equine evaluation

Agricultural Show 3 – Equine Evaluation

My last post from our local agricultural show is about the equine presentation and evaluation, an event always to be enjoyed. Unfortunately there was no show jumping this year and as a result the crowds were thinner than I have known in the past.

horse head

I enjoy watching the horses and miss the events I used to regularly photograph. As with the other animals in the show, the ponies and horses are all immaculately turned out and the riders are doing their very best to gain that red first rosette.Continue reading

Pony Portraits

Pony portraits became the order for the day at this point on my walk this week, the first of three on this valley route up Cwm Dulais. I met a number of ponies en route – not only are they frequently curious about whoever is passing by, they also seem happy to have their photographs taken.

Valley Ponies

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The Challenge of Gates

Yesterday I mentioned the difficulty for horses of a steep and slippery section of the footpath/bridle way that I have been following on my walk this week. Here is another challenge for the riders of those horses. While gates may not present much of a difficulty to a well practised rider, some of them have mechanisms that require some extra effort to operate. I can’t remember for sure but I think one of the riders of the pair below dismounted in order to open this one.

As well as the pleasure I get from gates and in particular their various sounds, I also get (as I am sure do many other people) enjoyment from the sound of horses hooves on the ground. Listen below.

gate

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Horses in the Landscape – The Kelpies

Returning from my walk this week as a day trip to Edinburgh, we took a slightly round about route and visited The Helix at Falkirk to see The Kelpies. I had known about this wonderful installation but wanted to see it for myself. I have done my best with the photos below but like all the other images available online, they cannot do justice to the real thing.

The Kelpies

The Kelpies, The Helix Park, Falkirk

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Lledr Valley Horses

Close to the start of my wet recce walk in the Lledr Valley in North Wales, I met this curious pair. They were probably wondering what on earth I was doing out in the damp weather if I had a choice not to be.

They were very friendly and allowed me to take several photos, though there was clearly a sense of the bigger protecting the smaller.

Lledr Valley Horses

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A Pair of Ponies

I regularly walk down on the marshes by the River Loughor near my home but do not often meet others doing so. The path is well worn, so there must be more people using it than I meet there.

Earlier this year the route of the footpath had to be changed slightly to take it a little further back from the river bank. The evidence of erosion can be seen in the photos of fences in yesterday’s post. The new route runs through a field or two near the old St Teilo’s Churchyard and the fields are normally empty of animals. Sometimes there are sheep there but on this occasion there were two new occupants. They seemed friendly and pleased to see me.

I just have one question about the piebald one – could he be described as dappled on this occasion? 😉

Ponies 3

Ponies 1

Ponies 2

Ponies 4

Ponies 5

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Supreme Champions

Last Sunday was the Clydach Riding Club Annual Show and StillWalks Photography was covering all the ridden and in hand activity in rings 1 – 4 (not the jumping in ring 5).

I may be responsible for all the photography done by StillWalks but on this occasion I was not the only photographer. Hannah Duncan and James Rees were invaluable helpers and did the photography for rings 2 and 3. All the images can be seen here on the StillWalks Photography website.

Below are the two Supreme Champions from the day which also included the awarding of the Angarad Rees Memorial Trophy for the best exhibit in the show.

Supreme Champion - Junior

Supreme Champion – Junior

Supreme Champions - Senior

Supreme Champions – Senior

Knocking Things Into Shape

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Indy, it seems to me, is a patient horse! I understand there were five horses being re-shod  at Cimla Equestrian Centre last Saturday. I wonder if they were all as accommodating as Indy?

I spent about ten years taking my eldest daughter to riding lessons at Cimla and although I don’t ride, I surprised myself by enjoying being around the horses. This is quite useful now that I am doing equestrian photography.