Like many people, I have been mesmerized by horses ever since I can remember. Their beauty, strength, speed, sensitivity have captivated and moved me like nothing else. When I was a youngster I longed for a horse of my own but was never in the position to own one. When I got married my husband bought me my first horse, a Quarter/Arab weanling. We brought him home, and I quickly discovered that I needed help. This young horse had begun to rear straight up in the air among other behaviors that I had no understanding of how to handle.
I started acquiring knowledge as fast as I could, devouring it really and then went out to the pasture and practiced what I had learned. I followed several of the "natural horseman", bought their books and DVDs and had some level of success in handling my horse. But I always had this underlying fear, this knowing that I wasn't going deep enough, wasn't getting the full picture.
Well, several years ago I read Buck Brannaman's autobiography "The Faraway Horses" and knew there was something different about this guy. He understood horses in a way that I recognized was necessary if you wanted to be a person that worked WITH a horse. I needed to know more. I started buying some of his early training DVDs and just wanted to cry. I knew that this was the answer, the way to get connected with a horse, but I felt so overwhelmed. Sure he can do this, rope a horse and jump on him in a matter of minutes, but he's a cowboy. I'm not. Well, after getting over my initial feelings of inadequacy I decided to go out and start working on some of the things I saw him doing. It wasn't pretty, but I could get some things accomplished that I liked with my horses. They would get real quiet, and I felt very connected to them and we were both at peace together which for me is everything.
After watching the documentary "Buck" I knew that if I wanted to really get serious about training/riding horses that I would have to start going to his clinics. So, last summer (July 2012) I borrowed some money and a vehicle to pull my little trailer and hauled one of my horses 650 miles to the nearest clinic. I took notes, soaked every word in like a sponge but there was so much information, so much to learn. I was overwhelmed again. How can I remember all of this, a lifetime of knowledge wrapped up in a 4 day clinic? I went home from the experience determined to keep working at this, but really wished I could have more material to practice with in the long stretches between clinics. For me it will be at least a year if not longer before I can afford to go back.
A few months later I saw the announcement, "a DVD set "7 Clinics with Buck Brannaman" over 10 hours of footage compiled from the documentary for those horse people who want more". Well, here was the answer! I don't have to remember it all, I have footage from 7 of Bucks clinics that I can watch as many times as I need to! I'll watch a section and then go out and practice. If I get stuck or have a question, I come back and watch it again. I now have a way go back and review what I learned at the clinic and figure out what I'm doing wrong, so that I can move forward with my horses.
The first time I watched the set I remember thinking "Every word this man says is absolute gold". I believe that knowledge is power and the years of wisdom and experience handed down from Tom and Bill Dorrance, Ray Hunt and now Buck Brannaman for me to watch over and over is a most beautiful gift. I have watched MANY training dvds from many different clinicians/trainers over the years. I know the footage for "7 Clinics" was not originally intended for this purpose, but the material covered in this DVD set is something that I so wish I would have had my hands on from the very beginning of my horse training days. In my opinion it is surpassed by none. If you could get only one item in your horse training library, this would be it, no question.
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