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…
When I go visit WEF, I generally creep around with my camera. Usually I talk to no one, and just walk, watch, listen and shoot. Of course there are exceptions, like the time that I took so many pictures of these two horses that their grooms heard my camera clicking, stood up, fixed their shirts and said “I’m ready for my closeup baby!” Oui. So through my stalking around the horse show, I try to pick up a few things. A…
With this past trip to WEF, I tried to have a game plan of what I wanted to document and write about during my time there. So instead of one giant ALL THE WEF THINGS post, I have a lot of topics planned out with photos to go along. If you love hunter/jumpers or big horse shows, I hope you’re excited to hop along the WEF train with me for a little while! I know I’ve said it before, but…
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…
Going to keep today’s post to mostly images. Went to the barn last night expecting to see my horse looking good and ready to start tack walking, and he was quite lame again. I’m really upset, worried and frustrated. Going to call a new vet out to get a full work up done so I can get some answers, but if you could send out some positive vibes for Simon I would really appreciate it. For now, lots of Grand…
From so someone showing at the local circuit who’s had a progressing trend toward hunter snobbery, I spend a lot of time pouring over tack catalogs and equestrian style blogs. In those venues, there’s a lot of emphasis on higher priced goods being the best possible thing you can buy for the show ring. A lot of times that’s true, but I noticed a lot of trends at WEF that showed me that sometimes simple is better. Navy Braids I’ve…