AERC Endurance ride photography as Christmas Presents for riders
I’ve been noticing a lot of activity on my web site and my photo galleries with the purchase of trail event images in 5×7 and 8×10 sizes. My guess is that because this is occurring in early December it is because people are buying prints of friends and riding buddies as gifts for Christmas.
My galleries allow for purchase of any sized prints including various types of surfaces. Lustre is the most popular because it does not show finger prints much. Realize that a prints up to 8×10 are strictly for a desk or bookcase display. A small wall print could be an 11×14 or 16×20, but getting these framed brings up the cost quite a bit. If you want to give something really special to someone consider getting a CANVAS on board. These look like paintings and have a very rich feel to them.
If you are willing to spend more for a wall portrait or photograph, take some paper and tape it to the wall and keep adding paper (making it larger) until it looks about the right size for that spot on the wall. You will find that, for example, an 8×10 looks exceedingly tiny when taped up to wall. Then measure the paper. You will likely find that the paper is 16×20 or 24×30 or some larger number that you would never have thought to consider.
Small prints can be lots of fun too. How many people want to tell their co-workers about the sport they participate in. Getting a good trail image that shows some speed or a water crossing can be fun to have at work to share.
To find the trail events that I have photographed go to the menu item at the top of the page that says GALLERIES/PROOFING.
Cracked Oats Crunch Endurance Ride at Scioto State Park in Ohio 2011
What a beautiful weekend for an endurance ride in Ohio. Cool evenings and cool days make for a great ride.
Pictures from the ride are available here: Cracked Oats Crunch endurance ride at Scioto state park in Ohio
Cracked Oats Crunch is an AERC sanctioned endurance ride. At this particular ride, FEI vets came to take random blood samples for drug testing. Although I would find it hard to believe that anyone would drug their horses for any reason at this level of endurance riding, you could see it happen that the national and international events where the competition is intense. At this level, the old slogan for endurance riding makes endurance riding as a sport a joy to the participants, “ To finish is to win”.
As you can see, Endurance riding is a sport that everyone can participate in. Amy Whalen is a ride manager for several rides each year. Shannon Loomis goes all over the region participating in rides with her daughter. These are two folks that I can almost always depend on seeing at every ride we participate in. Bringing along your kids into the sport helps the sport to expand and flourish for future generations. Not only that, but meeting a challenge together and with horses is very rewarding and brings lots of good personal character traits.
Pictures from the ride are available here: Cracked Oats Crunch endurance ride at Scioto state park in Ohio
Peter DeMott • Peter DeMott Photography • peter@photosbypdemott.com • 937-478-6222
Peter DeMott is also available for farm calls in the region. To find out more about having a farm call visit to your farm or to your boarding stable for portraits of you and your equine companion check out this link: Farm call photography in Ohio, Northern Kentucky, and SE Indiana
Canter Over the Mountain Endurance Ride in WV / Photography from the ride / 2011
Even Great Ride Management Cannot Control the Weather
Outstanding ride management can help with a lot of things at an endurance ride, but with a heat index well over 100 degrees (temps in mid 90s with very high humidity) and combined with what is a challenging ride, this ride was difficult for many.
On day one, I took pictures of riders in the morning in heavy fog, then again at a water crossing until my wife Patty came through and indicated I needed to help her in the pit area. (Sorry for those I missed at the water crossing on day one) She was concerned about being able to cool down her horse and also being able to manage our second horse (they are buddies) in the pulse and vet areas. Earlier that morning I had gone and picked up 6 bags of ice and filled our coolers. When Patty arrived with Merlot, the first bag of ice I put into the warm water disappeared almost as soon as I put it in. Bag two cooled the water and lasted long enough to start cooling down the horse in the pit area. Three bags of ice later, and almost out of time, we were finally ready to go to the pulse area and go through the vet check. As we looked around, we could see that everyone was having the same struggle. The vets checked core temperatures. By the end or the ride many had been pulled and several horses needed treatment by the vets for fluids.
Team effort / Extreme Heat at Endurance Ride
With so many having difficulty because of the heat and humidity, it seemed to me that there was a real team effort to help people out. Shannon Loomis who was the treatment vet on day one, brought out a very large fan and opened up her canopy (her daughter was riding) for anyone who was having trouble cooling their horse. People were sharing ice and making trips to the nearby convenience store for more. I told the store owner that we would probably buy out their entire supply, but she told me that she had another shipment arriving in the afternoon just for our ride. By the end of the weekend I had purchased 30 bags of ice for our horses and others.
On Trail / Volunteers / Well marketed trails / Water
There was lots of water on trail and Patty told me at one point that there was resting area with various grains, and a hose with cool water to spray off your horse and cool them down. Almost everyone took the time to get off to hose and cool their horses. Riders slowed things down and sponged their horses in the creeks and water crossings. Here is one rider’s description of the day. She rode the first day and was pit crewing for some friends on day two.
Day two was 6 degrees cooler in the morning with less humidity
On day two, the temp had gone down at least 6 degrees. The high humidity was much lower and there was clouds hiding the sun for most of the morning. My wife had downgraded to the 25 mile event rather than do another 50. She was glad she did. Although the morning was much cooler and less humid, by afternoon the sun was beating down again and things heated up again.
Now, for the photography from the event. Click on this link:
Photography of Canter Over the Mountain 2011
Some water crossing photos
The water crossing provided good opportunity to cool the horses while on trail. Teaching your horse to allow you to sponge can be an important strategy at endurance rides. Patty (the middle rider in this first picture) tried out sponging and almost ended up dumped in the water, but the riders ahead and behind her were both sponging. Teaching her horses to allow sponging is one of her training goals.
Some of the horses found the photographer who was sitting in a fold up lawn chair along the shore of the creek to be quite interesting. I’ve learned to start talking and not be too still for too long to help the horse identify me as a human. It helps with ears up for sure though.
News about the heat of the weekend on the radio / Flooding the day after the event
This ride was on Saturday and Sunday of Labor Day weekend. Patty and I left on Sunday late afternoon. “The hottest Labor Day weekend since 1913″ was one thing we heard on the radio has we drove home. On Sunday and Monday there were heavy rains in the area and much cooler temperatures, but Samantha (the ride manager) took pictures of this area and the water was close to the ribbons in the trees and was probably impassable. Here are a couple of photos from her Facebook page.
Here are a couple more video clips from the day. You can see the heat in their faces. Even with all the heat, people enjoyed the ride and the challenge:
Peter DeMott Photography • 937-478-6222 • peter@photosbypdemott.com
Check out some on the trail videos here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9RdBjwrD1I
This weekend (8/27-28, 2011) I am am at the Abi-Kahn Competitive Trail ride near Caesar’s Creek Park in Ohio
Flamingos are the theme of the Abi-Kahn Competitive trail ride at Caesar’s Creek Park in Southwestern Ohio. I am shooting on trail for the event, buy when everyone is finished riding I am taking mini portrait sessions for those who want portraits with their horse/s.
One of the girls that I photographed with her horse said, “Do you do senior portraits?”. My answer was, “Yes, I do on-location senior portraits in the Southwestern Ohio area, where do you live?” As it turns out she lives right near me in the Centerville area and she would love to have senior portraits with her horse. I gave her my business card and hope to hear from her soon.
More pictures from this event can be seen and purchased here: Abi-Kahn Competitive Trail Ride
Peter DeMott Photography in Southwest Ohio near Dayton • peter@photosbypdemott.com • 937-478-6222
Scioto Endurance ride and competitive trail ride on June 25th and 26th, 2011
Here is the link to the pictures.
I will add more information about the ride late
Scioto Endurance ride and Competitive Trail ride on June 25th and 26th
Top of the Rock Endurance Ride June 2011 photos
I will add more to this post later, but for now here is the link to purchase photographs from the ride. I have not had time to sort, but I will be culling later. Please select images carefully.
TOP OF THE ROCK JUNE 2011 ENDURANCE RIDE PHOTOS-CLICK HERE
Interesting little story on our way home from the ride:
Traffic Jam in Northern Kentucky – Concern for overheating our horse
Kentucky die hards endurance ride Nov. 20, 2010 at Shaker Village near Lexington Kentucky
Kentucky die hards endurance ride November 20, 2010 at Shaker Village near Lexington Kentucky 
The Kentucky die hards endurance race is on the grounds of what I think is the largest restored Shaker Village in the country. Our room was double booked by accident in the main hotel so Patty and I got to stay in this little house. We didn’t spend a lot of time there because at 5am the next morning Patty had to go feed her horse and start getting ready for the ride. The US world equestrian endurance team also trained here since the terrain is about the same and there are stables and places to lodge. The weather was delightful and the ride was challenging and enjoyable except for those who encountered issues related to trail marking for the course. But, I think everyone would agree that although problematic in that respect everything else about the ride makes it one that everyone will want to repeat next year.
This is a cinder road, Old 68 and it goes right through the village. On each side there are these beautiful stone fences.
Here you can see both fences along with winding cinder road.
There was one very little and cute girl who participated in the limited distance (25 miles) portion of the ride.
Kentucky Die Hards Endurance Ride Nov. 20, 2010 Gallery
Because I forgot to turn on jpgs (on my camera I had the camera set on RAW files only, but when I want to have pictures to sell at that ride I have to have jpgs turned on as well so I can get the pictures processed locally) at the ride, I was not able to provide 4x6s for purchase at the event. I had explained before the ride that if you purchase at the event, the price is slightly lower plus there are no shipping charges. Many were disappointed that they did not get to make their purchases there, so after some thought, I decided to offer 30% OFF for 30 days on this event. The coupon code is Shaker
Christmas gift season 2010! Don’t miss this opportunity! All endurance and trail events!!!!
After putting a little more thought into it, I decided to allow this discount to be used on ALL TRAIL EVENT GALLERIES, but only until December 21, 2010. With my smugmug account you can purchase large prints, canvases, t-shirts, playing cards and all sorts of things that can be great gifts for yourself or someone you know. Take advantage of this discount as I don’t know that I will ever run it again with these prices in the future. Again, the coupon code is Shaker and it is only good for the next 30 days… 30% for 30 days so hurry and place your orders now (expires December 21, 2010) At the bottom of this post are some SHARE buttons. If you have friends in endurance who participated in rides that I photographed, please share this great opportunity with them. There is an EMAIL share button, a Facebook Share button and many others. Stop by this post again to see more details and photographs about this beautiful endurance ride near Lexington Kentucky.
Here is the link that All the Endurance and Trail event galleries: Endurance and Trail events
Canter over the mountain endurance ride with portraits and fun water crossings 2010
Patty and I had a great weekend in Mannington, West Virginia. The manager for the ride, Samantha Lewis, did a fabulous job running the ride with every rider expressing their appreciation for how everything went. I would encourage people who were there to post comments about the ride at the bottom of this blog post. I will make sure that Samantha sees them and it will serve to promote the ride for next year as well.
It was a one day ride, so were able to drive on Saturday and arrive in early afternoon. After Patty vetted-in and we set up the tent and paddock I stopped in to talk with Samantha and she took me to a couple of places that she thought would be great places to shoot from. As it turned out, I was able to use each place that she showed me. When we got back to camp, the light was getting good and I decided to offer some mini portrait sessions to those who were interested. They were able to announce this over the loudspeaker and I worked my way through the camp seeing who might be interested. I had several takers.
Carla Siebert Plezewski was delighted with the opportunity to do some portraits. I believe that she is considering making a wall sized canvas of one of these.
This portrait is Colleen Greene and her horse. She left before seeing her portraits when the ride ended, but she checked the proofing galleries online and immediately placed an order. She used one of the images as her new profile image on Facebook and then emailed me about all the comments she was getting about it. Thanks, Colleen, I love hearing about stuff like that. We did some portraits with her with her husband and dog as well.
I met Mustafa Tehrani, master farrier and was able to take some portraits of him and his trusty mount.
The 50 mile riders came through before the fog burned off, but I thought it made for some very interesting images. As soon as the sun burned off the fog, then light was from behind and too bright, so I moved to one of the stream crossings. I spent the rest of the morning sitting on the bank and catching all the riders as they passed by. Some were fun and others were scenic.
To see more of the trail and the portrait photos from this great event go to: http://pdemott.smugmug.com/Endurance-Competitive-Trail/Canter-Over-the-Mountain/13665356_e3R58#997745374_FvkQT
If you would like to schedule a fall portrait in the greater Dayton area, please call soon as available time slots are filling quickly. Thanks, Peter 937-478-6222
AERC & UMECRA are all about understanding your horse and enjoying the outdoors
Recently I have had several requests for photographs from endurance rides to promote the sport. Photographing endurance rides is pretty fun when the weather is not super hot and humid. What makes it fun is seeing riders enjoying their competitive partners out of beautiful trails in the national forests and state forests of Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana (that’s where I do most of my endurance ride photography).
This year I have photographed far fewer endurance rides. Our youngest son is preparing to go to Xavier University as a freshman and our older son is preparing to spend fall semester (Miami University of Ohio) studying in Africa. Usually, I consider photographing rides that my wife Patty chooses to participate in during the spring, summer and fall. However with everything that has been going on, we have missed several that she had hoped to ride. Even so, I wanted to tell you about endurance riding if you are not familiar with it.
On this web site, if you go to PROOFING GALLERIES then click on Trail Events / Endurance & Competitive Trail it will take you to various galleries of endurance and competitive trail rides that I have photographed over the past several years. What you will see is people having a great time out in nature and with their trusted competitive partner (their horse of course). Now if you are out west the experience of endurance riding is completely different because the terrain is completely different. Each region of the country has something different to offer. In Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky we have many rides in national and state forests and many times that means that as a photographer I am looking for clearings and scenic spots to captures images of the riders as they pass by. Sometimes it is close to impossible to shoot at 6am and 7am when many of the rides have their starts so I work with the ride manager to figure out places where I can get to where there will be enough light and all the riders will be passing by. As soon as I have most of the riders photographed I move on to another spot further along the trail to get another chance at each rider. As a photographer there are new challenges with every ride.
This ride started in heavy fog and mist. The early morning sun quickly burned away the fog and the rest of the photographs of this ride turned out great.
This year at Kentucky Horse Park (KHP) in Lexington Kentucky, The World Equestian Games (WEG) will include endurance ride competition.
http://www.kyhorsepark.com/events-competition-info/2010-world-equestrian-games/
There will be endurance riders from all over the globe participating in the challenge of horse and rider of endurance riding.
Unlike the photos that I have taken, the World Equestrian Games Endurance competition may have spectators all throughout the 50 miles of trails around and through the Kentucky horse Park. The grounds are beautiful, but present a challenge in that many times the horses can see other riders in wide open fields (very different than the narrow trails through deep forests). In any case it will be great fun to watch for those who have the opportunity to watch.
Here are two web sites where you can learn more about endurance riding and check schedules for rides in your area:
aerc.org is the American Endurance Ride Conference
umecra.com is the Upper Midwest Endurance and Competitive Rides Association
One thing that Patty an I enjoy about endurance riding is that it is really about you and your horse. It’s not about how much money you have, how flashy your clothing is, who your trainer is and how much you spent on your horse. It’s about getting out there, riding your horse regularly for training, and competing with others looking to have a great time on the trail.
Peter DeMott
peter@photosbypdemott.com
http://www.photosbypdemott.com
Scioto Run endurance ride by equine photographer Peter DeMott
Last weekend I covered an endurance ride near Chillocothe, Ohio at the Scioto Trails State Forest. Mollie Krumlaw-Smith was the ride manager and was able to give me a couple good places to try to capture the experience of the riders on trail. My wife, Patty, told me that these are some of the most difficult and yet most beautiful trails in Ohio. In several places you ride along a ridge that gives you views of grand vistas of hills and valleys. On the first day there was mist and clouds rolling up the hills and running through some of the valleys. It was breathtaking.
For this ride I tried to capture some scenic shots as well as the rider favorites of one rider at the trot.
Here is junior rider Morgan. At awards that evening she won lots of prizes.
The trails are wide and well kept here at Scioto Trails State Forest. Then in the evening when the light was better and riders had a chance to clean up some I was able to do some “mini portrait sessions” for those who were up to it and wanted them. The heat during the day was grueling with high humidity and temps over 90 degrees most of the day. Many horses were pulled related to the heat.
On the second day I was able to shoot at one of the vista views. My telephoto lens does little to show you the view, but I gave it a try anyway. Most of the riders would pause at the top of this ridge and take in the view before figuring out how they would get down the very steep trail presented to them in another 10 feet.
These photographs are copyright protected. To purchase photos from the ride go here: Scioto Run Endurance Ride Photos
This post will appear on my web site: http://www.photosbypdemott.com It will also appear on my facebook personal page and my facebook fan page along with a post on twitter. I am a portrait photographer in the Dayton, Ohio area specializing in on-location portraits of seniors, families and children. I also have a specialty in equine (horse) photography and will come to your farm or stable for your session. If you like my style I encourage you to follow me in any or all the above mentioned areas. If you are a photographer, I enjoy networking with other photographers both professional and amateur.
