I visit my friend in Wellington, FL every year and stay at the luxurious farm she works at located in Grand Prix Village… but that’s not her only residence throughout the year. Years ago when I lived in New England, I visited the farm’s summer location in Saratoga, NY. Saratoga is a cool, artsy little town with a lot of horse history and the farm is not too shabby either!
The only better thing than showing at our local Summer Circuit is hanging out with barn friends and taking pictures all day. Another plus to this is that I can leave at will, and am not stuck at the Expo center for 4 days in a row. That is a long, long time to be at the Expo center in Austin. If you haven’t been there, you just have to take my word for it. For some horses, there is…
Once upon a time I was a poor college kid (or recently out of college) with a little equine photography business, and I took my first paying farm call. The owner wanted some pictures of her saddleseat bred Arabians trotting liberty for a sales ad. Being young and fresh, the horses offered up a lot more galloping and trotting but it sure led to some beautiful photos. Even though arabians aren’t “my breed”, these are still some of my favorite…
It’s safe to say that I have horse showing on the brain. I spent my day with Jen and Echo (aka Baby Race Horse) at an itty bitty schooling show an hour southwest of Austin. It was an… er… interesting show (I will say there were beautiful jumps and plenty of areas to school that was awesome for competitors), but Echo was a rock star and had a great confidence building learning experience. I played photographer, groom and try to…
Our local show circuit is called CenTX, which stands for Central Texas Hunter Jumper Association. Austin is different from what I was used to in Raleigh as far as the show scene goes. In Raleigh, you could take your pick in any given month from a selection of open shows, hunter/jumper schooling shows, and C or A hunter/jumper shows in the surrounding area. In Austin while we are lucky to have a good hunter/jumper scene, the choice is TSSA (classy…
When I was in Wellington, I mentioned to my friend that I wanted to get a figure 8 bridle for Simon to school in. “Why?” She exclaimed, “Your horse is a good boy. He doesn’t open up his mouth!” I didn’t exactly have a good answer, because my horse is a good boy and doesn’t open up his mouth. I realized the reason I wanted a figure 8 bridle is because they look cool and jumpery. I think a lot…
My favorite place to shoot at major horse shows like WEF isn’t the big grand prixs or even the hunter derby… It’s the warm up ring. Sure, there’s no huge action there usually but I feel like the warm up ring is the pulse and the life of the horse show. Sure, there’s a lot of waiting (and hurrying!) but those dull moments look thoughtful and peaceful to me as a photographer.
Some girls dream about Cinderella’s castle, but I dreamed of ponies and a beautiful barn to keep them in. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was dreaming of Grand Prix Village in Wellington, Florida. This large loop right next to the horse show grounds holds the prettiest hunter/jumper barns I’ve ever seen. Imagine a neighborhood in the burbs, but instead of houses they’re horse farms. Not wide and expansive like in Kentucky, but condensed and beautiful. Each…