I went to see the documentary on Buck Brannaman this weekend.  Buck is an extraordinary horse trainer.  He helps horses with people problems.  While helping people with their relationship with horses, he teaches about life’s challenges.  He says, “Your horse is a mirror to your soul, and sometimes you may not like what you see. Sometimes, you will.”  Your horse can tell you a lot about yourself.  He teaches people to communicate with their horses through leadership and sensitivity, not punishment.

Horses can teach you a lot about building relationships with people and how to be a better person yourself.  Here are lessons from the movie:

1.  Buck firmly and gently holds people accountable.

There is a scene where an owner has raised a violent horse.  This could have been avoided if she had faced her own inner demons.  She did not do her due diligence on how to raise a respectful, well-trained horse.  The horse had to be put down.

2.  Buck makes many sacrifices to “follow his Bliss.”

Buck is on the road 40 weeks out of the year traveling to help people with their horses.  He is often lonely and misses his wife and daughter.  He is a cowboy who must be with horses.  Nothing worth having comes easy.

3.  Buck doesn’t live in the past, he lives in the now.

Buck had an abusive childhood.  He is proof you can overcome your past and create a great life for yourself.  He encouraged a crying owner to learn to enjoy life.

4.  Buck treats each horse as an individual.

He teaches how to read a horse.  Is it frightened?  Is it disrespectful?  Does it understand what you are asking it to do?  Do you know how it feels?  With that information, how can you help the horse?  Imagine if we approached each person in this empathetic way.  Empathy builds relationships.

Go see the movie.

“There’s something about the outside of a horse that’s good for the inside of a man.”  – Winston Churchill

“When we listen to our horses, we get an education.  When we don’t, we get experience.” –  Mark Rashid

“Spending that many hours in the saddle gave a man plenty of time to think.  That’s why so many cowboys fancied themselves Philosophers.”  –  Charles M. Russel