Buck Page #2

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That means she's trying

to protect herself.

But when I get done,

I will not have to close my hand

on the end of this rope.

Now, I'd touch her here

on the neck.

I'd say, "You find out this flag

won't hurt you.

Nobody's here to hurt you."

One of the things

that really struck me

was that you always grow up

hearing about breaking horses

or breaking broncos

or something.

There's a whole element

of abuse, really, of, it's...

man is stronger

than this big animal.

We can break them down

almost like Parris Island

and a drill instructor,

and I think it first clicked

for me with Buck

at the whole concept

of starting.

My early exposure to horses

was severe:

Tying horses to posts

with an inner tube tire

so that when the horse

pulled back,

they would slam back

into the post.

It was really brutal,

really, truly brutal.

It was heartbreaking.

I didn't know any different.

I was a child.

But I remember crying a lot.

I felt very, very bad

for the animals.

So when I met Buck,

I was the instant convert.

You can't be a good guy

when you leave the barn

and a bad guy

when you get to the barn.

And if I treat animals this way,

do I treat people that way too?

We all know the answer to that.

I met Buck probably at

his first clinic that he gave.

If I wasn't at his first clinic,

I was probably at his second.

There was a nice change.

And the first time I saw

was amazing to me.

L... l... it just blew my mind.

It just blew my mind

that it could be done in a way

that the horse would cooperate,

like the people,

and not be scarred up

and afraid for life.

I couldn't believe

what that man could do

with a horse

without anything on it.

I mean, he could load horses

in a horse trailer

without touching them.

I mean, it... the horse

has never been in a trailer.

That's phenomenal.

Why let an animal live in fear?

Why not fix it?

That's pretty good.

You notice how I don't have

to have a death grip

on the doggone lead rope now.

In this particular discipline,

if you want to be great,

you have to be

a sensitive person.

That vulnerability,

that sensitivity to feel

the subtle change

is what makes you great.

That's why so many of the folks

that are really good at this

are... you know, sometimes they're

tortured souls, you know?

[Horse neighs]

I've seen some

kind of dark things in my life,

but everybody has a bit

of a burden to bear

of some sort,

so it's all relative.

It's all I ever wanted to be

was a cowboy.

I grew up as a trick roper.

That wasn't necessarily

by choice,

but the first thing is,

we were entertainers,

my brother and I.

I started doing rope tricks

when I was three years old.

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