Equestrian Photography – You and Your Horse or Pony in Action

Horse or Pony Action Photography

Are you wanting some high-quality photographs of you and your horse or pony in action? Whether you love jumping, the technical aspects of dressage, are planning a horsey holiday to the beach or just some gentle hacking in the countryside, it’s always nice to have some beautiful pictures of you and your equine friend working together.

Equestrian Action Photography – Showjumping (SJ)

Chloe Alibone and AGL Cruise Control competing at Weston Lawns – Equine Action Photography

Show jumping shot with a long lens – Equestrian Action Photography

Grace Coulson aboard Chloe Alibone’s Calcourt Quattro at Weston Lawns – Equine Action Photography

I have a range of lenses at my disposal, which mean I can photograph you in a variety or different ways. I have a long zoom lens to really capture the up-close-and-personal stuff. I also have several shorter lenses, which enable me to either shoot wider angles or change the feel of shots. When you book me for your equestrian photography session, you will naturally get a mix of styles, all of which complement each other perfectly.

A girl jumps a pole on her Welsh pony, photographed side-on, up-close, using a short lens.

Things look very different when photographed with a short lens – Equestrian Action Photography

If you happen to have access to an outdoor arena with lighting, there are additional options which might be available.

By making use of my portable studio lights, some extremely dramatic shots can become possible. This might not be suitable for every horse or pony, however. Spooky horses may need more than one session’s worth of exposure to the flash before becoming sufficiently comfortable with it to allow this type of shoot to occur safely. We can usually get a very good gauge of how they are likely to react by exposing them to the flash in a more benign setting first. The pony pictured below was extremely edgy on his first two exposures to the lights and was then absolutely fine thereafter.

A girl jumps a pole with a filler on her Welsh pony in the dark, illuminated by a studio light.

Jumping in the dark – Equestrian Action Photography

Equestrian Action Photography – Cross Country (XC)

A lady and her horse fly out over the picture frame jump on the cross country course at Milton Keynes Equestrian Centre.

Jumping the picture frame on the fantastic XC course at the fabulous Milton Keynes Equestrian Centre (MKEC) – Equestrian Action Photography

Black and white shot of a horse and rider landing out over a hedge during a Hunter Trial at Milton Keynes Equestrian Centre.

Cross Country shot on a short lens – Equestrian Action Photography

Close-up action during a pairs round at a hunter trial on the Milton Keynes Equestrian Centre cross-country course

We don’t have to focus solely on one specific discipline during your equestrian photography session. If you would like to combine some action shots with some portraits, that’s perfectly possible, so long as we have time. Standard sessions last two hours, but you can extend at an additional hourly rate.

A young lady jumps the steps at Milton Keynes Equestrian Centre on her pony

Shooting with a longer lens can really make the subject pop out from the background – Equestrian Action Photography

A girl and her Welsh pony power through the water on a cross-country course, clearly loving it!

The water always provides some great results during a Cross-Country round – Equestrian Action Photography

Spectacular leaping out of the water shot on the Milton Keynes Equestrian Centre cross-country course – Equine Action Photography

Equestrian Action Photography – Dressage

While I don’t pretend to always understand precisely what I’m looking at when photographing a Dressage test, I am very happy to just keep clicking away. You can then pick and choose exactly what you like afterwards.

A stunning black mare performing dressage in the arena at Milton Keynes Equestrian Centre – Equine Action Photography

Equestrian Action Photography – Beach Rides

Beach holidays have now become an annual event for us. Field Farm – Bring Your Horse on Holiday, just north of Skegness, is the only place we’ve ever gone, and we’ve certainly never felt like we need to look at any other options. It’s brilliant and has a whole range of additional facilities available.

Pony splashes through the puddles on the beach

Beach trips are the best! Splish splosh! – by Northants equine photographer Karl Drage

A girl and her pony lead a small group of other ponies on a beach ride north of Skegness.

Cantering along the beach during a break at Field Farm – Bring Your Horse on Holiday – Equine Action Photography

Equestrian Action Photography – Hacking

If you prefer, we can head out for a nice gentle hack, either as a group or individually. We can mix long lens, distant, scenic shots with more up-close and individual ones.