A Weekend And A Half

 It feels like I fit a week into a 3 day weekend. I have a horse show hangover without even riding a horse.

Our local club hosted another regional Working Equitation show this past weekend. In keeping with my promise to do better about volunteering (inspired by Emma) this is the weekend I keep the calendar clear for and donate all the time to. Last year I served as the judge’s scribe, but this year we had someone interested in getting their judging credentials so they were the obvious fit for that job.

The professional photographer couldn’t make it. I have a camera and I like taking pictures of horses, so could I take that on? I’m actually a little proud of myself for saying yes, because everything in me said that was a job way beyond my talents and comfort zone. As a way to keep the pressure off me, I suggested  I’d take pictures of everyone and if they like them, great, send our club a little donation. That way no one is under any obligation to sign up to buy anything if the results of my efforts weren’t great. 

Spoiler, the pictures turned out fine

If you’re a really long term reader you might remember “EC”. I think I called her that as a shorthand for “Eventing Coach” because that was her initial focus.  I boarded Bridget at her barn for a few years ago. When I switched to be able to work remotely, it unfortunately made no sense to keep living there during the week, so B and I moved home a few hours away and it was a very sad goodbye to EC. ANYWAY, there is relevance here because EC switched to dressage, then WE a few years ago and decided to bring some students up to our show. She’s also qualified to represent Canada in the world championships in Spain in 2026…the lady is seriously impressive (with Audrey! Do you remember Audrey, who I used to be lucky enough to take dressage lessons on?). I’d consider EC a friend at this point so it was a lot of fun to have her come visit and meet the boys, catch up on all the things and make fun future plans.

Anyway, back to me pretending to be a horse show photographer. This guy's eyes were super cool

The photography thing went fine, but I learned many lessons. Like I’ll never have enough memory cards, batteries, sunscreen, and water. A chair would have been a good addition too. First world problems, but local means I have lot lot of horsey friends and balancing the people visiting and chatting with focusing on taking and editing photos felt like a bit of a challenge at times. On the flip side, everyone competing came from Vancouver Island or the Sunshine Coast, so I didn't actually know the riders and needed a way of keeping track of who was who for photos. Also, offering to photograph EVERYONE seemed reasonable until I realized we had twice as many entries this year, plus like eventing, there are three phases over the weekend. So, a lot of people riding 3 times each, and a lot of pictures.

These two were goals

My biggest mistake though, was that I didn’t look ahead and really consider how long it would take to edit that many photos. I have a newfound appreciation for anyone doing the job for real. I think I ended up with 10000 photos to sort through, and I’ll be editing them well into this week. I think I've maybe pulled 25% of the riders photos off my camera at this point.

WE might not be my 'thing', but the dressage outfits were on point and much inspiration was gained :)

Lessons learned. But it was fun and I’d do it again next year!