Folly Farm and Trinity College hosted an IHSA showjumping competition and allowed me to line up this perfect shot: jumping horse in the foreground, crowd and barn in the middle-distance, and foliage-encrusted hillside in the background
Tag: show
The In-Gate
Color-matched school-spirited students crowded around the in-gate at Folly Farm for last weekend’s IHSA show.
Above It
At Trinity College’s IHSA show, the riders stood above the crowd (literally) while mounted for their class.
Monitor Equestrian Inset
Our trip to Jumping Mechelen in Belgium provided me this opportunity to capture “Cheval Art en Scène” by Gilliane Senn from a most unexpected angle.
Kentucky Summer 2023 Day 1: Warm Up
Thumbs up! Let’s get into another mega post! We’re exploring shots from the first day of the Kentucky Summer horse show, which took place at the Kentucky Horse Park back in the end of July.
Piper Klemm talks to her trainer, Emily Elek.
Then she heads into action in the warm-up ring.
Emily’s son, Will, was also warming up his horse, Papaya. Across these three shots, you can see him working on finding the correct distance to this jump.
Piper seems to always be smiling when she’s on her horse; understandable, really.
Beyond the team which whom I arrived, there were a lot of other folks in the warm-up ring, too.
Sometimes, my camera locks on a rider because they have such an identifiable style. Here’s yet another case of mirrorshades in Kentucky.
We’ll finish off with the serious face of Jimmy Torano.
Saratoga Horse Show 2022
The quiet moments of winter are the times when I look back on my photographic year and finally finish uploading my favorites. The rhythms of 2022 meant a particularly huge backlog, so here I find myself with far too deep a set of uploads to handle at a pace of one-per-day. As a result, I’ll be spacing some horse show mega-posts among my normal posts.
First in the set is Saratoga Horse Show, back in June 2022.
Devon Horse Show 2022 Mega-Post
Decaseconds may have begun as a photo-a-day website, but I occasionally like to break our rules and bring a mega-set of images for full immersion in a surreal event.
In this case, that event is the 2022 Devon Horse Show—a folded-together hyperspace of top-tier English riding and county fair inside an otherwise-upscale residential neighborhood outside Philadelphia. That overstuffed experience is best captured in this image of riders warming up in front of a Ferris wheel.
“Devon blue” is a lovely, light-blue shade that’s covering almost every surface at the show.
The small amount of space means the spectators are close to the action.
The warm-up ring and storage areas are likewise squeezed in amongst the barns and area homes.
In spite of the odd setting, the same special moments of human-horse connection still remain.
The maroon barns seem an… odd choice… in combination with Devon blue.
This rider got the same color-choice memo the seats did.
The warm-up ring is a place for more than just warm-ups; a lot of conversations seem to fit well into its edges.
Though the show occurred over Memorial Day, unseasonably cool weather kept many riders in winter jackets.
When I say that the horse show is taking place in a residential area, I’m not kidding: the gray house just behind the bands in this shot is a private home, outside the horse show. Everything is happening in a tiny space.
This shot doesn’t have anything profound to say beyond a bright explosion of the importance of water to horse shows: from the drinks in riders hands to the water used to keep rings from becoming dusty nightmares.
A moment of rising energy in the warm-up ring.
Jumper divisions produce some dramatic images, whether in profile…
Or three-quarter view.
This view again highlights how close the stands are to the action. Off in the distance, the concession area is also visible beyond the fence.
Dramatic jump shots are most easily obtained when the photographer is practically under the jump.
The high rise of the stands also opens new opportunities to capture horses from above, as in this shot of warm-up ring traffic.
Riders waiting to compete (or recently finished) relax in the stands.
Another view of the warm-up ring and the local homes and businesses just beyond.
Jumping must be different with such a large and visible audience.
Grays match well with bright orange jumps.
None of this would be possible without the hard work of the jump crew.
A happy face after a solid round.
Before an under saddle, many riders crowd the in gate.
Another member of the jump crew, enjoying the weather and company.
The under saddle appears chaotic to an outside observer…
But those riding are focused.
Carleton Brooks
Today’s subject is trainer Carleton Brooks of Balmoral, here training his newest hunter, Carleton Z (coincidental naming).
Chaps are not common English riders—britches are more common. The back of his chaps, where one might normally put identification information, is instead emblazoned with the phrase, “You Know My Name” in red. Click through to the full-sized version of this image to see for yourself.
This particular weekend was a bit of a miniature family reunion, as Carleton’s brother (far right) was up to visit from Indiana.
Horses Walking, Left to Right
Horse shows are these magical intergenerational spaces where equestrians of all ages come to compete. In the three images below, I found a trio of similar images in which riders at different points in their careers traverse the frame from left to right.
Turnout in Spring
White Hollow Farms have become, over the past few years, the site of the Saratoga Horse Shows. At the edge of the property, turnouts are a little array of springtime growth.
Press Room
I’ve heard that the Land Rover (previously Rolex) Kentucky Three-Day Eventing competition is the sport’s largest and most prestigious. In spite of that, no spectators were allows this year; the glowing press box looked pretty lonely in a darkened, empty indoor.
Governors Island (No Apostrophe)
Seen here from the One World Observatory on a sunny Sunday morning, Governors Island has been mostly transformed to park space. On the right side of the island, you can see the Longines Global Champions Tour grounds are still in place from the day before.
Visualize
I’m told that visualization is key to a great hunter round, but I’ve never before captured quite so literal a photograph of the process in the warm-up ring.
Sort of a Cowboy
Two weeks ago, I showed you this series of six images of Payson and Piskor Halls, with the eventual idea of assembling them into a dynamic wallpaper for macOS. I’m happy to say that, after some troubleshooting, that process is done. The result is available here.
While horse shows aimed at English riding don’t tend to have an excess of cowboys present, this hat perhaps suggests otherwise.
Waiting During the Snack
Hand grazing is a delightful treat, but patience may be necessary.
Decaseconds 