One day in early September, 1987, I got a call from a freelance writer looking for a photographer to accompany him on an assignment.
He was to write a story about Qu’Appelle Hunt, a club that had formed in Indian Head, Saskatchewan, in 1984.
There wasn’t any actual hunting involved.
Mainly, the club gave members a reason to go out horseback riding organized around a sense of tradition.
There were no foxes involved, either.
Organizers laid an artificial scent beforehand.
We met up with the club on 20 September 1987 to accompany them on a hunt.
The writer had arranged for a local car rental agency to provide us with a sturdy 4×4, but when he showed up to pick up the vehicle, they said they didn’t have what he wanted.
Thinking they were doing him a favour, they substituted a Mustang.
So, there we were on a Sunday morning, racing a sports car across the wide open prairie to keep up with the horses and hounds, me with my head hanging out the window with camera to my eye.
Good thing the ground was hard and dry and smooth.
I thought it was kind of poetic: chasing horses with a Mustang.
I guess you had to be there.
In the end, the publisher decided not to run the story.
And Qu’Appelle Hunt has vanished like so many things of the past.
But, at least I have the pictures.
