#168 mit Horsemanship-Legende Buck Brannaman

Buck, welcome to the WeHorse podcast. I personally am super excited to have you here. And just last night, I posted up on my Instagram stories that I was going to be interviewing you. And I got so many messages of people excited to tune in and listen. So thanks for being here.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:01:33-00:01:35]
Oh, glad to be here.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:01:36-00:01:51]
So I know that most people listening will have watched your documentary or read your books or watched some of your videos and know a bit about you. But I'd love to go back to the beginning. If you could tell us what initially drew you to horses.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:01:53-00:03:08]
Well, ever since I was a little guy, we always had horses. But my early life, my brother and I were trick ropers. We performed in rodeos. So we had horses, but... uh really and truly i didn't really get that turned on about working with horses until i went to live with my foster parents at about 11 years old my foster dad he loved horses and was a good cowboy he was was not anywhere near the horseman that ray hunt was but When I went to live with my foster parents, I was coming from kind of a dark place. And my foster dad got me interested in working with the Colts. And that was kind of a refuge for me. That was a place for me to go. Honestly, at that age, I was pretty brave and I'd get on about anything. But I don't know that I did the horses a hell of a lot of good. But they did me quite a bit of good. And I guess now at this stage of my life, I'd like to think maybe I'm trying to pay them back a little bit.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:03:09-00:03:36]
I love that. Was there a particular experience that inspired you to become the horseman that you are today? And now I know that Ray Hunt had a big influence on you. And I, and I, there's generally a, like kind of a coming of age. It seems like for horse people where they might've started with a certain discipline or started a certain way and then realized a different way. Did you have that experience or did you not necessarily know any other way?

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:03:37-00:04:39]
Well, you know, a lot of young people, you know, as they go through high school and get out of high school, they are really kind of searching. They really don't know what they want to do with their life. And I always knew I wanted to be a good cowboy and a horseman. I never wanted to be anything else. I was never confused or worried about what I was going to spend my life doing. I just didn't really have a plan in the beginning. And yet I'd been riding colts for the public for a few years all through high school before I met Ray Hunt. And when I saw Ray Hunt, I immediately knew that's where I'm going. Whatever that is, I don't even know what it is, but I've got to get me some of it. And I've been chasing it ever since. It didn't take me long for Ray to win me over.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:04:42-00:06:16]
Are you feeling inspired by this conversation with Buck Branneman? Good news. Here at WeHorse.com, we proudly have access to the signature seven clinics with Buck. In these seven courses, you'll learn everything from proper leading and handling, first rides, building trust, and of course, the wisdom of Buck himself. Check out WeHorse.com for a free seven-day trial to get started. And as a member, you get access to everything in our WeHorse library to watch whenever you want. And we also have an app, which means you can download a course or a video to watch without Wi-Fi. Perfect for those days at the barn when you want a quick dose of training inspiration before your ride. So what are you waiting for? Go to WeHorse.com and check out our free seven-day trial to access our WeHorse library, see if it's a good fit for you, and start training with Buck Brandemann and a variety of other amazing trainers. We can't wait to see you in there. And now, back to the episode. I'd love to know what was it about that particular clinic? You know, I, so my husband and I, we rewatched your documentary last night. So my third time watching it, his second time watching it. And so we were rewatching it again. And, And there's that particular scene where you're talking about being at the clinic and you said that you went as far away on the other end of the fence because you didn't want to seem like you're actually that interested. And then you just you couldn't stop watching. Was there anything in particular that he was doing or was it just a sort of magnetism?

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:06:16-00:07:29]
Well, you know, I wasn't originally I wasn't at the clinic to be there. I was just trying to get a job cowboying. And the ranch manager of this one outfit happened to be there. So I was kind of there under duress a little bit. And, you know, I was kind of ranch raised. So, you know, that makes you a skeptic of, you know, someone who's kind of famous, you know, comes to town. But then when I watched Ray ride his horse around there right after the lunch break, I saw him doing things that, hell, I didn't even know a horse could do. And there was a look to his horses, a peace with his horses. Yet they were super athletic and handy, but the horses were really at peace. And I thank goodness at that point at least had had enough experience. I wasn't green. I was already a pretty good cowboy. I had enough experience that I at least could disseminate something unique and a quality there that I had never seen in anybody else. It didn't take me long to sort that out. I didn't really understand it, but I knew it was something different than I'd ever been exposed to.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:07:31-00:08:02]
Yeah. And now, I mean, everything in our world these days, it seems like it has to be quick and easy. Technology, food, everything. Yeah. And that, of course, has trickled into the horse industry as well, that training is quick and easy, you know, all of the things. Yeah. Do you find that there's a lot of horses and riders that are missing basic foundational training because we're so focused on quick and easy? Yeah.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:08:03-00:08:17]
Yeah, I do. It seems like some places you go, everybody wants to be a horse trainer. Everybody wants to, you know, go to the show or whatever it is they're interested in. Everybody wants to be a horse trainer, but nobody wants to start cults.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:08:18-00:08:19]
Hmm.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:08:20-00:11:51]
Because, you know, they understand that there's quite a bit more risk to that. So it's interesting. I've told a lot of young guys, if you want to make a living in the horse business, it might not make you famous. But if you got handy starting colts, you could close your eyes and point to anywhere on the map and just say, I'm going to make my living right there. And you could. Anywhere. Anywhere in America. You could point your finger just blindly and you could make a living there. But there isn't the fame and fortune goes along with that like there would be if you got really to be important in the horse show business. But my wife and I were talking about it last night. The horse show business, that's all great. But as far as a business, if you want to just call it a business, you're you're really putting a lot of eggs in one basket and you're only as good as your last horse show or two. And so because of that, you could be full of customers one month and six months from now, not have any customers in the barn. If you had a bad run, you weren't winning many shows and the guy down the street was, was beating you. It's a fickle business. And so there's a lot of people who are, are actually really good hands get involved in the horse show business whether it's jumping or working cow horse or cutting or whatever it might be a lot of people get involved and they they might fail even though they were really good hands it's a it's a very tough business to succeed at i've known some guys that were really really successful in the working cow horse business at the end of their life they were living in a trailer house you know and didn't have a hell of a lot to show for it. So, you know, from the business point of view, that never made much sense to me. But, you know, I couldn't look into the future and know how things are going to work out for me either. I tried doing the clinics starting in 1982, and, of course, it was slow, didn't do a lot of clinics the first few years. And there were quite a few times where I thought, well, I'm a pretty good cowboy. I can still get a cowboying job. That was always my whole card. I could go cowboy somewhere. And for the first few years, I was still trick roping professionally too. So when things were kind of starving me out in the horse business, well, I could get a few jobs here and there doing rope tricks. So I kind of had a little bit of an ace in the hole. But I knew I didn't want to spend my life doing rope tricks because, frankly, in the rodeo business, Even though it is very, very difficult to become a professional trick roper, it's about like working for the carnival. They kind of treat you that way. But it was something that I was very good at, the trick roping. So I did have a little bit of an ace in the hole. But I didn't really have a burning desire to do it anymore. You know, as a little kid, my dad kind of gave us the choice to either go practice your rope tricks or I'm going to whip you. So, you know, that puts kind of a bad taste in your mouth about the whole thing.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:11:51-00:11:52]
Absolutely, yeah.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:11:53-00:12:28]
But all I ever wanted to be was a good hand. And when you and I are done today, in about 30 minutes, I'm going to be on the back of a horse again. When I'm home in the wintertime, I ride every day. I don't have to at this stage in my life. I can stay home all winter and do nothing or go skiing or, you know, do whatever I want. But I can't wait to get back to the barn. I got some things I'm working on. This time of year I'm working on me. I'm sure I'm working on my horses, but this is the time of year that I use to try to make me better.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:12:28-00:12:29]
Yeah. Yeah.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:12:30-00:12:48]
So I work on some things. Some of them don't work out. But there might be things I've been thinking about trying to do to see if I can get better. And sometimes I'll be riding around thinking, well, that was a bad idea. And I might never mention it to you.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:12:50-00:12:59]
Would you be willing to share any of the things that you're kind of thinking about right now? No. No. No, not right now.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:12:59-00:13:14]
By the time I get on the road, I'll be sharing them, providing the things that I'm working on have worked out and all that. It has to, because I try to be real careful about giving bad advice.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:13:15-00:13:17]
Oh, I completely get it.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:13:17-00:13:50]
When I talk to a group of people in a clinic, anything that you hear me say, I absolutely believe in it. every cell in my body. And most of it is things that Ray and Tom and Bill have taught me. So it was tried and true and proven a long time before I came along. I'm just kind of passing it along off and tell people, I say, you know, Ray and Tom aren't around anymore. So you kind of stuck with me. That's about all that's left.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:13:50-00:14:02]
Are there any issues that you see in your clinics that just keep coming up, that everywhere you go, it seems like there's always the same questions, the same issues.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:14:02-00:15:04]
Probably the biggest issue is people and their damn cell phones. You know, I'll often ask people, say, you know, some of you are old enough to where you were around and doing things before there were cell phones. You had to use a pay phone at a truck stop if you were traveling across country or you had to use your home phone. Do you even remember what you did with that two or three hours a day that you're on your phone now, dinking around Facebook and all that other crap? Do you even remember what you used to do to fill your days? Because they were filled. You used your whole day up and went to bed at night. Do you even remember what your life was like before you had that phone stuck to your ears? Most people don't. They don't know what they had to give up something because it's two or three hours a day. People are on their phone. They gave up something. They don't even know what they gave up. That's enough time to make a really good horse.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:15:06-00:15:08]
You know, that's good.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:15:08-00:15:25]
And I mean, when they when they're dying, I know this is really morbid, but when they're dying. You think they're going to be laying there in bed, taking their last few breaths, thinking, damn, if I could have just sent one more text, I could have hopped on Instagram one more time.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:15:26-00:15:28]
Yeah, try to refresh that.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:15:28-00:15:39]
They might be thinking, gosh, if I could have rode a good horse, just one more time, rode a good horse. I would think if they have any substance at all, they'd probably be thinking that.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:15:40-00:15:40]
Yeah.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:15:40-00:15:40]
You know.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:15:42-00:16:05]
I like that. Do you find that the horses are picking up on that? I know that my horses, my mare specifically, she does not like it if I am on my phone around her. She almost acts like she's offended by the fact that I'm not paying attention. Do you find that people, like the horses are picking up on that?

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:16:06-00:16:41]
Well, I don't know that they recognize it as a phone, but they recognize the fact that you're not very dialed in. that you're not there, that you're distracted. Horses pick up on other horses being distracted. That's what a herd animal does. If another horse, something has drawn its attention, well, in nature, they pick up on that and think, uh-oh, are we all in danger if that attention is drawn to some movement or a sound or something in the distance? So they notice when you're not there. When you're not with them, sure.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:16:43-00:17:08]
Absolutely. Buck, on your website, it says that one of your goals, I'm assuming one of the goals with the clinics, is to make the horse feel safe and secure around humans so that the horse and rider can achieve a true union. What are some of the things that you do specifically to help the horse feel safe and secure that maybe people listening can start to implement as well?

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:17:09-00:18:57]
Well, you know, a lot of that is the groundwork that I talk about so much. And even through the groundwork, you're trying to expose them to things that would naturally cause them to be a little bit afraid. And then basically showing them, rather than just assuming that the flight response is the right choice, that if they stay with you, that... they realize over time that you're their protector. You're not the problem. You're the answer. So the other part of the groundwork is really getting control of their feet, being able to direct them and have them accept being directed without being troubled because the horse will respond to you if you're a leader. And so you can do a lot to support the horse if you have to gain control of his feet. in a good frame of mind, well, then you can start exposing him to things that might normally make him afraid, only for him to find out, gosh, if I just stick with this human, I'm okay, I'm safe. And there's no way you'll live long enough to expose a horse to everything in the world that would ever make him afraid. There's no way. So it's not just showing him a tarp and showing him a raincoat and showing him a plastic bag. And you do as much of that as you can. But the real deal is, is having a connection with the horse that the horse looks to you for support. And if he checks in with you, even if he's afraid, when he checks in with you, if he gets the sense that you're not afraid, that's comfort. That's going to support the horse.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:18:58-00:19:33]
Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. For your clinics, your website says that participants need to bring a 3-8th or 5-8th width egg butt snaffle bit, a Makate, I apologize if I'm mispronouncing that style, the rein setup, a training flag, and a rope halter with a 12-foot lead. Specifically, like the bit and then the rein set up, why do you choose that equipment for people to bring to the clinic instead of them showing up in their normal things?

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:19:33-00:20:48]
Well, a lot of times they'll show up with split reins or if it's an English rider, they'll have just a loop rein. Well, there are some things you can do with a McCarty because your lead rope comes off the left side. You can do a lot of groundwork right off your lead rope or your snapple bit so you can get a horse freed up and prepared and ready to ride. And then when he's ready, tuck the McCarty in your belt and get on and go. Whereas if you just have a loop rein, more of an English-style setup, then when you get him ready and get him comfortable to ride, then you have to take your halter off, put your bridle on. And then sometimes in that little gap of time between when you're doing that, sometimes they get a little bit lost. Just that period of time, if it's a really green horse. Just that period of time it took you to take your halter off and put your bridle on, the window may already be closed. And more often than not, it doesn't make a damn bit of difference, really. With a McCarty, when you ride outside, there's also a knot you can tie if you need to tie your horse up where you don't have to have your halter under your bridle, which, you know, most horsemen don't ride with their halter under their bridle.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:20:48-00:20:49]
Right.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:20:49-00:20:53]
That'd be like walking around with toilet paper sticking out the back of your pants or something.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:20:53-00:20:53]
Right.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:20:53-00:20:56]
You can still walk, but it's not going to look right.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:20:57-00:21:03]
Right. Absolutely. Okay. I was quite curious about that.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:21:03-00:21:04]
As far as the snaffle bit.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:21:04-00:21:05]
The bit, yeah.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:21:05-00:21:32]
As far as the snaffle bit, egg butt snaffle just with a three-eighths mouthpiece, that's all I use. And, you know, any of those other gimmick bits, twisted wire, double twisted wire, dog bone this and do hickey that, all of those bits are designed for people who failed in the snaffle. Let's just be real about it. The twisted wire, that's become more common in the horse training world than a plain snaffle bit.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:21:33-00:21:33]
Yeah.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:21:33-00:21:39]
That's the standard bit they use. Well, you're missing something.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:21:41-00:22:46]
Yeah. I actually have a bit of a selfish question if it's okay I'll have you on here I have a horse who had a pelvis injury and it took us a little while to figure out what was going on and we had done a ton of testing and she always came up saying or everybody always said she was fine she was sound she was just off behaviorally anyways long story short She's all better now. She's had about three years in my pasture to just be a horse again. And and she and I both are kind of at that point where we're kind of toying around with the idea of wanting to do some stuff. Now, I'm not looking to be jumping her or anything like that, like before, but even just going on some trail rides. However, she does not trust anything to do with work. We have a really, really, really good relationship until I ask her to do something.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:22:46-00:22:48]
What does that mean, you have a good relationship?

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:22:49-00:23:23]
In the sense that I know it's kind of but she I mean, she puts her head in the halter. She follows me around. We we'd love on each other. Like it's it's a it's a good pet relationship. But the moment I try to do anything, quote unquote, work, it's like she flashes back to when she was in pain and refuses to do anything. And I don't know what to do because I'm afraid I'm going to ruin that relationship that I've built with her.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:23:23-00:24:47]
Well, first of all, you don't have much of a relationship. You're being used. Well, you're a source of food. So, of course, she's going to follow you around. But as soon as you inconvenience her a little bit and say, now you need to step up and do something for me, then that's where the trouble comes. You have to go back to zero. You have to start over. And you have to be bold enough to say, listen, in order for us to actually have a relationship rather than you just using me, you have to respond to me with respect. I need to be able to control your feet through the end of the lead rope. And because of the way things have gone the last two or three years, it might get darker before it gets dawn because she might say, you're not going to be my leader at all. I'm going to call the shots here. And you're going to have to be strong enough to say, look, I'm running this outfit. And it doesn't mean I don't care for you. It means I love you. It's like being a good parent. But you can't be so wishy-washy that you're like, she loves me. She ate out of my hand. And you can't be so damn wishy-washy that you're like, if I ask her to behave in any way, she might not like me anymore. That's why us men love you women. Because you have that.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:24:49-00:24:50]
And that's exactly how I've been.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:24:50-00:24:51]
That works against you.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:24:52-00:24:54]
Yeah, that's exactly how I've been. Yeah.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:24:55-00:25:08]
It's almost like, it sounds weird, but it's almost like when it comes to working with horses, a woman needs to be a little bit more of a man sometimes, and a man needs to be a little bit more of a woman sometimes.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:25:09-00:25:12]
I know. I hear you on that. I know exactly what you mean.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:25:13-00:25:14]
something right in the middle, you know?

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:25:16-00:25:31]
No, that's, that's, that's perfect. I, I needed to hear that. So I appreciate you saying it. It was one of those things where I thought, well, I have him on here. I'm going to ask him because I knew you would tell it to me straight. And I appreciate it.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:25:31-00:25:31]
Sure.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:25:33-00:25:39]
A bit of a less serious question. What was it like being the inspiration behind the horse whisperer?

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:25:41-00:27:46]
Well, you know, I guess when it all started, you know, I wasn't really chasing the movie business or anything. So when it all started, I didn't even realize what kind of a big deal it was to be working on a $150 million movie, you know. And my main goal was that the work with the horses and the livestock had some integrity involved. to where people that I grew up around respected it and appreciated it and weren't embarrassed by it. But I wasn't all starry-eyed about it because I also realized, even though that was a pretty big movie, people that want to be in the movie business, they might work their whole life to be on a movie that big. I also realized that in a year or two, It'd be on Netflix or it'd be in the bargain bin at Walmart or something. And then people would forget about it. And I was going to be right back to living my life. But, gosh, it was amazing when that movie came out how many horse whisperers there actually were. You know, it's like one on every corner. No, I'm the real guy. No, I'm the real guy. It's like, okay, well, whatever. There's a lot of people traded on that because it was it looked like an, you know, an opportunity for them to. You know, pose as something. So and, you know, I could name you some names, but I wouldn't do that. But there were there were some that that, you know, made a pretty good living off that for a while, claiming to be the guy. And then, of course, Redford and Nick Evans never heard of them, but. It didn't matter. You know, I'm still I'm just back to doing my thing. It's 20 years now, more than that, 23, 24 years since that movie. Surprising to me, though, how many people still remember that damn thing?

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:27:46-00:28:02]
Absolutely. Yeah, it was it was like it's one of those movies that it stands out because of the beginning. It's such a shocking beginning that it's a movie you never forget. Yeah. Or at least that's how it feels to me.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:28:02-00:28:39]
It was a lot of fun. I enjoyed it. Got to do some things that were real different. Spent quite a bit of time around Redford, which is kind of interesting. Yeah, so it was fun. Another life experience. I've been trying for a few years, actually, to get a film done on my book, The Faraway Horses. because it's more kind of the true story, you know, what all this is about. And I've been close a time or two to having someone want to pick it up and do it, but just haven't had that happen yet, but maybe.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:28:40-00:28:52]
Yeah, I hope it does. My husband and I are both really big fans of that book. I have a bookcase out in our living room, and it displays, like, all of the nice books. And that is on it.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:28:54-00:29:54]
It's funny writing that book. I wrote that book because I wanted the message to be a message of encouragement for people that might possibly be going through a dark time, even while they are reading the book, so that they understood that it's not a foregone conclusion, that it's always going to be a sad ending, just because the beginning might be a little rough. So I wanted it to be a book that encouraged people, not just horse people or livestock people, but people in general. And it's funny, it was a little niche publisher, a little nothing publisher that did it. They never put one penny of marketing into the book. And by word of mouth, it sold over 200,000 copies. So I know the message is solid there. And I think as far as a film would go, I think you could do something good in making a film out of it.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:29:55-00:30:32]
Absolutely. We'll see. Fingers crossed. Yeah. So last night while we were watching the Buck documentary, there was a few things I hadn't watched in a couple of years. And since watching it, I had watched The Seven Clinics. And so as I'm watching the documentary last night, there was a few clips that I thought, well, I recognize that from the seven clinics. It only happened probably two or three just short little clip times. And so I was wondering, did the idea for the seven clinics come from filming the documentary or vice versa?

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:30:32-00:30:47]
Well, the seven clinics... was film that they were taking when they shot the documentary that was just film that they didn't use, that they thought would be useful as instructional videos.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:30:48-00:30:51]
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And they are. I enjoy them a lot.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:30:52-00:31:00]
Yeah, they shot just tons and tons of stuff, and then you can only put so much on a documentary, and so that's where they thought they'd use it.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:31:01-00:31:37]
Mm-hmm. Yeah, absolutely. No, it's a it's a lot of really good stuff. And I just as as I was watching, I recognized a few little clips. So if anybody hasn't watched the seven clinics and if you enjoyed the documentary or vice versa, I highly recommend checking out the other because the seven clinics are are really good. So as we're wrapping up this year and we're about to go into a new year, you know, there's a lot that's changing within the horse industry. And I'm wondering, is there anything that you hope for the future of the horse industry?

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:31:40-00:33:31]
Well, you know, in a way, I think it's in a lot of ways headed in the right direction. I mean, I think of of what the horses and people were like to work with 40 years ago when I started doing clinics compared to now people are really getting a lot better you know and of course there's a lot more access to information some of it bad but a lot of it good there's a lot of access to knowledge that that really wasn't there when I got started there wasn't even videotapes when I got started So there is a lot of information out there that people can use. But, of course, like anything, that also requires that you be quite a bit more discriminating because, you know, any time it becomes an industry that's that big, you have to be careful because there's charlatans out there. And I always appreciate the fact when I ride out there to do a clinic, I know that there are some people out there that have saved and sacrificed all year long just to be there for three days with me. And I respect that, and I'm not dismissive of that. I understand that it's quite a sacrifice for some people to get to do that for themselves and for their horse. I've never taken that for granted. So but no, I'm pretty optimistic about it, really. You know, there's a lot of good hands out there now. I think there's enough good hands out there now that probably probably when I'm under all that dirt, they probably won't bother thinking about me much anymore, which is all right.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:33:32-00:33:56]
I don't know about that. I think you've created enough of a legacy that that's not necessarily true. So I know that you have horses waiting for you to get on and ride. But we do have four rapid fire questions that we ask at the end of every podcast. OK, the first one is, do you have a motto or a favorite saying?

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:33:59-00:34:07]
Yeah, but I'd have to borrow it from Winston Churchill as long as I give him credit for it. Never, ever, ever quit.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:34:10-00:34:17]
That's a good one. That's a good one to have. The second, who has been the most influential person in your equestrian journey?

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:34:19-00:34:20]
Ray Hunt, without a question.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:34:23-00:34:26]
If you could give equestrians one piece of advice, what would it be?

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:34:29-00:34:32]
If you don't have any humility, you better find some.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:34:34-00:34:38]
That's good advice. And the last one, please complete this sentence.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:34:39-00:34:45]
For me, horses are... My only reason for being here.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:34:48-00:34:51]
Buck, where can people find you and how can they connect with you?

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:34:53-00:36:16]
Well, the brandman.com, my schedule is on that. So people at least know where I am. Now, I'm not doing as many clinics the last couple of years as what I had been. spending a little bit more time at home but i'll still be out there doing them 18 20 clinics a year and then in the last couple or year or so i've started a deal called the buck channel which is a bunch of five to ten minute tutorials of about everything you can think of i'm still doing more videos i'd eventually like to get up to seven or eight hundred videos So that has ended up, the idea was spawned by the whole COVID thing when we were locked down and couldn't go anywhere. And I just thought, damn, what do I have to leave behind if I don't even get to do clinics anymore? What's left? I realized there wasn't very much. So I thought, I'm just going to create a library of everything I can think of. about horses that might help people and make them a five- or ten-minute video so they could maybe watch it and get back on their horse and try again, you know. And it's actually been pretty successful, and a lot of people are really enjoying it. So the Buck Channel might be worth looking into.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:36:17-00:36:35]
Yeah, absolutely. We'll include those in the show notes. And we love accessibility. I mean, our audience here is worldwide. So it's a great way to feel like we're able to learn from you without necessarily having to go all the way to a clinic if it's not in the area.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:36:35-00:36:36]
Right.

[SPEAKER 1]
[00:36:37-00:36:50]
Yeah. Thank you so much, Buck, for being here with me today. I really appreciated your time. And like I said, I know that our audience is really excited about this interview and they can't wait to tune in.

[SPEAKER 2]
[00:36:51-00:36:51]
My pleasure.