Despite being injured and off my feet for several months this year, I still had the chance to go to a ton of amazing competitions for my job in 2017.
As always, I feel incredibly fortunate to do what I love for a living, and this year I got to check off a couple of bucket list events, as well as go to some longtime favorites. I attended 18 competitions this year for COTH (14 actual trips total, counting the USEA Convention).
A photographer friend generously gifted me some Lightroom classes to work on while I was laid up, and I think my editing skills have gotten a little better this year! I’m always in search of the perfect jumping shot, but I’ve been trying my best to be aware of my surroundings and capture quiet, candid moments as well. My New Year’s resolution is to continue to push myself out of my comfort zone and play with different perspectives as I continue to capture some of the country’s best horses and riders.
Here are some of my favorite photos from my coverage this year.
Cambalda splashed through the brush jump at the Carolina International with Jennie Brannigan.
Ballynoe Castle RM retired at Rolex this year, and Buck Davidson showed him some love.
The trees at Red Hills in Tallahassee, Fla., are gorgeous!
This Snow White pas de deux was really fun at Dressage at Devon!
My first trip to Rebecca Farm didn’t disappoint!
I captured this shot of Laura Graves’ Verdades at AGDF in February.
Jan Ebeling patted FRH Rassolini at the AGDF. Check out that crest!
The light hit Foxwood High’s eye just right at Great Meadow.
Will Coleman and Gideon made a lovely picture under the willows at Red Hills.
Just some lovely fall colors at Devon
This shot of Boyd Martin and Welcome Shadow became a cover shot for COTH!
#eqgoals. Mavis Spencer at the Palm Beach Masters.
Clark Montgomery and my favorite, Loughan Glen, at Pine Top.
Jacquie Brooks always has a good time on D Niro at Devon.
Will Coleman and Tight Lines were stick straight at Great Meadow.
Reggie being cute!
Costume hi jinx at the Great Charity Challenge in Wellington.
Braids at Fair Hill.
Hunter knees for Lauren Kieffer and D.A. Duras at Ocala.
All cleaned up for the Fair Hill jog.
I was a little downhill to capture this shot of Will Faudree and Pfun at Rolex.
This table shot beautifully at The Fork. Here’s Phillip Dutton and Mr. Medicott.
I thought this was a unique angle as I was walking towards another fence at Carolina. Elisa Wallace and Simply Priceless power up the hill.
#knees. Laura Kraut and Confu at the Palm Beach Masters.
I love going to new event. It was amazing to be at the christening of the new advanced course (and future WEG course) at The Fork at Tryon. This is Jenny Caras and Fernhill Fortitude.
D.A. Duras and his groom Shannon Kinsley at Ocala.
Just a nice shot of Joe Meyer and the best named horse ever, Clip Clop, at Rolex.
Tim Bourke and his son Senan at Fair Hill.
Knowing what Will Faudree has been through in the last two years after breaking his neck gives this image from Rolex special meaning.
Beauty in the background at Rebecca Farm.
The water shot beautifully at Carolina International this year. Liz Halliday-Sharp and Deniro Z tackled this huge drop with style.
Just a nice shot of the Fair Hill CCI*** winner Seleno O’Hanlon on Foxwood High.
#eqgoals. Emily Beshear at Great Meadow.
Sharon White’s Cooley On Show hammed it up at the Rolex jog.
Jennie Brannigan’s I Bella gave this table at the Wellington Eventing Showcase plenty of air.
The Budweiser Clydesdales were mobbed at Red Hills.
I didn’t shoot much show jumping this year, but I got this nice photo of Kent Farrington and Gazelle in Wellington.
Three masters of eventing in one place! Boyd Martin, William Fox-Pitt and Mark Todd at the Wellington Eventing Showcase.
Mara DePuy and Congo Brazzaville C at Fair Hill.
Whenever I’m struggling on the flat, I think of this photo of Michael Jung and fischerRocana FST at Rolex and sit up just a little bit taller.
I’ve traveled a lot this year, and photography is my favorite part of my job, so it was hard to narrow down my favorite photos, but I chose the following for two reasons. First, I love a classically perfect jumping photo, so I’ve included a few. Second, I’ve worked really hard this year on seeking out more candid moments. Sure, I can get a hundred shots of horses with perfect knees over a big oxer, but in the end, I think it’s the more emotional moments that really resonate with people.
It probably helped that I had a borrowed Nikon D5 and 200-400 lens to play with at the Olympics, which was amazing, but many of these were taken with our trusty D3 or D4S and a fixed 300m or 70-200mm lens.
Click on a photo to view the gallery in higher res.
Maya Black and Doesn’t Play Fair landed in balance over the huge drop at the Head of the Lake at Rolex. She went on the gather up her reins quickly and jump out over a corner.
This shot of Z Terminator ended up being my second cover shot for COTH!
HH Azur had springs in her hind feet over this triple bar at the Olympics.
Valegro and his groom Alan Davies seemed to be speaking their own language during the medal ceremony at the Olympics.
Severo Jesus Jurado Lopez of Spain and his amazing partner Lorenzo, who moved effortlessly through each test at the Olympics with a floppy upper lip.
Brazilian Joao Victor Marcari Oliva gave his horse some love at the Olympics.
Laura Graves got congratulations from her teammates at the Olympics.
First Class was a freak of a jumper at the Olympics with Daniel Deusser.
I played around with different angles over the water jump at the Olympics and loved this one of Harrie Smolders and Emerald.
As she turned up her final centerline in competition with Valegro at the Olympics, Charlotte Dujardin’s face broke into a smile.
I wasn’t able to find my way to a good spot for this shot of Nick Skelton amongst a huge group of photographers, but he still looks noble!
Nick Skelton and Eric Lamaze walk to the podium together at the Olympics.
Kent Farrington and Voyeur looked focused on the way to the final jump-off at the Olympics.
Steffen Peters gave Legolas a big hug at the Olympics.
Sinead Halpin and Manoir de Carneville splashed through the new water jump at the Carolina International CIC***.
William Fox-Pitt’s comeback at the Olympics was remarkable. He was in the lead when I took this shot, and I hoped it would become a cover photo, but it wasn’t to be!
Just a pretty photo of Michael Jung and Sam on their way to Olympic gold!
This photo of Ireland’s Judy Reynolds and Vancouver K became another cover shot after Dressage At Devon.
Liz Halliday-Sharp and HHS Cooley galloped through the water at the Carolina International CIC***. Sadly “Cooley” was euthanized later in the year after a fall on cross-country in England.
Jonty Evans was thrilled with Cooley Rorke’s Drift all weekend at the Olympics.
Sam Griffiths and Paulank Brockagh were another inspirational pair at the Olympics. Such a game mare!
Jennie Brannigan had the perfect position over this fence at Plantation Field on Waterford.
Jonty Evans loving on his horse again!
Clark Montgomery’s Loughan Glen was beautiful in the summer sun at Great Meadow.
I won a trip to the Wellington Masters this winter and took this fun shot of Kent Farrington on his way to a win.
The Wellington Eventing Showcase was truly something else! Competitors galloped through the VIP tent.
Chile’s Carlos Lobos Munoz and Ranco were another inspirational pair at the Olympics.
Boris O”Hara wasn’t going to touch a fence for Will Coleman at Fair Hill.
At the Wellington Eventing Showcase, Buck Davidson’s groom Kathleen gave Ballynoe Castle RM a treat right before he headed out of the start box.
The colors at Fair Hill weren’t that vibrant this year, but I can always count on this tree by the entrance to the main stadium to give me a little fall color.
Michael Pollard’s son was super cute at the Wellington Eventing Showcase.
I’ve just finished off my whirlwind fall of travel, and I’m ready for a break! Since I last updated I’ve been to Plantation Field, Cincinnati, Dressage At Devon, Fair Hill and the Virginia Horse Trials.
Plantation was the first weekend where it really felt like fall. I covered it for the first time officially for COTH, and Phillip Dutton was a fitting winner at his hometown event.
The ruins at Plantation Field.
I visited my brother, niece and sister-in-law in Cincinnati the following weekend, and it was kind of hot but I had a good time playing tourist and eating Skyline chili! The city is undergoing a lot of change, and my brother lives very close to downtown which is fun, plus they have a great view!
Dressage At Devon was up next and back to cold and rainy. I went to Devon a few times with my mom long ago, but I’d never been as a member of the media. It was fun to see some different faces than who we usually see in Wellington, even if the scores weren’t as high. I wrote a commentary for the magazine, which I’ve only ever done once before, about how I hope riders and spectators will continue to attend shows like Devon, or Morven Park, which was on the same weekend, because they’re so unique and historic.
Under the lights at Devon.
My favorite event, Fair Hill, was up next, and while the weather was the driest and warmest it’s been in the 15 years I’ve been attending, it was unfortunately a little underwhelming this year. The entries were down, and Marilyn Little sparked a lot of controversy when her eventual winner RF Scandalous was seen with blood on her mouth on cross-country day.
After two of the most stressful weeks of my work life trying to write the story of the win while also reporting on what it meant to have a three-star national champion win with blood on her mouth, I hope what came out is a fair portrayal of what happened.
The “blood rule” was followed in theory, but there’s since been a lot of discussion about whether it’s right for the public image of the sport to allow a horse with visible blood to continue. I try to always see both sides of an argument, so I won’t weigh in, but I have to say I was disappointed with several things posted on the internet about how the media handled the incident.
It’s difficult when the sport is so small and everyone is friendly. We love feel good stories and stories of winners but we are journalists and have to report on the bad things as well. I feel like sometimes the riders get a little closed off when controversial things happen, but we’re just doing our jobs asking for the facts. If top riders want to get the press and be treated like celebrities, they need to realize that sometimes that means answering tough questions.
Fair Hill cross-country day!
After Fair Hill I had a free weekend and took Oh So and Harley to a flat lesson with Heidi. She gave me some tips with Harley about keeping his walk and canter more forward and asking for more bend in all three gaits, so now I have some homework.
Oh So was very good, and we upped the work a little by adding in some canter/walk and walk/canter transitions.
I’m hoping we can get back to where we left off this spring and continue to work on those transitions and eventually get clean changes both directions.
He’s finally pretty much back to full flatwork and now we’re getting ready to pop over some jumps for the first time since June this week, so I’m excited!
Both boys were very well behaved during gale force winds with leaves hitting us all in the face and dust swirling around!
Oh So and Harley take on the coliseum at the VA Horse Trials.
This past weekend we took Harley to the VA Horse Trials for some exposure and I brought Oh So along to ride in good footing. Both boys traveled well together and settled in. Harley was very professional for being 5 and they both thought they were living the life of luxury with Meghan and I tending to their every need.
I schooled Harley on Saturday and Meghan sat on Oh So. She’s only ridden in a dressage saddle a few times, so she was working on getting her balance and playing with some leg yielding, but she was pushing all of Oh So’s buttons by accident, and it was pretty funny. He would offer a turn on the forehand, haunches, leg yield or rein back and not get frustrated, so that was cool to see him play schoolmaster.
A lot of memories came flooding back, and I don’t know if I’ll ever compete him there again, but I’m glad we went.
Today I moved Oh So to a new farm just up the road from where he was in Waterford. I found a deal I couldn’t pass up where I’ll be able to afford two horses if I decide to get one in the spring. The only thing is he’ll be living out 24/7 so I’m pretty nervous about it , but he settled right into his paddock today and made friends with a mare across the fence line. He ate his dinner and was checking out some chickens when I left him, so I hope it goes well.
Meghan and I did some sightseeing at Natural Bridge in Lexington.
We won’t have an indoor, but we do have lights, so back to living the way we were at home. I’ll just have to pull out my winter breeches a bit sooner!
Harley is doing his first event this weekend on my (30th, gulp) birthday, and I’ve entered Oh So in a dressage show at Loch Moy the following weekend. It may be the end of the season, but I’m going to squeeze in what I can!
Oh So checking out his new digs.
I’ve been thinking a lot about bucket list goals as I’ve been interviewing people this fall, and I came up with a list of my own. I still feel pretty aimless without having any competitions to look forward to, but here’s what I’ve come up with.
Complete another training three-day (I did one in 2006 with Sam and finished 2nd).
Complete a CCI*.
But before that, I’d like to finish a prelim on my dressage score.
Ride at the Kentucky Horse Park.
Earn my USDF bronze medal (maybe Oh So could take me there!)
Ride at another AEC.
Hit up a few other events I’ve never competed at like Plantation Field and at the Horse Park of New Jersey.
Compete at an Area 2 championship (that never seemed to work out with Oh So’s schedule).
I think most of these will have to wait until my next horse, but I’m still holding out hope for Oh So!
Everything Eventing 