Equestrian Open Show Photography: Rhythm

When I'm photographing an equestrian open show, where one class slowly leads to another, I find that the event almost has a certain rhythm to it. The morning English classes go first and they have the wonderful morning light, so I typically work fast trying to capture all the riders & mounts before the sun begins its furious pace of bumping up the contrast. Next comes the lead line and handling classes where I really start to see people having a good time and this is where I start to slow down and look for emotion. In the English classes I almost never see anyone smiling as most are too nervous to think of having fun. In the halter classes it's different as they point their smiling faces at the judge(s) hoping that it's their horse that has the award winning composition. 

After lunch comes the Reining classes and WOW, are they ever long. Each class (usually two) can last over an hour so I try to conserve my energy and go for the money shots (the slides). After Reining comes the Western and Western Pleasure classes. My day can last from 6:30am to 4:30 pm (or longer) but I always try to stay to the very end no matter what as it is usually the rider in the last class that ends up buying the large prints or licensing every one of their pics from the day.

Below, a handler adjusts her horse ever so slightly so that his feet are in perfect conformation before being judged. As I'm lining up the shot, if the horse's ears are not alert, I will sometimes make a slight whistling sound to help perk up the ears. I wonder if silent dog whistles would work? Hmmm...need to research that!