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Ross Hecox

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Hecox Photo Blog

No Spinning Wheels

January 27, 2016

It had been a frustrating day. Photographing the Crumpler family of Wichita Falls, Texas, it was overcast, dark and gloomy. I was struggling to get good photos for the article, which appeared in the May 2005 issue of Performance Horse. Then the clouds finally broke, Don Crumpler saddled up cutting horse superstar Woody Be Tuff, and I lay down in the dirt and started firing away. They were working in a small round pen, so I used my wide angle lens, which allowed me to include the fence shadows, power line and calf's tail. It wasn't my idea, but all those elements seem to point the eye to the cutting horse. Woody Be Tuff has since sired the earners of more than $1 million.

Hecox Photo Blog

Down in the Dirt

January 27, 2016

My favorite photos capture events that are not staged. I was on assignment at Haythorn Land & Cattle in Nebraska when a thunderstorm passed through. The day's work was done, and once the rain stopped one of the cowboys began working with one of his colts. Light from the setting sun painted the passing thunder clouds a brilliant orange and yellow.

Hecox Photo Blog

Haythorn Thunderstorm

January 21, 2016

John Welch and his ranch gelding hold onto a soggy steer while the branding crew does its job. I happened to be in Montana at the time, and Welch invited me to photograph him and his family working calves. I shot this shortly before a heavy downpour. We waited for the rain to stop, then resumed the work. The cattle had spread out in the branding pen during the shower, which made the ground a muddy, mucky mess. Rain-soaked cow pies were spread out everywhere like land mines. Somehow, I ended up flanking calves, which was a lot of fun until the job landed me in a fresh, soggy pile. I had a flight to catch early the next morning, with no time do laundry. I've often wondered what airport security thought of the mysterious, funky smelling trash bag I crammed into my suitcase.

Hecox Photo Blog

Soggy Branding

January 14, 2016

Jimbo Humphreys stays clear of an unhappy broodmare. The West Texas cowboy was helping his neighbor and friend Bill Smith with deworming and vaccinating mares and foals. Smith runs a large broodmare band, and many of them aren't handled very often. Humphreys simply let the bay mare have her moment, then went back to work.

Hecox Photo Blog

Broodmare Flare Up

January 14, 2016

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Hecox Photo Blog

Wide Open Country

January 6, 2016

Fran Devereaux Smith, a longtime Western Horseman staff writer, and I spent a day with Bobby Atwood for an article in 2007. The topic was teaching your horse to handle a rope, and one step Atwood incorporates into his program is dragging an old, Goodyear tire. For this photo, I duct-taped my camera to the tire and used a remote control to fire the shutter button. Atwood dragged the tire in circles while I took several photos. Setting up some creative shots and working with Atwood, a jovial man who likes to have a good time, made this shoot a lot of fun.

Hecox Photo Blog

Here’s to Another Goodyear

December 31, 2015

Chris Dawson works a cow for a Western Horseman photo shoot in 2007. This was shot at Carol Rose Quarter Horses in Gainseville, Texas. Since then, Dawson has become one of the top reined cow horse trainers in the business.

Hecox Photo Blog

Yellow on Yellow

December 31, 2015

A surprise snow shower hit the CA Ranch during weaning one year in October. The cowboys kept working through the heavy flakes, while I crouched just outside the corral and pointed my camera through the weathered fence boards.

Hecox Photo Blog

Sorting in the Snow

December 23, 2015

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