hey, rona. sorry i'm late.
you're looking fit.
if it's not too much trouble, i thought i might.
oh-oh.  maybe i better get back in the truck.
 it's always kind of interesting to hear the horse's side of the story.
now if he was cranky or lazy, like you say he is, we'd be seeing his tail twitching there and his ears back, maybe. but this isn't a cranky horse, it's a scared horse. you see how braced he is up around the neck back there. he just doesn't know which way to turn.
you see how he keeps pointing his hindquarters in at me? well, i'd guess the reason he seems reluctant to move out is because when he does, he gets in trouble for it.
well, i'm sure that's what you think but that's not what i'm seeing. you may think you're asking for a lope, but your body may be saying something else altogether. you might be putting too many conditions on him. for instance, you might be saying "go, but, hey, don't go too fast." he can tell that from the way you feel. your body can't lie. you ever give him a kick to make him move out?
and then he goes and you feel like he's going too fast, so you yank him back? and next thing you know, he's bucking. well, if someone told you to go, stop, go, stop -- you'd buck too.
it's a dance, see.  somebody has to lead and somebody has to follow.
i want him to get so he can leave real soft. he's getting the idea now. he's not all braced up and tense like he was at the start. he's finding out it's okay.
you see that? he's getting better already. pretty soon, if you work at it, you'll be able to make all these transitions easy on a loose rein. yeah, and pigs'll fly. he's going to be okay -- so long as you don't go yanking on him.
look, the truth is it's all about self- preservation. these animals. .  well, they just have such big hearts, you know? there's nothing they want more than to do what you want them to do. but when the messages get all confused, the only thing they know to do is try and save themselves.  now, why don't you go saddle up and see what happens.
they won't ever hold a thing against you. they're the most forgiving creatures god ever made.
okay, who's next?
now god has another idea entirely with the mule.
well, that'll happen.
what stuff is that?
well.  dale.  you know, a lot of this stuff.  it just.  nuts and bolts.
well, if the rider's nuts, the horse bolts. that's the whole lesson right there. you have a good day now.  just.  keep on freeing yourself up.
i don't any woman in new york. but from what i hear, most of them are wound up.
how long were you married?
you ever miss it?
sometimes.
you know, rona, we weren't all that good together even when we were good together.
yeah. hello. this is tom booker. i got a message you called.
well, see, truth is, ma'am, i help horses with people's problems.
ma'am, i'm very sorry about your problems and i appreciate what your daughter must be going through, but i'm afraid you've misunderstood whatever it is you read. i don't do that sort of thing.
look, even if it was nearer, that's just not what i do. i give clinics. and i'm not even doing them for a while. i'm heading back to montana right now. i got a ranch to take care of.
ma'am, first class to montana is a waste of good money. now, am i being too polite here or when i say no in utah, does that mean yes in new york city?
i, i don't mean to sound insensitive. i understand your situation. but there's nothing i can do. you just called the wrong person, that's all. i hear there are a bunch of therapists in new york. maybe you should call one of them.
i am very sorry, ma'am. goodbye now.
yeah, i hear about that.
well, joe, i'll tell ya -- i don't know a whole lot about geese. maybe it's okay for them to grow up thinking they're airplanes. but horses, as far as i can tell, can't fly.
i don't believe it.
plenty of signs -- just none of them printed. who do i get the idea you're not just passing through!
were you thinking of personally driving me back east?
you mean you hauled him all the way out here? just like that?
all by yourself?
i uh.  ha, ha.  i don't think i ever met a lady quite like yourself and i appreciate all the pains you've gone through to --
uh, i'm tom booker. your mother around?
first time in montana?
she gonna be long?
what does she do?
mmm. an editor.
uh, no. i was gonna take a look now.
doesn't matter.
probably best she stays behind, anyway.
okay now.  okay now.
i have to be honest. i still feel you made a long trip for nothing.
but before i even think about it, i need to know something here and now. it's a question for grace here.
when i work with a horse, it's no good just me doing it. it doesn't work that way. the owner needs to be involved too.
you can make it as complicated or as easy as you like. but she's the one who's gonna be riding him, am i right? so here's the deal. i'm not sure i can do anything, but i'm prepared to give it a go -- -- if you'll help. you have a problem with that?
not to me. either you want to or you don't.
excuse me, with all due respect, but this is her decision, not yours. and i don't want to waste anybody's time -- mostly mine.
not good enough. i can't help you.
i don't believe they'll expect that.
i believe so. saw it on a television show, once.
if the weather holds.
yeah.
no.  let him go!
from now on, leave your phone somewhere else.
then drop off grace in the morning, go on back and do your business. come pick her up around dinner.
we should be fine, then.
they don't get burned by the sun bouncing off the snow. and they're good mother.
i don't have a problem with that. it's up to annie.
that's up to pilgrim.
what we're doing here, grace, is trying to get him to learn how to be a horse again.
the others already know, see. that's how they are in the wild -- herd animals.  . when they've got a problem, like they have now with me and this flag, they look to each other. but old pilgrim there has forgotten. i'm the rock and they're the hard place. he thinks he hasn't got a friend in the whole wild world.
hold this for a minute.
hold onto it, go on.
we'll get there, grace.
hello, annie.
you know, we're branding here tomorrow. if you two want to come by to watch or give a hand, you're welcome.
as long as you don't get in the way of the branding iron, it doesn't matter too much.
hey, grace -- maybe we can get your mom to put me and you branding on the cover of her magazine. start a whole new fashion craze.
hey, over there, you want to make yourself useful?
hank, i got you a volunteer!
that's good.  firm but gentle.  it hurts but he'll get over it.
you handled that pretty well. think it's time you earn your keep around here. so, when we're not working and when you don't have your therapy, i'd like you to help out with the horses.  rubbing them, cleaning up the stalls.  you think you can handle that?
you're catching on.
you okay?
well, i'd like to welcome annie and grace to their first branding.
all right, al right. hold out your finger.
the loop's knotted, right. looks like the only way to take it off, is if we break our touch.  watch now.
oh, no. no, no. i only fall for that once. go inside now before your mother starts hunting you down. go on.
so how was your first and last day of branding?
you got too much sun today.  here.
you ever just stand still for a minute?
oh, i see, you write both sides of the conversation?
well, maybe i am laughing a bit.  i just thought, as long as you're here, it would be nice for you to relax into the place a little.
what's that to miss?
does chicago count?
when i was first married.
i once heard itzhak perlman guest star with the chicago symphony orchestra. he played rachmaninov's vocalize opus 34. no. 14. it was one of the most beautiful pieces of music i ever heard. i actually forgot where i was for a time. you seem surprised?
just who's been laughing at who here?
a jogger, huh?
lucky for you. the grizzlies around here only go for joggers.
you sleeping all right in that house?
sorry about that. i thought everything got cleared out. r.b. is my wife.  ex-wife.  rachel. we used to live in that house together.
i thought you were an editor, not a reporter?
it's all right. he's young. just hold out your hand a little lower so he can get the smell of you.
why don't you ride anymore? grace told me you used to ride when she was younger.
just polite. well, maybe you'd like to try riding again, some time before you go home.
enjoy the day.
need a lift?
come and take a ride with me.
can you drive?
it's never too soon to start.
i don't have all day.
put the key in and turn it. the right pedal is gas, the other one's the brake.
well, there's only one way to find out. give it a little gas.
well, we know you can. now you just got to feel how much. try it again.
nice, real nice. there's a little road down at the end here, turn onto it.
just follow this. nothing to it. i'm going to shut my eyes here for a little while. just keep going till you run out of road.
not a question of if you can -- you are. just keep your eyes on the road and your foot on the pedal and the rest will take care of yourself.
where did you get pilgrim from?
that must have been pretty special.
getting old. not being of much use, i guess. what went on out there, grace? with pilgrim?
you see, grace, i've got a problem. when i'm working with a horse, i like to know its history. now, most times, the horse can tell you pretty much the whole story, but sometimes he can be so messed up in his head that you need more to go on. you need to know exactly what went wrong. often times, it's the obvious thing, but something that went wrong just before that, maybe even some little thing.
it's like if i'm driving and run into a tree. when somebody asks me, "well, what happened?", i don't say, "well, i plowed into a tree." i'd say, "the sun was in my eyes." or "i skidded." or "i took my mind off the road for a second." see what i mean? i don't know how you feel about talking about it and i can understand you might not want to. but if i'm going to figure out what's going on in his head, it'd sure help if i knew exactly what happened that day.
not today -- whenever you feel like it. i leave it up to you.
you haven't heard the question yet. truth is, you'd be doing me a favor. i got all these eager young colts need riding and poor old rimrock here is feeling kind of left out.
he'd be grateful, he'd take real good care with you.
no, ma'am, i'm afraid that's extra.
relax our center.  it's just sitting in a bucket.
ok. i'll stop talking then.
well, he don't know that. just sit the horse. good.  you have a nice seat.
feel good?
you look all right. you want to pick it up a little?
watch your reins, he'll go with you, give him some room, let him do the work. relax, don't grab him with your thighs, just so long as he can feel your body.
you want to let it go some more?
lift your leg.
five years. my son was born here.
yeah. i haven't seen him in a while. he used to come to the ranch over summers, but then he started having friends and was going off to college, so.  good boy. hal. lives in new york near his mom.
college. in illinois. she was playing the cello. i hadn't heard cello music growing up. she had the reddest hair, the bluest eyes. when she played, it was.
she was the most beautiful thing i'd ever seen.
she was never really happy here. she did the best she could.
grace told me you have a country house in connecticut. sounds like a beautiful place.
ever think of moving there full time?
i hear that! see, i knew she was never going to be a ranchest, but i wanted to try -- i thought maybe she'd give music lessons to the kids in town or at the school, maybe even recitals. my son would grow up here. maybe have one or two more. i'd teach 'em what i could. they'd play with my brother's kids. all grow up together. and even if they all decided to go out into the world, they'd always know where home was -- cause we'd keep it for 'em.
yeah, i think it is. and i don't mean everybody's got to be married, have kids -- it's more like, knowing where you're from, where you belong, what feeds you, where you can go no matter what happens.  knowing what you're supposed to be doing while you're here.
i got lost.
i'll give your mom a hand.
everything under control?
just make yourself comfortable.
ha, ha.  all right, well, uh i guess you can bring out the pasta.
huh?
i don't think warren would go for that.
diane takes care of the books. i don't know how, but at the end of every month, everything adds up to the penny.
boys! settle down!
don't let her turn you away.
you hungry?
i won't tell you it'll stop feeling this bad.  but i can tell you, you didn't do anything wrong.  the same thing would have happened to me.  or frank.  or joe.  and there's no sense in looking for a reason why things happen.  i used to try and.  always came up short. i don't think the why so's important as.  what we do with what we get. i remember this boy i'd see up on the blackfeet reservation. he was sixteen. great kid. strong. he'd gone swimming and dived headfirst into a rock. snapped his neck, paralyzed him.  after the accident, i'd look in on him from time to time.  and he wasn't there anymore. his mind, his spirit, whatever you want to call it, it just disappeared. and what was left was nothing but anger.  it's like the boy i knew just went away somewhere.
i know you do. don't you disappear. you do whatever you have to, to hold on.  i'll tell you one more thing.  when pilgrim reared up to face that truck.  you know what i think?.  i think that damn horse loved you so much, he was trying to protect you.  that's what i think.
let me hold that.
there's no hurry. take you time.
tom.
oh yeah.
oh, we're gonna show your dad plenty. why don't you all get settled in and we'll do the tour. excuse me.
we still have a way to go.
well, like i told your wife, it's really up to pilgrim.
he thought it was a ghost.
is the poverty worse, now, you think?
sure.
no thanks.
there's something you have to do tomorrow, boy.
all set?
sure?
smokey.
there's still something going on inside of him i can't reach. so me and smokey here, we're going to try laying him down. okay?
it's more or less how it sounds. sometimes it's not pretty to watch. some horses fight it real hard. your fella's already shown us he likes a good fight. so if you don't want to watch, i'll call you when it's done.
you got that soft rope?
drop the lines and come help me.
grace!
grace! will you come here, please!
grace, i need you to come with me.
grace, i need you to come with me.
he's not hurt. he's okay. look at him.
grace, listen.  you've got to do this. just trust me one more time.
i'll show you.
i want you to lay down with him. i want you to stroke him. i want to start with his hindquarters and rub him, feel him all over.
grace, you've got to do what i say.
now, listen. i want you to stand on him.
please! grace, do what i'm telling you. stand on him.  now!
i won't apologize for this. and i won't hide it. not for anybody.
ssshhh.  stand still, annie. takes what we've got, just for now. can you do that?
annie!
summers are short here, annie. there isn't much of a fall. before you know it, the roads are closed.  the nights get long.
two people can't just be alone together in the world. at least not us.
i figured, whenever you decided to go, you'd be all set.
annie, please.
i don't know any other way, annie.
you think this is easy for me!?
it's just happened this way sometimes. i can't explain it. but i look at you and see grace and i see robert, and no matter what you decide about him, i just know this is right. your life isn't here and you know it.
the point was to love each other.
because we had to.  and i'll never stop loving you, annie. here. where my life is.
annie.
annie?
sure. i'll saddle them up.