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Category: The Horse World

Death of the Equine Photographer? Part I

Death of the Equine Photographer? Part I

If you’ve ever been to a horse show at almost any level, there’s a good chance that you’ve experienced an equine photographer.  They come with all different levels of equipment, professionalism and skill.  The good ones are a rare mix of photography skills, equestrian sport knowledge and an artistic eye.  The business of equine photography seems to be in a strange and dangerous place right now.  Photographers complain about rising costs, stolen photos, and fewer orders while show goers complain…

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WEF – Maclay Big Eq

WEF – Maclay Big Eq

I bet I wasn’t the only one who didn’t really know that “big eq” and the Maclay Medal Finals was a really big deal before the Horse Power  TV series on Animal Planet.  Since I didn’t grow up showing on any type of hunter/jumper (or any) circuit, I had no idea of the big eq world. Even when I did figure out the big eq existed, the classes weren’t usually big in NC and we don’t even have a decent 3’6″…

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WEF – In Search of Color!

WEF – In Search of Color!

I am a total sucker for a colored sporthorse.  That doesn’t mean I don’t love my plain bay Thoroughbred, but if it’s flashy… I adore it. Bonus points for spots. Triple bonus points for palomino.  One day… one day I will have a palomino hunter, and it will be beautiful. Anyway, WEF is a sea of bays.  Even a chestnut or a gray stands out among the grays, but I did find some color few and far in-between.  I’m sure there’s a…

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WEF – Scrim a dim dim

WEF – Scrim a dim dim

Maybe this is the case at all the big horse shows… it probably is.  Remember, I show locally and my A/AA experience is just as a bystander at mostly regional A shows.  Before I visited WEF, the biggest show I’d ever watched was the Duke Children’s Classic in my hometown of Raleigh, NC. At Duke there were lots of amazing horses, but I don’t remember scrim sheets.  WEF has tons of amazing fashion and beautiful horses, but I swear the…

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WEF – Helmet Survey

WEF – Helmet Survey

A few years ago, the helmet scene at WEF was pretty standard.  A survey would have been useless because the answer would have pretty much been “GPA” across all three rings. This year?  Not so much! There are more competitors on the market (I call it the Euro invasion) and the styles do seem to vary more from ring to ring than I have noticed in years past.  Of course, these are all just my observations from my few days…

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WEF Horseware Ireland Grand Prix

WEF Horseware Ireland Grand Prix

For each week during the Winter Equestrian Festival, there is a “Saturday Night Light” class that is open to the public and hosts a big show jumping (usually) or occasional hunter class.  These vary in difficulty and prize money, and every year I’ve previously visited I’ve been lucky enough to go for the $500k WEF Finale Grand Prix… which is massive and filled with the best of the best. This year I went during week 10 instead of 12, and…

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Me Asking Why

Me Asking Why

Over the weekend, two horses died while competing at The Fork horse trials.  On Monday, I came across a good article on the subject from Chronicle of the Horse and posted it to my facebook page.  If you haven’t read Molly Sorge’s “We Need to Ask Why” I suggest you do before continuing this post. Now I’m not an event rider, and I definitely don’t claim to be.  I know I joke about my weeniness here, but cowardice is not…

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Junk In Your Trunk Blog Hop

Junk In Your Trunk Blog Hop

As soon as I saw this awesome blog hop from Viva Carlos I knew I had to participate. I’m kind of obsessed with my tack trunk.  Even though I know that one piece of tack or equipment does not make or break a rider by any means, I still always thought a vinyl tack trunk would help me “belong” in the hunter world.  I got mine as a very generous Christmas gift when I was in college, and it’s probably one…

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