Meet Louise's handsome boys: Wally, Catcher and Trumpet! I first met Louise last year when she moved her 3 boys to the yard that I currently keep Dolly at. The boys are very playful and the yard is some what quieter without them as a few months ago they moved a little further up the road.
Wally and Catcher are a right double act - they're always up to something. Be it Wally dunking his head in his water bucket and then shooting up, launching water everywhere; Catcher pulling Wally around the field by his rug or both of them together pulling their headcollars off - which is what they did just before the shoot! Honestly, these guys have provided us with hours of entertainment: climbing on eachothers backs, snapping branches off trees and then chasing eachother round the field to get the stick off the other and constantly slam-dunking eachother in the field. They are a right pair!
Louise said she had been meaning to organise a shoot with her three for some time, but Trumpet was showing some signs of laminitis earlier on in the week and at the grand old age of 31 she didn't want to put it off much longer in case she had to say goodbye soon. Trumpet and Dolly got on very well together and spent many summer evenings grazing in the riding paddock whilst we all enjoyed a BBQ! He's a very sweet old man and we were all super pleased to see him walking much better on the day of the shoot.
Wally is the warmblood with the white markings on his face - Louise has owned him for 9 years now and together they've evented up to novice and showjumped to newcomers. For many years Louise kept the boys over in Ireland where Wally qualified for the dressage championships and of course hunted across the Irish countryside!
Louise didn't want to make it too easy for herself, and with the help of her friend Aino getting them ready - she wanted a shot of her walking all 3 boys up the lane together - which of course proved eventful with those three involved!
Lisselan Catcher, by a stallion called Catcher in the Rye, was best placed 3rd when he was in training has been in Louise's care since 2009 when she worked on the yard he trained at. She's owned him since 2011 and has turned his hooves to a lot since his racing days: eventing, showjumping, sponsored rides, showing and hunting!
But, he loves nothing more than a large straw bed and of course, Wally! "He used to have at least two naps a day in training and always had to be ridden in the second lot because he was always laid down when we tacked up the first lot!"
Up first, whilst Aino kept control of Trumpet and Wally, was Catcher. He's a very sweet horse who loves fuss and attention. But, Louise said as a yearling colt he had the reputation for being the naughtiest in the yard and once knocked their best colt handler flying across the yard! Amongst many things, Catcher has turned his hand to modelling for several companies, including being the beautiful model for Haygain when I recently shot for them. I'm not sure who's more of a poser, Wally or Catcher!
Louise braved the cold weather with jeans, a top and best of all - cowboy boots! Up next was Wally - he has such a proud head carriage and can't believe that I'd want to photograph any of the others. Whenever there's a camera involved, Wally has to be there!
To finish up the shoot we focused on Trumpet. You wouldn't believe he's 31, he was once a show horse and competed at HOYS when it was still at Wembely! The image above is one of my absolute favourites - what I ask the owner to do is to stand by the horses side, take a step out and on my say so, crouch down. 90% of the time the horse will bend and look down to see what they're up too which makes for a lovely image. However Trumpet went one further and stayed with his head low, allowing Louise to get in right close to him - I love how it turned out, and obviously, it had to be converted black and white!
Thank you for having me Louise!