Discs 5, 6, & 7: Lessons on Horseback, Problem Solving, Words of Wisdom

Viewers travel to several clinics to learn more lessons on horseback—such as turn-on-the-haunches, transitions, jumping, and finding the feel—as well as ways to solve problems, including crowding, biting, striking, fidgeting, rushing, anxiousness and sensitivity, and bad attitudes. The series ends with Buck’s best advice, tips, and ideas about working with, riding, and training horses—sage knowledge imparted with the dry wit that the world has come to expect of one of the finest horsemen of our time.

Buck Brannaman

In The Faraway Horses, Buck recounts his moving, inspiring, and often humorous adventures conducting clinics and meeting people from all over the world. He writes of the horses he's learned from, tells of the owners he's taught (from the good to the horrifying, such as the trainer who used abuse to make her show Arabians look "spirited"), and shares stories of the horse-rider relationships he's changed. These principles are really about life - "about living your life so you're not at war with the horse, or with other people," Buck writes. At heart, this rich and rewarding autobiography is ultimately a prescription for living a positive and harmonious existence - whether it involves horses or not.

This 89 minute documentary explores the potent emotions between humans and horses. A richly textured and visually stunning film, this movie follows Buck Brannaman from his abusive childhood to his phenomenally successful approach to horses. A truly inspiring story about a truly amazing and humble man who has made an extraordinary life despite tremendous odds and who has an uncanny way with horses and humans.

Buck Brannaman

This book features 100 full-color photos of Buck in action and the step-by-step methodology that leads to mastering the art and skill of ranch roping. Soft Cover

Buck Brannaman

BELIEVE  chronicles Buck's efforts as catalyst and mentor as the reader meets thirteen people with whom he has worked. Through their words and through Brannaman's perceptive introductions to each essay, we experience first-hand the hope and confidence that he has instilled in them and their horses. You will discover through these stories how many untapped dreams and abilities you too possess, and how you can bring them to fruition. So journey with Buck Brannaman, learn from him, and profit from the voyage.

Buck Brannaman

This book contains some ideas for you and your horse to work through to get more comfortable with each other. There are many ways of going about working with horses and there is no right or wrong way, however you may find as I have, that there are things we all have learned to do that has very little to do with actually riding the horse. The groundwork information contained in this will help you to prepared both you and your horse for situations that unfortunately sometimes occur at the worst time. Perhaps when that big thunderhead is building off in the distance one day you can simply don your slicker and carry on! There are many things that accidentally occur with a horse but if he's gentle and trusts you as a friend, then he'll allow you to help him out of trouble, instead of seeing you as the trouble.

This is a great companion to Buck's Groundwork DVD also available!

Bill Dorrance & Leslie Desmond

Expert horseman Bill Dorrance chose the name True Horsemanship Through Feel because feel is the language of horses. Learning that language can expand any horseman's knowledge and abilities - whether they are learning to rope, ride, or start horses. In language that is generously detailed and packed with meaning, Dorrance directs our attention to the many subtle things there are to notice about the ways that horses and humans operate. In these pages, he urges us to reach toward a deeper level of insight into horses and ourselves, as he ladles out a wealth of helpful information. With hundreds of illustrations, True Horsemanship Through Feel takes you step-by-step through the basic struggles that have characterized horse-human relations for centuries.

**Staff pick! "If I could only have one book on horsemanship, this one is it!" ~ Rita

Ray Hunt

“When you ask your horse to do something it should be his idea…he wants to do it, he likes to do it, he understands how to do it, and he does it.” These words are typical of the way Ray Hunt expresses his philosophy of the ideal relationship between man and horse. Included in this book is an interpretation of the “Ray Hunt method of schooling a horse,” written by Vincent W. Carpenter, who attended one of Ray’s clinics. He tells amazing stories that Ray might not tell about himself and summarizes the whole philosophy in a clear and objective way. Also included is a question and answer section, in which a number of the most commonly asked questions are answered in detail. And throughout the entire book runs the simple, basic idea: think harmony.

Ed Connell

First published in 1952, Hackamore Reinsman is a hands-on manual of instruction describing in detail the use of the hackamore and snaffle bit. Connell takes a green horse and trainer from the first bosal and ground-pulling to the point the horse will slide and whirl on the hackamore.

Ed Connell

Connell's second book, Reinsman of the West is the second half of the training process. It gives the Why and How of making the straight-up spade bit horse out of the hackamore horse, bitting gradually so that the horse will slide, rein and stop on only the slight movement of the rider's two fingers. This book takes the mystery out of the spade bit and shows, among other things, that the spade in the hands of a man trained to use it is easier on the horse than even the common grazer or snaffle bits. It explains how to choose the right bit to get the most from your horse.

Ed Connell

This book is a compilation of articles and letters from the 1950's through the 1970's on specific training problems. The articles provide more clarification and explain in greater depth the first two books, Hackamore Reinsman and Reinsman of the West.

Tom Dorrance

Tom Dorrance has been referred to as the "horse lawyer." Tom gives the horse credit for his knowledge of a horse's feelings and problems. He says , "What I know about the horse I learned from the horse."  Now, in True Unity, Tom shares some of the basic ideas to help achieve a true unity for human and horse.  It allows the reader to approach the horse with Tom - to approach the horse with a feeling of acceptance for the value of the whole horse - physical, mental and an innermost horse.  A unique bonus feature of True Unity is a chapter presenting some of Tom's students as they share how Tom's help with their horses changed their horses and their lives.

Tom Dorrance

This 2 disc set present the work of Tom Dorrance, a gifted horseman. Disc 1 shows Tom teaching how to develop a better understanding of his three major principles of horsemanship, Feel Timing and Balance. With his direction and support, it is easy to see how the horse and rider begin to make positive changes. There is a huge amount of information given from Tom as he explains different ways of approaching the horse to get the job done. Disc 2 starts with a little biography of Tom as he talks about his earlier days and his family. This transitions well into an in depth discussion of his bestsellingbook 'True Unity', where Tom, for the first time on film, expands on some of the deeper and finer points he makes within the book. Throughout there are wonderful examples of Tom's sense of humor as well as his remarkable wisdom. Important Viewer Note: There are a few places where the audio track may vary in volume. Total running time 135 minutes.

Tom Dorrance

The contents of this DVD present the unique approach Tom used with horses - that the human needs to think more and do less; to feel what the horse is feeling and operate from where the horse is. This is not a "How To" instructional guide. It is more about trying to understand the essence of Tom's work and how to apply his approach to horses in a way that will help the viewer work toward the true unity and willing communication between horse and human at any level. Of note, because certain segments of this DVD were recorded under crowd conditions at actual clinics, the sound and picture quality is impaired in a few places for short periods of time. However, these sections have purposefully been kept in because of their importance to continuity and content.

Incredibly photographed, this documentary style instructional piece takes viewers deep into the world of the buckaroo at work, branding cattle on the western ranges. David Weaver and Gwynn Turnbull Weaver have compiled this rare opportunity for viewers to be "a fly on the wall" at a series of authentic, real life brandings in the "rodear style". Peppered with actual interviews with some of the regions handiest cowboys, hard to get information is intricately woven into spectacular actual footage. Martin Black, Buck Brannaman, and Larry Schutte, to name a few, share their unique insights and opinions. 

 Set against the strikingly beautiful high desert vistas of the Great Basin and the oak studded hills of California, this video is a must have for all who hope to achieve true handiness or anyone enamored with the West and its time honored stockmanship.

Welcome to the land of 60 foot ropes and 40 foot throws!

Through the years many have requested video footage of "The Californios." This DVD is a compilation of the first seven years of video highlights captured at this unique ranch roping event. From the grainy images of the event in its early years, to dazzling images of more recent performances, the DVD gives viewers a lengthy visual experience of attending The Californios. Ranch roping buffs, seasoned hands, and all interested in the vaquero/buckaroo traditions will thoroughly enjoy this 43 minute video montage set to up beat music. It is a mixture of roping clips, stock horses and competitors, doing what they do best, roping their way into Californios history!

Ian Tyson

Ian Tyson's journey to the West began in the unlikely city of Victoria, BC, where he rode his dad's horses on the weekends and met cowboys in the pages of Will James's books, and eventually followed that cowboy dream to rodeo competition. Laid up after breaking a leg, he learned the guitar, and drifted east, becoming a key songwriter and performer in the folk revival movement. But the West always beckoned, and when his marriage to his partner and collaborator Sylvia broke up and the music scene threatened to grind him down, he retreated to a ranch and work with cutting horses. Soon, he'd bought a ranch in Alberta and found a new voice as the renowned Western Revival singer-songwriter and horseman he is today. This book is Ian's reflection on that journey...

Mackey Hedges

Told through the persona of narrator Tap McCoy, a renegade, drifter, loner, and well-seasoned cowboy we experience Tap's happen chance meeting with Dean McCuen, a young drugstore cowboy from back east. While Tap just wants a ride out of town, Dean believes he has found a sidekick and mentor. What follows between Tap and the tag-a-long greenhorn is a rousin', ramblin' tale of their exploits as they ride, rope, brand, and herd their way through ranches, pack stations and feedlots all over the West. It's also a tale of camaraderie and carousing as the two get thrown from their horses, tossed in jail, save lives, see deaths, fight cowboys, and light up the pages with their escapades. Mackey's unvarnished prose and salty style delight us with the life of a fading tradition. Publishers' Weekly said of Mackey, "a buckaroo himself," he spins a colorful yarn about 20th-century cowboys reminiscent of The Rounders." The novel stands on its own as a classic and unique story of an American way of life honoring the Western Lifestyle.

Mackey Hedges

They're Back!! Yep, for the many fans of the award winning, Western novel, Last Buckaroo, the characters of Tap McCoy and Dean McCuen are alive again in the new, fast moving story Shadow Of The Wind. From the deserts of Arizona to the lava rims of Hells Canyon in Idaho, Tap and Dean ride, rope and brawltheir way across the pages of this rollicking story of modern day ranch life. In Shadow of The Wind you will get to better know the characters of grumpy old rancher, Ben Bird; DumbDonny the hyper active wild buckaroo; the white hating family of Dean's Indian wife TenaRayas well as a host of other old and new characters.

Jane Lambert

New in Print, this book chronicles the eleven years Charles M. Russell spent on the open range of Montana, working as a cowboy from 1882 to 1893. This colorful history is filled with adventure with Charlie and a supporting cast of friends and horses.

Dick Deller & Merrilee Morrell

Back in print by popular demand!  This softcover book of 88 pages highlights the reflections of Dick Deller, who has spent his whole life working with and perfecting the process of bridling champion cow horses.  His knowledge and skill have been recognized and awarded repeatedly.  Marrillee Morrell, the daughter of Richie Morgan, perpetuates the legacy of the bridleman and horse by showing her father's lifetime collection of working spade bits.  This collection represents Richie's passion and skill in working with the spade bit horse.  Dick and Richie were best friends, united by their mutual interests and values.  This book brings that together with Dick's vast knowledge about the spade bit and illustrations from the Morgan Bit Collection.

**Signed by Author**

Merrilee Morgan Doss Richie Morgan was a lifelong California cowboy and bridleman with a heritage of ranching. He came to appreciate the good tools that made his work more effective. Spade bits were the key tool for the cattleman doing ranch work. Richie used different bits for different horses and started buying and selling them as his work continued. Soon he discovered that the art and beauty of the bits was just as important as how well they worked, and thus his collection was born. This book chronicles these works of art and one can appreciate, as he did, the beauty of a well crafted tool.

**Signed By Author**

Arnold R. Rojas

Back in print!! Arnold R. Rojas (1896 - 1988) or "Chief Rojas" as he was known, has the distinction of being the most celebrated chronicler of the life and lore of California's Vaqueros. Soft Cover.

Arnold R. Rojas

This rare volume by Arnold Rojas contains his writings on the use of bits and his approach to horses. Along the way, he tells stories of his own experience as a vaquero in California during the early 1900s. Soft Cover.

Edward Borein

This book contains 25 Borein stories - many never before published, including the title story, The Vaquero. Also includes photos of Borein and his art. Soft Cover

Jim Russell

Bob Fudge lived in the American West of the late 1800 and early 1900's. This is the fascinating account of the era that anyone with an interest in cowboy life and historical times of the Old American West will treasure and read again and again. Stories of life with Indians, stampeding cattle herds, round ups and cowboys caring for their cattle as they trail them from Texas to the lush grasses of Montana territory along the Yellowstone range. There's nail biting excitement and danger around every bend, real true stories with lives lost. Cold, lonely winters and wildfires burning up the ground. Wild, unbroken stallions and crossing flooded rivers. These things were all part of a cowboy's life in the Real Wild West. Bob Fudge and the others who drove these herds helped settle the northern states. They lived a true cowboy life and enjoyed every minute to the fullest.

Richmond Hobson

Three cowhands with a dream of owning a cattle ranch made a heroic pioneer trek across unchartered mountain ranges to open up the frontier grasslands in northern British Columbia during the early 1930's. This is their story. In conditions as killing as any encountered by the western frontier pioneers of a hundred years earlier, the three men and their equipment-laden horses conquered the tortuous miles over narrow passes and mountain summits, hewed their first cabin from virgin timber, and stayed to found the Frontier Cattle Company which grew to reckon its acres in millions. With laconic cowboy humor and the ease of a born writer, author Rich Hobson describes the life-and-death escapades, the funny and tragic incidents peopled with extraordinary frontier characters, in a true adventure that surpasses the most thrilling wild west fiction.  You will not be disappointed with this selection!

Richmond P. Hobson

This is a true adventure story, told by a man who built a four-million-acre cattle empire in an unexplored wilderness of the British Columbia interior.  It is a story of hardship and endurance - of cattle drives, frozen faces, and marauding wolf packs.  It is the story of the cowboy way of life - the starry nights and mountain air.  And it is the story and mystery of the author's recurring vision of the blonde dream women who broke into his solitary existence.  Book two of the trilogy, this is a book to be treasured!

Richmond P. Hobson

Book three of the trilogy. Far in the interior of British Columbia lies a jungle of swamps, rivers and grasslands. It's a vast and still barely explored wilderness, whose principal citizens are timber wolves, moose, giant grizzly bears, and the odd human being. Into this forbidding land, Rich Hobson, pioneer cattle rancher, brings his city-raised, interior-decorating bride. And what happens when Gloria meets the wilderness and her husband's backwoods cronies is an adventure story everyone will enjoy. These dramatic tales are described with the humor and vivid detail that have made Hobson's books perennial favorites.

Chuck Stormes & Dan Reeves

An acclaimed rawhide braider of horse gear, Luis Ortega elevated his craft to collectible art and influenced a generation of gear makers. This book is the most comprehensive overview of his life, art, and career and the first book-length work on rawhide braiding in North America, charting changes in horse gear over five decades. More than a biography, the book is a richly illustrated overview of this expert braider’s art. Some 100 illustrations, 70 in color, offer close-ups of Ortega’s work that depict the intricacy of his reins, quirts, and other pieces. From eight-strand reatas to figure-eight hobbles, the beauty, functionality, and painstaking care of his output shine through in every piece.

Richard Rattenbury

Following its historical overview, Arena Legacy features an extensive pictorial gallery of signature materials. A series of colorful portfolios reveals treasured artifacts from rodeo life, including costumes, trophies, buckles, and riding equipment. Here the reader will discover lavish artistry in leather and silver, flamboyant expression in western dress, and the interpretive work of both fine artists and commercial illustrators. Certain to delight a diverse audience of rodeo aficionados, participants, collectors, and historians, this stunning volume is a fitting tribute to America's truly western sport. Hardback.

Bill Wittliff

Bringing the sweeping visual imagery of the miniseries to the printed page, A Book of Photographs from Lonesome Dove presents more than one hundred classic images created by Bill Wittliff.  Wittliff took these photographs during the filming of the miniseries, but they are worlds apart from ordinary production stills. Reminiscent of the nineteenth-century cowboy photographs of Erwin Smith and the western paintings of Frederic Remington and Charles M. Russell, each Lonesome Dove image stands alone as an evocative work of art, while as a whole, they provide a stunning visual summary of the entire miniseries. Accompanying the photographs are a foreword by Lonesome Dove author Larry McMurtry and an introduction by Stephen Harrigan, who describes the epic-in-itself creative journey that led to the making of the Lonesome Dove novel, miniseries, and book of photographs. In the afterword, Bill Wittliff recalls unforgettable moments—some hilarious, others momentous—from the production of the miniseries. A roster of the cast and crew completes the text.

Author Glenn Dromgoole's couplets in lullaby rhythm gently invite little ones to enter sleep, and artist Barbra Clack guides their minds' eyes from the cow dog nodding in the shed to the prairie grasses whispering "Shuteye! Little Cowboy, the spiny horned toads in their dusty beds are closing their bright eyes, too!" Hardback.

Vaquero Series DVD  #1: Tapadero

Tapadero gives an overview of the history of California's vaqueroes and goes into the fine details of the vaquero way (the use of the hackamore, the spade bit and reata roping) and provides the viewer a colorful look at the vaquero — his dress, his gear, and the fine artisans who produce it. The viewer also gets a taste of the ranch life and the awe-inspiring California scenery. 82 min.

Vaquero Series DVD#2: Remuda

The evolution of the buckaroo has a fascinating history. It began in Alta CA over 200 years ago with the Californio Vaquero, then moved northward into the Great Basin when the California ranchos were fenced out. The Remuda takes us from the rolling hills of California to the sagebrush sea of Nevada and Oregon, where everything is bigger and wilder, an environment that is aptly named, America’s Outback. This feature-length documentary runs 92 minutes

Vaquero Series DVD #3: Holo Holo Paniolo

Holo holo in Hawaiian, means to get around and that's what this documentary is all about. Filmed on five Hawaiian islands, it takes you to the large spreads like Parker Ranch, and to some of the smaller homesteads of the native Hawaiians. 98 mins.

Vaquero Series DVD #4: Houlihan

Houlihan traces the journey of the vaqueros and buckaroos to the Northern Range, where they met up with the Texas Punchers. Horses in this country were wild, tough and mean enough to eat you alive. So it's no wonder this country turns out the best bronc riders. To make a hand here, you have to be able to ride anything with hair on it. That, coupled with the rigors of winter make the Northern Range Cowboy a breed of it own. Houlihan DVD is 96 minutes.

Vaquero Series DVD #5:  Los Primeros: The First Vaqueros

The Vaquero roots go back fifteen centuries to Spain, the Moors and Mexico. He carried his bravery to the New World and had a profound influence on the Californio Vaquero and his horsemanship. Filmed in Spain, Mexico and the American West.

Vaquero Series DVD #6: Tierra Encantado: New Mexico Cowboy

Four hundred years ago, the Spaniards introduced the horse to the American West. El caballo, as the Spanish called the horse, had a profound effect on this new world. The descendants of those early settlers still live in New Mexico and many of them still speak the dialect of the Conquistadors. The foundation the Spaniards laid for ranching is still practiced on the big spreads — the Bell Ranch, Pecos Ranch and San Cristobal Ranch. It’s all part of this great Southwestern melting pot forging a colorful culture unique to Tierra Encantado — the land of enchantment.

Vaquero Series DVD#7: Mula: The Long-Eared Hero of the Spanish Trail

When a tough job needs to be done, the mule is the animal of choice. He's a survivor, can go further on less food and water and carry more weight than a horse. Mules are used in the rugged Sierra Nevada mountains. Recreational riders in the rocky deserts of the southwest love their ability to handle the toughest terrain. And big draft mules drag out logs in the South. This is the story of the mule from when he first arrived in the Americas with Columbus

Vaquero Series DVD #8: Texas Cowpuncher

The Texas Puncher cut his teeth roping wild longhorns. Then drove them east to New Orleans, through swamps and rivers. Years later, he headed them north to the rail heads. When the big ranches, XIT, Matador, Pitchfork, and 06 were established, he had wild country to contend with...cavernous canyons, rivers with quicksand and mesquite thickets that tore his gear apart. This documentary visits the 06 Ranch, features an interview with cowboy poet Waddie Mitchell, and singer/songwriter Don Edwards

Vaquero Series DVD #9:  The Texas Cowpuncher Part 2

The Texas Cowpuncher comes in many forms, born by the chunk of country he calls home. Down in Gulf country, Cowboys on horseback can get ornery crossbred Brahmas to do most anything, even swimming the Intercoastal Waterway to winter grazing grounds. Further inland, they rely on their dogs “to bay up” the cattle in the swamps and woodlands, and watch out for the occasional alligator. In the brush country, cattle hide in thorny mesquite thickets, but fearless Brush Poppers charge right in after them. And in West Texas, branding takes weeks as Punchers move from camp to camp with the wagon and a hunded-horse remuda. The day begins before sunup and doesn’t finish until two gathers and two brandings are done. In this country, there’s a code of conduct, and breaking it has “consequences”