Meet the lovely ladies from Ewelme Park! After a small problem getting there, my SatNav had taken me around the back of the park rather than to the front and after leading me down a single lane track, I was completely lost! I managed to get hold of Tracy who soon sent me in the right direction.
I know Tracy through Chiltern Riding Club, who I have had the pleasure of photographing for on a number of occasions. They are all such a lovely, welcoming bunch of riders who are always so friendly! I was really excited when Tracy organised a black background mini session, yard day shoot over at their yard. Their yard owner, Kate, is due to leave England for sunny France with her horse Max so they wanted to organise something before she went.
First up was Karon and Fynn, a handsome flea bitten grey gelding. The tie up area was inside a small barn which made a great space to create the black background effect. Karon was after some lovely head shots of her boy who she has owned for many years.
Up next was the yard owner, Kate, with her rather smart bright bay gelding, Max. He was so easy to position and willing to look exactly where we wanted him to. Max is soon off to the South of France with Kate. Whilst the move is daunting, Kate is very much looking forward to the beautiful scenery. Max will be very lucky and live just at the end of the garden in France.
The third horse of the day was Rupert, owned by Tracy. Originally Tracy wanted some photographs of her and Ru along with her mum, Carole. Although on the day she had a cold and really didn’t feel like being in front of the camera. Rupert and Tracy are often found out eventing and taking part in riding club events. Carole hacks Rupert out during the week for Tracy. Rupert is an ex-race horse who has become a dressage diva, which is where I first met Tracy – at a Chiltern Riding Club dressage event on a very warm summer’s evening at Checkendon. Of course, Rusty had to join in too for some photos!
Piper was up next with his owner Helen, who has owned Mr P for 12 years. Piper was definitely a character, getting cheekier as he got older, Piper is around 30 years old! He definitely kept everyone entertained by nodding his head around, trying to escape from us all and wanting to move around.
Up next was Bud and Rebecca – her lovely bay gelding. Bud has just had to be retired from being ridden but he looked fab! Rebecca did a great job of waving around my green cleaning cloth which Bud took a great interest too and wanted to follow everywhere, we even managed a few pictures with no headcollar on too!
When I arrived in the morning, Emily was busy bathing Nelly’s mane. She is a beautiful grey colour and as I know too well, owning a grey myself, they are always mud monsters! You wouldn’t have known though after Emily had bathed her. Emily said she wasn’t that white when she bought her, she had much more grey on her. Emily had owned Nelly since she was a 5 year old and has now owned her for 8 years. I loved Nelly’s long mane! Emily had asked to be in the photographs with Nelly, in particular to have some photographs taken bareback as she’d spotted some similar images on my website.
Thank you all so much for having me, you were all very welcoming and great to chat too! I really enjoyed my morning with you all and can’t wait to see some of you again soon – I hope each of you love your images!