The Horse Whisperer, and More

Jan 8, 2012 by Misty 1 Comment

Buck Brannaman, a bow-legged cow-boy who travels the country to teach four day clinics is a prodigy with horses. The real “Horse Whisperer” capable of captivating a horse with his gentle approach and mesmerizing the many spectators. To watch buck interact with these beautiful animals, is to see something truly amazing, as he and the horse become as one, performing a dance, that even Fred Astaire would be proud of. Emphasizing the correlation of the horses disposition to the reflection of the owner, buck not only trains the horse, but educates the human during these clinics. 

In the recent documentary film titled “Buck” he encounters a stud, who attacks when approached. Buck explains how the horse is unbridled from fearful emotions, from the abuse the young stud endured when it was oxygen deprived at birth, and left oprhaned by its deceased mother. The owner rasing 18 studs of her own, was not able to work with the horse, and treat it as if you would with a child with special needs, and so without the proper training, the horse became wild.

Unbeknownst to the studs owner, she would leave that day from the clinic, not only making an important decision to put the stud down, accepting full responsibility of her failure with a mentally challenged horse,  but also to make some clear changes in her own personal life. Buck delivered a stern but caring message, the way a concerned father would disciplining his own child, changing her outlook of how she saw herself.

“Why don’t you want to enjoy Life, he says to the fragile and taken back woman. “How this horse acts, says everything I need to know about you” Nobody should have 18 studs, unless they just feel they should be punished in life” What are you trying to prove”

 The harsh reality of Bucks words, causes an emotional breakdown in the owner. As streams of tears flow from her, a gentle shake of her head in agreeance to the validity of his message, causes Buck to react in a sympathetic way with a pat to her back. It was a real moment, where the owner not only sees the responsibility she carries for the behavior of her horse, but in her life as well, and the many dynamics of it.  The owner, a forty something stocky blonde unsure of herself, left with her pride bruised, but her heart open and aware of what she has created in her own reality.

Being a reader myself, I would say regardless if the owners intention was to save the horse, it was she who was saved, and needed retribution. To me it was an intervention of a higher power, that brought her to the clinic, to hear the words of a well-respected man in her field, who on a personal level did not need to know her, but knew.  It was god acting or the divine acting through him, recognizing the clarity in the dynamics of her own being, and everything around her. And how in her assuming full responsibility would be the empowerment she needed to change her own life. I couldn’t help but see how when I as a reader give readings, the same emotional reaction occurs, and the benefits of it. It was like watching myself watching myself in action. It was a real moment for me, to see this man in action, and see bits of myself in it. How the truth when it is spoken so stern from a place of love, can be so healing, if one is willing to accept it.

Buck attributes his talents, by relating with a skiddish horse, as a scared little boy he once was, hiding in the shadows despite the appearance of being raised as a child in the spotlight. Buck speaks about his past, as a stepping stone to what he is today, detailing acts of abuse, that most would find bitterness from. He in essence would say, he has seen the darkness and the demons, but by being in the darkness, he learned what can appear to be dark, is merely only fear.

“These horses are the most sensitive of creatures, feeling everything from a slight gesture of your body” If you smell like a big mac, and you want to put the left over caucus of a dead animal on your horse, I would say that takes a lot of trust” 

His comment left both, me and my partner in stitches, but with a fresh perspective of how this man can understand how an animal would feel, when he himself for many years felt like one as well.  It struck me in ways, as I too can relate to his story, being the daughter of a woman who was mentally ill, and suffering years of abuse both physical and sexual from it. Learning from those many moments, and how to tap into a higher power, that would give me the talent to touch others in the same way I was nurtured.

Buck continues to explain how the stud, if not left to its own devices, and treated with special care, the horse could have possibly been the most gentlest of creatures, not smart, because of the brain damage, but a loving horse. When asked by one of the spectators, how it is you could be so patient and not treat the horse like a looser, and close the door. Buck replied that thought< “I would never consider, because it is not the horse who failed, but the owner who failed it.

Buck then begin to recount his story of abuse, and how he often acted like that scared animal, he knew what it felt like to feel alone, and skiddish of the world. But we all have choices to make. The past is the past, we cannot live in the past, and be in the moment, otherwise the moment is never lived. I have  seen dark things in my life, but all of us have things to carry, and so that is irrelevant. But what we do with them is what makes the difference”

The film did not continue with the story of the studs owner. But one would assume by the relevance of the moment, a seed was dropped, and in all hope she cultivated the seed.

We all have demons and darkness, within us, around us, and apart of us. The demons being everywhere, each time you feel the need to be nasty to your local store clerk, that demon weighing heavily on your heels, never leaves us. But to know darkness, is to feel the light. And we can see the magic of our very being and what we have to contribute, from reaching deep inside ourselves. Some say it is the tortured ones who understand this the most, for all pride is stripped from them, standing fresh with a coat of humility for all the world to see.

I would tend to have to agree..

Much love

Misty Dawn

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