It was there that he met Immortal driver/trainer Harry Pownall, Sr., whom Reeves received his first commission from when he was fifteen. Pownall paid him an impressive $10, an equivalent of $150 in today’s currency, for a 9x12 watercolor of Hanover Maid. 
                             
In 1941 Reeves graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in Fine Arts; however, he put his art career on hold due to World War II. Lieutenant Reeves served in the US Navy for four years, during which time he was fortunate enough to meet Naval intelligence officer Robert G. Johnson, president of Roosevelt Raceway. Johnson encouraged Reeves to contact him following the war regarding a commission from the raceway. In the spring of 1946 Reeves met with Roosevelt’s Board of Directors. Impressed with Reeves’ skill, they commissioned him to paint the portraits of the season’s top trotters and pacers which, upon completion, were hung in the track’s clubhouse.
                  
Following his exposure at Roosevelt, Reeves’ fame spread rapidly within the Standardbred and Thoroughbred industries. Over the next few years he received commissions from many prominent horsemen, including R.L. Craig, Elbridge Gerry, Sr. and Roland Harriman. A few of his star subjects included Standardbreds Meadow Skipper, Nevele Pride, Adios, Speedy Somolli, Proximity, Titan Hanover and Cardigan Bay and Thoroughbreds Citation, Secretariat, Seattle Slew, Affirmed and Nijinsky.

Anatomical accuracy was key to Reeves and because of his focus on conformation many of his paintings were used in breeding advertisements. However, what made his approach especially unique was the attention he paid to his equine subjects’ psychological make-up in addition to their physical characteristics. Reeves traveled to the tracks and training facilities to study them and talk to their owners, trainers and drivers to better understand the horses’ personalities.

Richard Stone Reeves passed away October 7, 2005 at the age of eighty-five. In his obituary The New York Times referred to him as “one of the premier [equine] artists in the world.