Buck Brannaman

(www.brannaman.com)

Buck Brannaman may not seem like a hero to many people, but he possesses many of the qualities that define a heroic person. A hero doesn’t have to have super powers. They can be a regular person just like you or me. They could be an actor, an author, a neighbor, or in this case, a horse gentler. Buck Brannaman is my hero because he is very respectful, very kind and a skilled horseman.

Brannaman is very respectful. He knows that there are other people in the horse industry that used his techniques before him, and he acknowledges them. They are in a way his heroes. He is very respectful of the foster parents he lived with for most of his childhood. They didn’t treat him special or different because he was abused, instead they gave him work to do around their ranch, and when he did not do something right his foster father would guide him through it. He is glad they didn’t treat him different because it helped him become who he is today. That shows a lot of respect.

Buck's kindness is something that everyone knows about him. As a young kid, his father continuously beat him and his brother, and after his mother’s death, it became worse. Buck does horse clinics all over the world, but never tries to make his clients feel inferior. His goal is to educate people on how to fix their problems with their horses. He doesn’t yell or scream if someone doesn’t get it right, he instead guides them through it. Even if he is working with an angry, frustrated or impatient client, he remains calm and kind, otherwise he wouldn’t get anything done.

The biggest, most noticeable quality that Buck has is being a skilled horseman. He has started over ten thousand colts in his 20 years of working clinics. He can take a frightened horse that wants to stay as far away from people as possible and turn it into a person’s best friend in just a few hours. He uses his kindness and respect to gain the horse's trust. That is what inspired Nicolas Evans to write The Horse Whisperer. Buck was the role model for the book, which later became a movie. His training techniques are used in the movie to show how they can both mentally and physically heal a horse.

(www.bannaman.com)

Buck Brannaman's kindness, respect for others and horsemanship skills make him a unique person. He has a special gift to be able to work with both people and animals the way he does. His ways have helped me get through many things with both my horses and friends. He is an inspiration and a hero to me.