There is something special about photographing equestrians with the horses they compete on.
You get to step away from the noise and adrenaline of competition for a little while and document the relationship that exists outside of the arena.
For Megan, that meant creating portraits with her two horses, Zeebo and Bug, at her farm, Chances R Farm in Malabar, Florida.
Megan is a barrel racer who competes throughout Central Florida, and horses are a huge part of both her life and her family.
MEET ZEEBO & BUG
Zeebo's registered name is Wanna See Somethin Special, while Bug is registered as Whatta Hay Bug.
As a barrel racer, Megan spends countless hours with her horses beyond the few seconds spectators see during a competitive run.
There's training. Conditioning. Feeding. Hauling. Practicing. Caring for them. Learning their personalities. Figuring out what makes each horse perform at their best.
That's what makes equine portraits so meaningful.
They're an opportunity to document the partnership behind the performance.
EQUINE PORTRAITS AT CHANCES R FARM IN MALABAR
We photographed Megan with Zeebo and Bug at Chances R Farm in Malabar, Florida, allowing us to create their portraits somewhere that's genuinely part of their everyday lives.
I love photographing horses at their home farms whenever possible.
Not only does it make the location meaningful, but horses are often most comfortable in familiar surroundings. We can use barns, pastures, fences, arenas and open spaces to create variety while still making the final gallery feel authentic to the horse and rider.
And an incredible location isn't required for beautiful equine portraits.
Ultimately, it's the relationship between the horse and rider that makes the photographs.
THE BARREL RACER BEHIND THE PORTRAITS
Megan competes at barrel races throughout Central Florida with her horses.
Barrel racing is fast. A competitive run can be over in seconds, but the partnership required to make those few seconds happen takes years to build.
That's one of the things I understand and appreciate so much about photographing barrel racers.
There is an entirely different relationship happening outside the arena.
The quiet moments at the trailer. Walking back after a run. The countless rides nobody watches. The horse that knows your routines almost as well as you do.
During a portrait session, we get to slow everything down and photograph that side of the partnership.
A FAMILY CONNECTED THROUGH HORSES
Horses are very much a family affair for Megan, too.
Her sister, Alexis, is a trick rider with Faithful W Ranch Riders, an equestrian performance team based in Central Florida.
While Megan's equestrian world revolves around barrel racing and Alexis's includes trick riding and western performance, horses are a common thread running through their family.
It's one of my favorite things about the equestrian community. There are so many different disciplines and ways to enjoy horses, but that love for them continually brings people together.
PHOTOGRAPHING BARREL RACERS IN CENTRAL FLORIDA
Because I come from an equestrian and rodeo background myself, photographing barrel racers is about more than creating a pretty picture with a horse.
I understand that every horse is different.
Some will happily stand wherever we put them. Others would like to personally redesign my entire photography plan.
Sometimes we wait for ears. Sometimes we let them move. Sometimes the photograph that wasn't planned becomes the favorite of the entire session.
My goal isn't to make every horse behave like a perfectly trained photography prop.
It's to photograph them like horses.
And most importantly, to create photographs that actually feel like the relationship between them and their person.
CENTRAL FLORIDA EQUINE & BARREL RACING PHOTOGRAPHY
Megan's session with Zeebo and Bug is exactly what I love about equine photography: celebrating not only what horses and riders accomplish together, but the relationship they've built along the way.
Whether you're chasing barrel racing checks every weekend or simply spending your evenings at the barn with your favorite horse, that chapter deserves to be documented.
I offer equine, horse-and-rider and western photography throughout Central Florida, including Orlando, St. Cloud, Brevard County and surrounding areas, as well as select sessions in North Georgia.
Because someday you'll want more than photographs of your fastest runs.
You'll want photographs of the horses who got you there.
