A few months ago, I learned that a high school friend of mine lived not 20 minutes from the cottage, and with her partner, ran a show horse company called Mileham Show Horses. Liz and Doug invited us up one afternoon to chat and see the horses. We pretty much spent the entire afternoon catching up, telling stories and generally having great time.
Fast forward to a couple weeks ago, and Liz send messaged me on Facebook, and invited us to a horse show they were hosting at their place.
Despite a day full of threatening (and promise fulfilled) rain, we had a great time watching the horses and chatting with some of the competitors - even in the rain! The age range of these competitors was extensive, from young to old, and it was clear they loved their animals.
In all, I believe there were 34 Apaloosas on-site for the competition
We stayed for the pot-luck dinner and not-so-silent auction, all of which occurred in the horse barn itself! We had a blast and met some wonderful people.
While I didn't make a lot of photos, below is the collection I'm pleased with.
I spent years as a commercial photographer, and did my share of event photography. And event photography means shooting people. But my style - or preference - was to catch people unawares. I didn't want them focused on me. I wanted them involved in thier lives, in the surroundings, caught up in the action - or inaction. This was a technique I tried to impress upon my journalism students over my years as a Photojournalism teacher.
I helped in the rescue of several baby snapping turtles, which were digging their way out of Liz's vegetable gaden. According to my young friend, Cory (who, aside from riding, was also specializing in the study of turtles and bringing back endangered species), a snapping turtle could lay a clutch of up to 60 eggs. However, the survival rate of that large group was a mere 10%! Well, we gave at least 5 of them an extra fighting chance by scooping them up and taking them to the nearby river.
These fine ladies thought I had goodies for them.
