Tag: hunter

Judging Upperville

July 1, 2016 by Tricia Booker Photography

Over the past 30-plus years that I’ve attended the Upperville Colt & Horse Show in Virginia, held the first week of June, my usual viewpoint has been from the back of a horse competing or through the lens of my camera. This year, however, I received a most remarkable opportunity to apprentice judge with my friend and mentor Julie Winkel of Maplewood Stables, an R-rated judge from Nevada who was one of four judges presiding over the seven-day horse show. […]

Categories: Horse Shows, Horses • Tags: hunter, judging, photography, show hunters, Upperville, Upperville Colt & Horse Show, Virginia

Special Moments From Pin Oak

April 8, 2016 by Tricia Booker Photography

One of the highlights of my year is my annual trek to Texas for the Pin Oak Charity Horse Show just outside of Houston. This year marked its 71st year and my third year in attendance producing daily coverage in words and photographs. This is one of the few multi-breed, old-fashioned horse shows left in this country that’s still run by volunteers and for the benefit of charity. Pin Oak has now donated millions of dollars to the Texas Children’s […]

Categories: Horse Shows, Horses, Photography, Travel • Tags: artistic, horse, horse show, hunter, jumper, Nikon D810, photography, Pin Oak Charity Horse Show, Texas

Pin Oak Charity Horse Show I

March 23, 2015 by Tricia Booker Photography

Week 1 of the Pin Oak Charity Horse Show is a wrap! It’s been an awesome time in Katy, Texas, photographing a variety of beautiful horses, from Andalusians and Lusitanos to American Saddlebreds, Hunters, Jumpers, ponies and many more. Pin Oak is a highlight of my spring season, and I love having the opportunity to meet new people from other breeds and disciplines and to get to know them and their horses. This year a special congratulations is in order to […]

Categories: Horse Shows, Horses, Photography • Tags: American Saddlebred, Andalusian, horse, horse show, horses, hunter, jumper, Lusitano, Nikon D810, photography, Pin Oak Charity Horse Show, Sony A7, Texas

Capital Challenge

October 6, 2014 by Tricia Booker Photography

The 10-day Capital Challenge Horse Show concluded yesterday in Maryland, and I’ll admit I was a bit tired driving around the Capital Beltway last night on the way home. This horse show is often dubbed “Capital Punishment” because of its duration and long hours. The days often begin at 7:30 a.m. and end some time after 9 or 10 p.m., with the horse show staff and media often working until well after midnight. Even though the hours are long and […]

Categories: Horse Shows, Horses, Photography • Tags: Capital Challenge Horse Show, horse, horse show, hunter, Maryland, Nikon D3s, photography, USHJA, WCHR

Horse Shows by the Bay 1

July 8, 2014 by Tricia Booker Photography

It’s hard to believe how fast the time goes! As I drove from Virginia to Northern Michigan last week, I couldn’t believe an entire year had passed since my first summer adventure here. Horse Shows by the Bay is held in Traverse City, Michigan each July, and it’s an amazing place to combine horse showing and vacation. The first week is a wrap, and we’re preparing for Series II, July 9-13, which is a USHJA/World Championship Hunter Rider show, and […]

Categories: Horse Shows, Horses • Tags: horse, horse show, Horse Shows by the Bay, hunter, hunter/jumper, jumper, Michigan, Nikon D3s, photography, Traverse City

The Upperville Colt and Horse Show

June 17, 2014 by Tricia Booker Photography

This year’s Upperville Colt & Horse Show, held June 2-8 in Upperville, Virginia, kept me super busy working on content for client websites and my United States Hunter Jumper Association projects. It’s always a highlight of my year to have the show in my backyard, and I spent most of the week there visiting with friends and watching the hunters and jumpers compete. I also had the privilege of attending the United States Equestrian Federation Hunter Breeding Clinic with judges […]

Categories: Horse Shows, Horses, Photography • Tags: horse, horse show, hunter, jumper, Nikon D800E, photography, Upperville, Virginia

Pin Oak Charity Horse Show 1

March 27, 2014 by Tricia Booker Photography

Week 1 of the 69th annual Pin Oak Charity Horse Show in Houston, Texas, featured a variety of breeds and disciplines. It’s one of the oldest and largest multi-breed shows in the United States and is a United States Equestrian Federation Heritage competition. The horse show benefits a variety of charities, including the Texas Children’s Hospital, and so far thanks to Pin Oak’s generous sponsors and dedicated exhibitors, more than $5.5 million has been donated over the years. Here are some […]

Categories: Horses, Photography • Tags: American Saddlebred, Andalusian, horse, horse show, Houston, hunter, Lusitano, Nikon D3s, photography, Pin Oak Charity Horse Show, Texas

Photography: That One Special Moment

October 17, 2013 by Tricia Booker Photography

I (re)learned a valuable lesson during my assignment at the 2013 Capital Challenge Horse Show last week. You’d think by now, after decades of experience as a horse show photographer and journalist, I’d remember that the best photographs—those that tell the story in just one moment—don’t necessarily happen during the actual competition. This photo above received an unprecedented number of shares and likes after I posted it on the USHJA In Stride magazine Facebook Page. Polly Sweeney, at 71 years […]

Categories: Horse Shows, Horses, Photography • Tags: Capital Challenge, horse, horse show, hunter, Nikon D3s, photography, sports photography

A Good Morning

April 25, 2013 by Tricia Booker Photography

It was a beautiful spring morning, and I took advantage of the weather and time in between deadlines to ride at Skyland Farm before meetings and projects took over the day. The first ride was aboard my old friend Escada, a beautiful gray, warmblood mare that has been previously featured in my blog. I hadn’t ridden her for several months, and it was fun to reunite with her and enjoy the sights and sounds of a morning on the farm, […]

Categories: Horses • Tags: Camera+, horse, hunter, iPhone, Middleburg, photography, riding, Skyland Farm, spring, Virginia, warmblood

Tagged J: Jump

March 8, 2013 by Tricia Booker Photography

This is about as good as it gets in the sport of show hunters, which is judged subjectively on the horse’s movement, jumping ability and manners combined with the rider’s ability to present the horse to each fence with the same rhythm, pace and take-off spot. The ideal score is 100, and Tori and Inclusive received a 92 from the judges for this round, which also garnered them the week’s high-score award. Inclusive is in perfect form, leaving plenty of […]

Categories: Horse Shows, Horses, Weekly Photo Challenge • Tags: A-Z Archive, FTI, horse, horse show, hunter, Nikon D3s, photography, Weekly Photo Challenge, WEF, winter

A Friend

March 5, 2013 by Tricia Booker Photography

It’s difficult to imagine eating a horse, but I know in many cultures horse meat is considered a delicacy. I fell in love with horses as a small child, and since then I’ve thought of them in many ways, from teachers, friends, athletes, partners and simply as beautiful when I observe them in their natural state, free and grazing in their fields. Therefore, the recent articles exposing the European horse meat scandal have made me cringe. I feel for all […]

Categories: Horse Shows, Horses, Uncategorized • Tags: artistic, bay, horse, horse show, hunter, Nikon D3s, photography

The Lineup

February 28, 2013 by Tricia Booker Photography

I spent most of my day editing images for a variety of projects and clients. It was nice to finally have some time to go through the 1,000+ photos I shot last week, which may sound like an impressive number but was actually about half of my usual for this particular event. One of the photos that caught my eye was this line up of junior hunters awaiting the announcement of placings and ribbons. The horses’ and riders’ expressions are […]

Categories: Horse Shows, Horses • Tags: artistic, horse, horse show, hunter, Nikon D3s, photography, postaday 2013, WEF

Winners

February 25, 2013 by Tricia Booker Photography

It’s finally time for a deep breath. After a whirlwind week of traveling, photography, interviewing and writing, my magazine, In Stride, is off to the printer tonight. I work with a wonderful editor and designer, and after two-plus years together, I feel like we’re a well-oiled machine. It was also quite fortunate that all of the machines that brought me back from Florida yesterday, an old, black Crown Victoria rental car (don’t ask!), two Delta airplanes and a Tahoe, all functioned […]

Categories: Horse Shows, Horses • Tags: Florida, horse, horse show, hunter, Nikon D3s, photography, postaday 2013, WCHR, WEF

On Deck

February 24, 2013 by Tricia Booker Photography

Even though we put in long hours working this week during the USHJA’s World Championship Hunter Rider Palm Beach Spectacular, I totally enjoy my time in Florida. Yesterday morning I was up early to catch the first riders as they entered the show ring. The light streaming into the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center’s Internationale Arena was stunning, and hanging out with my long-time photographer friends is an added bonus that I look forward to each year. Unfortunately, I didn’t […]

Categories: Horse Shows • Tags: artistic, Florida, horse, horse show, hunter, Nikon D3s, photography, postaday 2013, WEF

Beautiful In Blue

February 21, 2013 by Tricia Booker Photography

While I was working today at the FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival, I took a break to walk around with my camera. I noticed this adorable horse standing in the schooling area waiting for his turn and couldn’t help taking a few photos. Unlike many of the veteran show horses who go to sleep or look totally bored ringside, he was very interested in his surroundings and watched everything intently. He appeared to have a lot of character and was […]

Categories: Horse Shows, Horses • Tags: Florida, horse show, hunter, Nikon D3s, photography, postaday 2013, WEF

Tagged D: Derby Star

January 21, 2013 by Tricia Booker Photography

If Jersey Boy were an athlete in a mainstream American sport he’d be as well-known as say a Peyton Manning or Tiger Woods. Jersey Boy, nicknamed Lewis, is the all-time money leader in the USHJA International Hunter Derby series with $196,640 earned since the program’s inception five years ago. His closest rival falls more than $70,000 short of that mark, and Lewis is still at the top of his game. The 11-year-old chestnut Hanoverian has become an icon in the […]

Categories: Horse Shows, Horses, Weekly Photo Challenge • Tags: Derby, horse, horse show, hunter, International Hunter Derby, Nikon D3s, photography, postaday, postaday 2013, Tagged, USHJA

A Portrait of Finnegan

January 20, 2013 by Tricia Booker Photography

Not long ago, I photographed Finnegan for a congratulatory ad after his recent sale to a new owner. After I arrived at the farm one late winter morning, his trainer pulled him out of the stall for a quick shoot. His whiskers and ears were freshly trimmed, and he’d been thoroughly groomed that morning in preparation. He looked beautiful. Finnegan was a good model with the exception of one issue: he really wanted to face the “wrong” direction based on […]

Categories: Horses • Tags: horse, hunter, Nikon D3s, photography, postaday, postaday 2013, Upperville, Virginia

Goodbye Teddy

July 16, 2012 by Tricia Booker Photography

Those of you who have followed my blog may have met my 5-year-old pinto Teddy. I’ve posted a few photos and blogs about him over the past 1 1/2 years and featured some of our adventures as Teddy has grown and matured since I purchased him as a yearling. Well, I had to say good-bye to my beloved horse last week. After several months of unexplained neurological degeneration and some of the best veterinarians in the country working on his […]

Categories: Horses • Tags: horse, horse show, hunter, pinto, Virginia, warmblood

August 20, 2011

August 22, 2011 by Tricia Booker Photography

Photographing the victory gallop is one of my favorite aspects of covering a competition. There’s wonderful color, with all the ribbons flying, and the rider is usually relaxed and reveling in the moment. Although this rider isn’t smiling as much as I’d hoped she would, I still find her expression pleasing, with a composed happiness that you can see in her gaze. The horse has one ear slightly cocked back, listening for his rider’s next instruction, and his calm eye […]

Categories: Horse Shows • Tags: artistic, horse show, hunter, photography, ribbons, victory gallop

August 19, 2011

August 22, 2011 by Tricia Booker Photography

I selected this photo as one of my favorites from the qualifying round of the $100,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby Finals in Lexington, Kentucky, today and also used it for the Blue Ridge Workshops photo a day page. Photographing the show hunters is one of my favorites, and the challenge to capture the “decisive” moment—as my friends at Blue Ridge described it—is always one I enjoy. As a rider, there’s nothing more rewarding than having a beautiful photo to remind […]

Categories: Horse Shows • Tags: horse show, hunter, photography, warmblood

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