Leroy Web brought several horses by the ranch in Colorado to be photographed. One way to tell my photos, I always chemically darkened the grass behind white stockings. You can see the silhouette clear cut. This is the pre-fitted halters era.
Most all ads were black and white at that time. Color ads were 2 or 3 times more expensive so everyone used black ink. I liked to increase the contrast and blow out the backgrounds, which were soft focus. Anything that is visual, other than the horse, wastes time to the eye -- takes the focus away from the horse, which is the business at hand.
This was a big stout horse. As Leroy Webb was an employee of Hank Wiescamp's, he also became a competitor. People would come to buy from Hank, not do a deal, and Leroy would sell his own horses. Leroy must have been doing Hank a great job or he would not have put up with that insider competition.
Author: Darol Dickinson
