Old Mescal Bronc

Description

One crazy horse equals a lot of danger. On the other hand, Dad did ask for the craziest horse in Arizona. One of Red Wolverton’s cowboy acquaintances knew just the one.

Dad wanted to create a blockbuster bucking bronc photo and he had a plan. He would place an outstanding cowboy on the crazy horse and would have wranglers flanking the duo to ensure safety and to get the crazy horse traveling toward the camera.

Meanwhile Dad hunkered down behind some hay bales with a hulcher sequence camera that could shoot 20 frames a second. As soon as the cowboy slid onto the crazy horse, it went from calm to insane. The horse launched straight up in the air and began bucking its way down the dusty street and through a mesquite thicket near Dad. (You know that horse was crazy because mesquite trees have some really nasty stickers on them. The horse wasn’t phased at all.) Dad was shooting as fast as he could.

After the horse cleared the mesquites Dad began to wonder if it would stop before trampling him. Dad bailed left and the horse went right. The horses’ hooves were about three feet from his face.

The cowboy realized the shoot was over and managed to slide onto another horse. The crazy horse immediately stopped bucking. He suddenly looked as docile as a kitten and Dad had his shot.