The Redeemer ~ he was born in 1956, a double bred Brush Mount with some Spanish Nick tossed in the mix. He was a tall dark red chestnut with a lot of flash. He won a lot of shows in the east. He made a quick strong appearance when entering the show ring and beat out some very strong competition.
This photo was taken in the infield of the Ohio State Fair Grounds in the early days of the Quarter Horse Congress. This was when they had the Million Dollar Stallion Avenue. Some of the greatest horses in history were on display at this event with the owners meeting and visiting with other horse people in the promo booth right next to the famous horses.
Being in the business of photographing horses, I would go down the Stallion Avenue and check out the horses and their promotion materials. A few had good photos but most could stand some improvement. I would tell the owners I charged $100 for a photo session of their stallion. If I could not take better photos than they already had they did not have to pay me. Of course I always selected horses with poor photos. Many I had already photographed. During the Congress normally I would photograph 40 to 60 horses is serious photo shoots.
On a good day I could do 4 stallions. An entourage of well wishers always followed the party to the photo area. It was good to have a professional showman who could stand the horse and make them hold a post. It was good to have someone who would go around and set the hind feet. I would get one person to stand in an exact angle to get the ears up looking a certain direction for specific reasons. This was normally the major problem. When the horse was correct all the volunteers started jumping up and down in all directions and messed up a lot of photos. It was hard, because these people wanted to help. Many were friends. I couldn't ask them to go back to the Congress Hall. My wife says I am the world's most patient person, but more accurately I was probably able to conceal my hostility better than some others.
Author: Darol Dickinson
