The Buck stops here

The last time I hung out with Buck Brannaman was in April 2005, when I rode Lyle in one of his clinics. 

Since then, Buck's been the subject of a pretty popular movie and the whole world has discovered him; 

it's not every horse trainer that goes mainstream.

Buck was giving a clinic in Santa Fe over the weekend and I went up to watch. 

I'm happy to report that all the newfound fame hasn't seemed to change him a bit.

He may be driving a fancier rig, and his p.a. system doesn't squeal and spook Lyle your horse
when you ride past the speaker anymore, but he's still the same Buck. 

He's teaching the same stuff, telling some of the same bad jokes, and still making what he does with horses

look so damned easy, I could just scream because it's anything but.

As good as he was with horses back in 2005, he keeps improving, finding new ways to explain and share his knowledge 

so that his students can catch on a little faster and with a deeper understanding of how to train a horse to "follow a feel."

Buck got a little melancholy talking about his mentor, Ray Hunt, who passed on in 2009. 

He shared a lot of stories about his early days with Ray and how much practice it took for him 

to learn and master the things that he teaches today.

Watching Buck ride is nothing short of inspirational – you can't help but want to run right home 

and practice all the stuff you've learned. Lucy has no idea what she's in for.

Here Buck is giving his students their homework assignment –

it's one of the same assignments he gave to me and Lyle back in the old days.

We may not have mastered anything else at that clinic, but we aced this one...eventually.

Next time you see me climbing a fence to make a video, maybe I'll be getting Lucy to move it on over.