Buck Brannaman

A documentary about Brannaman called Buck, directed by Cindy Meehl, won the U.S. Documentary Competition Audience Award at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. It was purchased by IFC Films under their Sundance Selections label.

Dan M. "Buck" Brannaman (born January 29, 1962) is an American horse trainer and a leading practitioner with a philosophy of handling horses based on classical concepts from the vaquero tradition; working with the horse's nature, using an understanding of how horses think and communicate to train the horse to accept humans and work confidently and responsively with them. One of Brannaman's stated goals is to make the animal feel safe and secure around humans so that the horse and rider can achieve a true union.

Brannaman was born in 1962 in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and raised in Montana and Idaho. Brannaman was for many years a disciple of Ray Hunt, one of the founders of the natural horsemanship movement, and also inspired by Tom and Bill Dorrance. Brannaman now teaches clinics worldwide. About the clinics, he has noted, "the goal for clinics really is to just try to get the human being to understand as much about their horse as I can help them to understand."