Weekend Movies to Watch: 3 Horse Documentaries

These three horsey documentaries prove that fact is better than fiction.

Unbranded (2015)

Unbranded documents four millennial college grads as they make a three thousand mile journey from Mexico to Canada riding sixteen mustangs from the BLM adoption program. I plan on writing a more detailed review on this documentary soon — so I’m not going to bestow my usual Golden Horseshoe rating just yet — but you can check out Horse Nation’s early review here.

Watch the trailer here:

Buck (2011)

IMDB describes this film as, “An examination of the life of acclaimed ‘horse whisperer’ Buck Brannaman, who recovered from years of child abuse to become a well-known expert in the interactions between horses and people.” The description is apt as this is this film is less about Brannaman’s training techniques — though many are featured — and more about what led him to a life with horses.

I really enjoyed this film and I wasn’t alone. It accumulated countless awards the year of it’s release and has an 89% “Fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

I give Buck 4 Golden Horseshoes.

Watch the trailer below and check out the full movie on Netflix.

Wild Horse Wild Ride (2011)

This film showcases trainers involved in the Extreme Mustang Makeover Challenge, ranging from multiple time winners to extreme beginners. Overall, it was fascinating watching so many different styles of training — some successful, some very much not so — and learning about these “characters.” The film itself was very well done by debut filmmakers Alex Dawson and Greg Gricus. The cinematography, editing and subtle soundtrack were all excellent.

This film also won many awards and was given a 94% “Fresh” rating on the tomatometer.

I give it 3 1/2 Golden Horseshoes.

Watch the trailer below (there is also a link to purchase the full movie via Youtube):

Go Riding.