A compelling insider look at professional cowboy JR Root

This short film takes us into the world of JR Root, a third-generation horse behaviorist and professional cowboy in Leiper’s Fork, Tennessee. Created by Indie Atlantic Films and directed by Jonathan Frazier, it was shot on 16 mm film, giving it an amazingly authentic tone and visual feel.

Root was born in south Texas and spent his early life in Colorado, where he watched his father and grandfather handle horses.

“My grandfather was an authentic cowboy born before the Civil War who spent his entire life training and fixing outlaw horses,” Root says. “Watching my grandfather and then my father work young and older horses, I noticed that their gentle way of handling them was a stark contrast to other cowboys I had witnessed. This gentle horsemanship netted great results with the horses and thus it became the style I emulated. … I gradually obtained a reputation as a trainer especially skilled with troubled horses.”

This piece offers a compelling and insightful look into Root’s work