Dear Diary…

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I was asked yesterday for a list of upcoming events. This made me look closely at my diary which, owing to the great British weather, is quiet frankly a total mess. I have crossings out, I have question marks and I have big sad faces where events were cancelled and unfortunately not rescheduled.

But its not all doom and gloom…although the Shrewsbury Regatta had sadly to be cancelled this last weekend owing to the river Severn being too high and fast flowing, this meant that we were happily able to photograph The Festival of the Horse at Llanymynech which itself had been rescheduled from April…

Shropshire Photographer

and also Chirbury Fun Ride in a extremely beautiful part of Shropshire…

Shropshire Photographer

This coming Sunday we were due to be at the Isle Funride. This unfortunately has been postponed, again owing to flooding, but is now happily rescheduled to Sunday 1st July. So this Sunday we shall now be at Netley Hall for the MIDARC Open Show.

Here is a list of upcoming equestrian events for your diaries. All dates correct as of this moment…any changes I will post as soon as I know.

This Sunday 20th May as I said we shall be at The Midland Area Riding Club Open Show at Netley Hall.

Sunday 27th May is Habberley Fun Ride…first horse 10am, last horse at 1.00pm

Sunday 3rd June we shall be at Rhandregynwen Hall for their Minimus One Day Event…a fun introduction to Eventing. That sounds like fun!

On the 9th and 10th June we shall be at Llanymynech for the BE Eventing…entries are now being taken so get entering.

Sunday 17th June is the South Shropshire Pony Club One Day Event at Berriewood…always a great day so don’t miss that.

Sunday 1st July is the rescheduled Isle Funride at the Isle at Bicton…well worth waiting for.

Sunday 8th July is the United Pack Pony Club Hunter Trials at Bow House Farm…a great day with a really popular pairs competition.

Saturday 14th July we shall be at Woodside for the Bradley Dale Riding Club Hunter Trials…a new event for us and one we are really looking forward to.

I think that will do for now…I have tried to include links to each event so that you know where to send your entries. So no excuses…get entering! :)

Rain Stops Play…

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As some bright spark said yesterday….’We are currently experiencing the wettest drought since records began’. And its getting a bit tedious now. Morville Fun Ride due to take place this Sunday is now cancelled, along with the two other fun rides in Shropshire on that date, along with many other equestrian events across the whole country. I don’t suppose that you want to know that the Western USA is currently experiencing an April heatwave with temperatures exceeding 100F (38C) in places and a new April record of 45F in Death Valley. No…didn’t think so!

However, as one door closes another door opens, and luckily our door on Sunday will lead to a nice dry indoor arena at Walford College near Baschurch. Thank you to Startlewood Riding Club for the invitation to cover your Open Show Jumping Competition. This competition is open to all and very novice friendly. More details can be found on the Startlewood Riding Club Website.

Believe it or not this coming Tuesday will be the 1st May and that means that the Tuesday evening Show Jumping Competitions at Radfords Equestrian, Llanymynech will commence for the summer. These are held every Tuesday evening until the end of August…if you haven’t tried them before they are very popular and well worth a visit. Please see Radfords Equestrian Website for more details.

We are very hopeful that there will be an improvement in the weather before next weekend. On Saturday 5th May we shall be at Bow House Equestrian for the Bridgnorth Endowed School Inter-Schools Show Jumping, and on Sunday 6th May we shall be at the Nant Clywd Fun Ride. On Monday 7th May, which is the Early Spring Bank Holiday, we are looking forward to covering a fund-raising event for Breakthrough Breast Cancer. As this is a fishing competition at Ryton Pools we are pretty certain that at least the Great British weather cannot disrupt that event…can it?

When you have four dogs who make your life misery unless they get their daily trek around the countryside this weather can be even more tedious.Below are a couple of photographs from our walk yesterday, with Rosie the wire haired dachshund dragging her tummy through the mud…

Shropshire Photographer

Mabel hunting out the mud and wallowing in it…

Shropshire Photographer

Annie worrying about what everybody else is up to…

Shropshire Photographer

and Tilly being her usual temperamental self and refusing to be photographed!

Shropshire Photographer

Do you know though…when I get round to donning my raincoat and actually get out there with the dogs…the weather doesn’t seem to matter at all :)

April Showers…

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I was in my element yesterday. At most events Richard takes the photographs and I spend most of the day in our event trailer looking after our customers. However yesterday at the South Shropshire Horse and Pony Club Show at Netley Hall we needed an extra photographer, so I was let loose with a camera for a few hours to photograph competitors in Ring 2. Of course Richard gave me instructions on what to do. Apparently I had to wait until all feet had left the ground when jumping before pushing the shutter…

Equestrian Photography

If I couldn’t manage that I was to wait until the pony was half way over the jump before pushing the shutter…

Equestrian Photography

If shooting pairs I was to get both competitors in the photograph…

Equestrian Photography

On no account was I to allow myself to become distracted…

Equestrian Photography

I was to compose my photographs carefully…

Equestrian Photography

and I was told not to forget the Working Hunters in the adjacent ring…

Equestrian Photography

Well I had a very enjoyable morning in the warm spring sunshine. Unfortunately by the time I was confined back to the trailer at lunchtime the April Showers moved in and Richard got a bit wet…

Equestrian Photographer

Despite a week of rain and a dire weather forecast, we had a largely dry day yesterday and the South Shropshire Pony Club Show went really well. Hopefully it will be an annual event from now on. All the photographs from the day may now be found on the CountryStyle Photography Website.

This coming Sunday 29th April we shall be at the Morville Countryside Club Fun Ride at Home Farm, Monkhopton, WV16 6SB. This ride is suitable for all abilities and is a fund-raiser in aid of the Midland Air Ambulance. Here’s hoping for a great turnout!

Fun at the Fun Ride…

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Well…Eaton Mascott fun ride yesterday seemed to go well. The riders certainly seemed to be enjoying good jumping conditions…

Shropshire equestian photographer

If it was on the ground it got jumped…

Shropshire equestian photographer

sometimes the jump could have been higher…

Shropshire equestrian photographer

and sometimes it could have been wider…

Shropshire equestrian photographer

sometimes it was jumped this way…

Shropshire equestrian photographer

and sometimes it was jumped that way…

Shropshire equestrian photographer

but however it was jumped it was certainly jumped with pleasure…

Shropshire equestrian photographer

178 riders took part in the Eaton Mascott Fun Ride yesterday…well done to the South Shropshire Hunt for organising such a fun day!. All the photographs are now on the CountryStyle Photography website.

A few people were quite surprised as to how quickly I had access to their photographs yesterday. I must admit that I now take it for granted that a few seconds after Richard has taken the photo I am able to bring it up on screen and print it out. No we are not very fast runners Richard and I…we just have the latest wi-fi technology allowing the photographs to transmit straight back to base, even when Richard is photographing several fields away.

Another thing that went down well was the fact that all images sold…whether as a single print or contained in a montage are uploaded to our CountryStyle Photography facebook page where you can tag yourself if you wish. I try to get the gallery online that evening if at all possible so that photos from the days event can be shared with friends and family straight away.

And if the comments and tags that I saw when I uploaded the Eaton Mascott facebook gallery last night are anything to go by, I think I can safely say that the Eaton Mascott Fun Ride was a great success!

A wet day…

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Well following on from my last post a grey day I give you my new post…a wet day. I am of course talking about Easter Monday. We got up at the crack of dawn and drove through the rain to Cefn in North Wales, we set up in the rain and photographed through the rain. At the end of the day we packed up in the rain and drove home through the rain.

However…it takes more than a bit of rain to dampen the spirits of those riders who were determined to enjoy the first of the annual Flint and Denbigh Fun Rides. Numbers were down on last year, but those that did attend seemed to start with a smile on their face, finish with a smile on their face and get towed off the field with a smile on their face.

All the photographs from the Cefn Fun Ride are on the CountryStyle Photography website, and we are hoping that the weather is kinder for the next Flint and Denbigh Fun Ride at Nant Clwyd on the 6th May.

Shropshire equestrian photograher

Shropshire equestrian photograher

Shropshire photographer

On the subject of Fun Rides this coming Sunday 15th April we are looking forward to the Eaton Mascott Fun Ride organised by the South Shropshire Hunt. Hopefully they will have organised decent weather too!

Later this month on the 29th April we have Morville Countryside Club Fun Ride in aid of the air ambulance…a very worthy cause.

As I said Nant Clywd Fun Ride is on the 6th May, then on the 20th May we have the Isle Fun Ride organised by the North Shropshire Hunt…a beautiful ride with plenty of jumps on a private estate.

Come rain or shine we shall be photographing the action at plenty of events this coming year…but given the choice would prefer more shine than rain please!