Archive for the ‘Equine Photos’ Category
.just.pullin’.along.
Saturday night I traveled to LaGrange to meet up with friends of our family, David and Denise.
Last week when I traveled to Lexington to photograph our horses, their farm was one the stops on my list and while there, I asked David about his ‘other’ horses: the Belgians. He gave my professor and I a tour, tried to help me understand horse pulls and showed us part of his daily routine: weighing the horses. After a little chatting, I was throughly confused about horse pulling, so I asked to come along.
Unlike anything else I have seen, the horse pull demonstrated the strength and willingness that animals possess – something I soooo love and am fascinated by. I will admit to my passion/obsession for horses and farming before you read any further in to my raving about how awesome and interesting it all was, but really – it was. I think anyone could attend and understand the greatness and historical relevance this hobby holds.
So I show up and the explaining begins. Denise and David arrived at 10 that morning for the weigh-in. Each pair is weighted to determine the amount they will pull and to verify that they belong in their respective division – lightweights or heavyweights. And then the waiting begins. They wait and wait and wait some more for the pull to being at 7. Around 6:15 they get the pair out of the trailer, tie them up, groom and harness them and then head to the ring.
Each pairs of horses (8 at this pull, I think) lines up and waits their turn to pull the first round. The pairs are called one at a time to hook to the sled, weighing around 1000 pds and filled with cinder blocks bringing the total to 3000 pds (if my memory serves me correctly). Each team is given 3 attempts to pull. The first round went by smoothly with each pair needing one attempt.
This is the best part – the driver heads them to the sled, backs them up and as soon as the horse hears their hook to the sled they jerk forward and begin around 30 seconds of intense power-walking or hopping. It is almost scary how quick the horses respond.
After they complete their pull, the announcer auctions off each pair in a betting scheme. Spectators and competitors alike are allowed to bid for the team they think will win. The monies are put into a pool and the bidder of the winning pair will take home half the pot, the bidder of the second place team wins half or the remaining monies and so on.
As the rounds progress and weight is added, teams drop out and the final round ensues. David and Denise go from joking and lighthearted to focused and observant, David a bit more nervous and anxious. She stands by holding the team while David watches the competition pull their final round.
I love that David and Bill (the horse) seem to be making the same face here.
David’s final pull took all three attempts and was much slower moving than the previous. The horses were much more tired, yet amazingly seemed much more intensely focused.
In the end, String and Bill (the horses) took home third place and David seemed pleased – and much more relaxed.
Meet Bill – he was much more interested in what I was doing than String was. So funny how they each have their very own, very different personalities.
A sweet little ender of the overall mood. These guys all show up with their prized teams for an evening of intense competition and soothing relaxation. After all of my horse lessons, it was so crazy to me that these guys pulled up their lawn chairs and sat next to these huge horses. Never have I seen such power so genuinely in pleasant control.
I’ll keep you in the loop as to your next horse-pulling opportunity – it is one that shouldn’t be missed. Hope you enjoyed! Seniors tomorrow.
.rewind.recap.
Yesterday I took a trip to Lexington to photograph the farm’s foals. Each year we try to send photos to their owners who live too far to see them grow. Though my parents look for a more standard image, I have lots of fun shooting their little features and personalities. And, of course, I’m obsessed with little horsie eyeballs.
Little, baby butt.
I love this moment between Momma, Bright and Shiny, and her baby boy.
Sunday, I went to a wedding – yea for Kevin and Leslie – and ate cake with my 8.8.08 bride, Katie. If you remember my list of things to do in 2008, going to a wedding as a guest was on my list – check. I can hardly wait – Katie will be a gorgeous bride – and check out those eyes! Are you kidding? Wowo.
Saturday the family and I traveled over the river to Indiana to attend St. Joe’s Strawberry festival. We go every year and if you get the chance – hurry- it’s great. Abby and I played quarter Bingo for quite some time and met some awesome ladies – Betty, Helen and Betsy.
We played the cake wheel and brought home 5 desserts, stuffed ourselves with homemade fried chicken and chocolate dipped strawberries. 21 was my lucky number!
And these strawberry smoothies are to die for. Mom enjoyed one while I opted for the strawberry shortcake.
Last, but not least – my friend Little Bill – or John, or something of the like. This weekend I am starting a story on horse-pulling. David and his wife Denise work a couple of teams and do quite well each summer. Denise is the only woman puller in Kentucky – I am super excited.
.my.friend.
Just a quick post from my trip to Lexington today. I will be back tomorrow with a long post. You will be seeing a lot of this fellah. I will explain soon :-)
.my.backyard.
Stiill playing a bit of catch-up and get-ready! Here is an image from just outside my window.
.my.butt.hurts.
…Because I have been sitting on it all the way to Canada and all the way back. Mom and I took the drive to drop off a racehorse (btw, my that’s what my parents do) and pick up a mom and baby horse. Our trip through mostly Ohio reminded me of why I love Kentucky. No other place on Earth is quite as beautiful. Anyway here are a few photos from my seat.
I LOVE this picture of my Mom. Isn’t she cute?
The real reason we came..
.just.a.shot.
Just a quick grab from some shooting I did this weekend. I am working on a story about Masterson’s Station Equine Park in Lexington, Ky. for school. More to come on this later – but if you have a horse and don’t know about it we soooo need to chat…and then ride together. :-)
From a horse show.
Hope the sunshine warms your heart today :-) I LOVE it!
.the.start.
A little sneak peek from my busy weekend. A little shooting at the racetrack.
.good.frosty.morning.
This morning as I left the house to take my sister to school, I looked out in the field and saw some gorgeous light!
I ran into the house, grabbed my camera and snapped this one. As I was driving through town, headed for the tanning bed, I decided to ditch my plans and make a beeline for the field. It was worth it. I hope you enjoy these images from my backyard. They’ve always been my favorite part of living here.
They’re all so nosey – always wanting to know what I am carrying in my pockets, clicking with my finger and how many scarves they can pull off with their teeth.
These last few are for my photo class. I’ve always had quite an infatuation with animal noses…but the truth is I like eyeballs just as much and I find fur equally fascinating. How cool is it that they can stand in these freezing temperatures in the ice and the snow and be just fine..no coat or scarf?
My all time favorite. It’s soo odd, I think I will print it and hang it.
My plan is to continue shooting all month until I have a nice group of images to put somewhere in my parent’s home. Stay tuned.
And…sad to say, I already broke my 365 days of blogging, so today starts over at #1 again.
.clients.page.down.
Sad news, I know, but the clients page is down. Unfortunately the company that built my original site has gone MIA, so I’ve got no help, but my new cart is due to be completed soon! Until then, ordering is put on hold.
I will work very hard to have all images ready, so as soon as the site can launch, it will launch.
For those of you in waiting:
.If you had previously made an order, that information is all held, and your images have been ordered.
.If your gallery was up and due to expire, no problem. Everyone whose gallery was posted at any point before the fall, you will receive 7 days at the beginning of the launch – even if your gallery had expired!
.New clients, particularly those shot this week or last, stay tuned to the blog for your sneak peek, and as soon as the site launches, you too will receive an extra 7 days.
Sorry for the inconvenience. What a pain!
ETA: My nerdy skills paid off again – the clients page is up and running for now! Access it through the main site or here.
These picutres are amazing!