It Seems Like Yesterday

When I arrived at Rancho del Cielo near Santa Barbara, California, in August 1983, President Ronald Reagan (1981-1989) was getting the horses ready for his daily ride with First Lady Nancy Reagan. I was there to photograph the first lady for a LIFE magazine cover story, and she looked great… hardly any makeup—fresh and natural. She was completely confident in the way she looked. Yet, I got the feeling Mrs. Reagan was not too keen on their daily ride, although to please her husband she pretended to look forward to it.

Rancho del Cielo was known as “The Western White House,” and the Reagans, especially the president, loved to spend their holidays there as often as possible.

The president looked elegant even in a plain white T-shirt, jodhpurs, and scuffed, worn riding boots as he lead his favorite horse, “El Alamein,” from the barn. The grey Anglo Arab had been a gift in 1980 from then President of Mexico, Lopez Portillo. Reagan liked the elegant horse because it was frisky and fast, and he liked to saddle him and rub him down after the ride.

Reagan knew how to let me do my job and never said no to any photography. Always full of amusing stories, he told me about once making a low budget Western. During a break from filming, he and another actor took off their jackets, one blue and one black. Returning to the set, they accidentally switched jackets. When the director noticed the mistake, he shrugged and kept on filming.

Former President Ronald Reagan leads his horse at his California ranch, 1983. Photographed by Harry Benson.