A couple of months ago I took a photograph of local cowboy Lael Barnett working in the rain with his horse Maddie and dog Screech in Montana's Bear Paw Mountains. At the time I thought it would make a nice photograph. In what proved to be my quickest sale ever, the photograph was licensed to Western Horseman magazine for use in a two-page spread in its September 2014 issue, which is making its way onto news stands this week. Here is the tear sheet from that issue.
The caption in the upper right-hand corner reads:
As if on cue, sheets of rain drenched Lael Barnett, his horse, Maddie, and his dog, Screech, as soon as they finished moving cattle to greener pastures in Lloyd, Montana. Photographer Todd Klassy of Havre, Montana, drove up shortly before the downpour, and says that Barnett, "polite as most cowboys are," gave the thumbs-up to go down Hungry Hollow Road. Branding season had recently wrapped up for ranchers in the Bear Paw Mountains, and Klassy says this photo "reminded me of how cowboys, ranchers, and horses work hard every day to put food on our plates."
If you are a fan of the hard working cowboys here in north central Montana be sure to run out and get yourself a copy today.
