolds

First Lyons Press paperback edition, 2006

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted in writing from the publisher. Requests for permission should be addressed to The Lyons Press, Attn: Rights and Permissions Department, P.O. Box 480, Guilford, CT 06437.

The Lyons Press is an imprint of The Globe Pequot Press.

Designed by Maggie Peterson

ISBN-13: 978-0-7627-9617-5

ISBN-10: 1-59228-899-5

The Library of Congress has previously cataloged an earlier (hardcover) edition as follows:

Brannaman, Buck.

Believe : a horsemans journey / Buck Brannaman and Bill Reynolds.

p. cm.

ISBN 1-59228-433-7 (trade cloth)

1. Horse trainers-United States-Anecdotes. 2. Horses-Training-United States-Anecdotes. 3. Horses-Behavior-United States-Anecdotes. 4. Human- animal communication-United States-Anecdotes. I. Reynolds, William, 1950- II.Title.

SF284.5.B73 2004

636.1_0835_092-dc22

2004059402

Also by the authors:

THE FARAWAY HORSES

BELIEVE

DEDICATION

In memory of two who mattered.
Of two who cared.
Of two who lived with grace.
Tom and Bill Dorrance

The acceptance and success of our first book, The Faraway Horses, was very exciting and gratifying for both Buck and me. Believe actually came about and was driven by the overwhelming interest of hundreds of people who wanted to share their stories with us and, ultimately, with you.

Thanks go to all these wonderful people who took the timeand had the courageto share their success stories with us, including:Susan Alotrico, Amy Baker, Theresa Whitmarsh-Berryman, Don and Val Chase, Nicole Garcia, Laurie Gardos, Sherry Gulley, Barbara Jerviss, Shayne and C. J. Jackson, Sissy Ledlow, Dianna McPhail, and Jean Palmieri.

We would also like to thank Donette Cowgill, Tyler Baldwin, and all the folks at The Lyons Press, especially Steve Price, Jay Cassell, Tony Lyons, Jane Reilly, and Kathryn Mennone.

As with The Faraway Horses, special thanks go to the two shining stars that illuminate our way, Mary Brannaman and Kristin Reynolds.

In 1993, Buck Brannaman and I were sitting in a branding pen at a ranch near Nye, Montana. It was May, and I had just come from my brother-in-laws wedding the night before in LA. I finally arrived about two A.M., given all the various flights one must take to get to Montana from anywhere, it seems. It had been a hurried journey, and with little sleep the morning call to coffee at four A.M. seemed a cruel joke. With fresh horses, the branding crew jogged and crow-hopped off to the morning ritual of gathering for a spring branding. I had come to join friends for a yearly get-together to brand, this time at a friends place, the Flying C Ranch outside of Columbus, Montana. It was really just an excuse to rope, to rope anything. Brannaman always said a bad day of roping beats a good day raking. I still dont quite follow that, but I do like to rope when I can.

While we were waiting outside the branding pen for our turn to rope, quiet seemed to descend upon us. The only sounds that spring morning were the settling cattle and the wind in the trees, high on the canyon rims above us. It was a permissive quietone that allowed the mind to move around freely, not bound by ordered memories, or thoughts at parade rest waiting to be called upon. I recalled my first meeting with Buck Brannaman some eight years earlier in 1985 at a horse event in Malibu, California. I remembered his easy way around horses, and his shyness around the folks who were watching. He silently went about his business helping the young horses lose their fears and resistance. It was quite a sight; the wonder of simple action rewarded, of kindness given and trust received. I saw Buck in this situation again and again over the years. A few years later at a clinic in Colorado, I noticed that he still moved easily around the horses, but he had become more confident with the spectators. When answering their questions and responding to their comments, he seemed to be more aware of their concerns and how their concerns fit with their horses problems. Buck left them with more tools to use than when they came, and his understanding even more appreciated. The rewards for all even greater. He seemed to hold them in his hands as moved around the little pen, working a new horse. Those watching were starting to see the horseand themselvesthrough his eyes. A greater understanding for both horse and rider. More, it was apparent, was in store for this young man.

Lap dissolve: New York City:

In 1998, Buck and I found ourselves sitting together in a tiny hotel room in New York City with video cameras and microphones, as Buck was being interviewed by the working Hollywood press. A writer named Nick Evans had spent a little time traveling with Buck in the mid-1990s, and had framed his books main character, Tom Booker, around him. No one figured it would amount to anything, but that book became a best-seller and was the basis for the very successful Robert Redford movie, The Horse Whisperer. Buck and I had been involved in helping to make the film, but standing in that little branding pen in Nye, Montana, back in 1993, neither Buck nor I could have ever imagined that what Buck did for a living would have such an impact on so many people. Let alone that Buck himself would be the model for a screen hero played by a star like Robert Redford. Not Buck. He was definitely something special, but just with horsesright?

It turned out that Buck was something special at many things, once you really got to know him. Unfortunately, getting to know him can be a tough undertaking, as he is constantly on the move. Getting a real grip on Buck is kind of like trying to capture mercury on the deck of a moving ship. A tough deal. The thing about Buck is, good things always seem to happen to him. Brannaman Luck, its been called. For the twenty-odd years I have known him, more good things have happened to Brannaman than bad. And in fact, the good things have way outnumbered the badespecially as time went on. Why? Because as he has evolved, he has aimed himself at life in a positive way. As he removed resistance in his own life, he has done the same in the horses he has worked with, and with that, has managed to remove resistance in their humans as well. The result? Everybody won. Including Buck. He found people cared more and more, and the feelings they had for their horses successes stuck. Stuck to the point that when they went home, they found they listened more and empathized more with their family members, their spouses, their friends everyone. Everybody won. But dont misunderstand; Bucks had his share of trouble, starting when he was just a kid in Idaho. He had a horrible childhood, one that eventually led to placement in a foster home with exposure to horsessomething that ultimately saved his life.

Brannaman Luck? Maybe. Certainly, the more than ten thousand horses he has started are better off, and more importantly, the people he has touched through their horses are better off, as well. They seemed to take quickly to his approach of working on an equal relationship, from a place of mutual respect and understanding. It really works. Probably would work at the United Nations, if we could get them to give it a try.