Draft Horse Show and More Flowers

This weekend is the big Draft Horse Show in Sandpoint, ID. I am not there and thinking about it is harder than I thought it would be!!!!

So I thought I would post some of my more recent flower images. I’m very grateful that I have at least had these flowers to photograph!!

Some of these are red roses that my neighbor brought over to me earlier this week. I took them outside and tried to get creative in photographing them.

I hope you enjoy them.

Wendy

More Flowers and Bee’s

I went outside on Saturday to clean up my flower beds a little bit and I had to get my camera!! These little bee’s were very busy and they sure liked the orange poppies and other flowers!!

Flowers and Photo Products

Hi Everyone,

Not much going on in the photography world for me right now. I did get some pretty flower shots the other morning and I wanted to share them with you all.

I don’t venture far from home these days unless I HAVE to, like going to the doctor or for chemo, etc. So maybe this is just a good time for me to look around my immediate little world and take pictures of things other than horses, things I might not normally shoot.

If you are reading this and don’t know what I’m talking about, please visit my personal blog at

http://wendyspersonaljourney.blogspot.com/

One other thing I want to share is a new website that I have created. It’s sort of a sister site to my photography site and it’s primary purpose is to sell photo products featuring some of my favorite images and the really GREAT thing is . . . . 10% of all sales from this new site will be donated to breast cancer research!! So please check it out and let me know what you think. http://www.theequinespirit.com

I think the below flowers are just so dainty and the color is awesome and they almost glow. I hope you enjoy them too.
Wendy

Kristin-Senior Photos

Yesterday I got to shoot senior photos for a very nice girl named Kristin. I met Kristin a couple of years ago at the local fair and she had purchased some prints of her and her horse that I had taken. It was a beautiful day, couldn’t ask for any better weather!! I had fun and enjoyed meeting her parents, the two little dogs, who’s names I don’t know and Kristin’s dog Baby Girl. Here are some of my favorites from yesterday.

Wild Mustang Story

Any of you that really know me know that I have a real special thing for Wild Mustangs. Those of you that do not know me, well now you know that I have a very special thing for Wild Mustangs!!

I adopted a wild mustang about 8 years ago. “Cowboy” has been a very special part of my life. I did not have him for almost 2 years after a divorce, but I found him through a for sale ad and bought him back!! Talk about a cool story, still gives me goose bumps!!

I found a draft of a post about wild mustangs that I never did publish to this blog . . .but now I have even more to share with you, so it turned out to be a good thing.

I recently photographed some wild mustangs at a BLM (Bureau of Land Management) Adoption that was held at Ride the West. This is the 2nd one I’ve been able to get photos of and they are some of my all time favorite images. Here are a few of my favorites.

OK, now for the rest of the reason I wanted to write about mustangs. Below is a link to some very incredible images of an abandoned wild mustang foal and a wild mustang stallion who found and protected him. This photographer has many other beautiful images of wild mustangs so I encourage you to look at her website. BUT, first please read her story and view the images of the foal and the stallion. I’m not sure why, but when I looked at the images, I just started crying . . . I think it is just an amazing story!!

http://www.nickolesphotography.com/Images/Stallion-Foal/index.htm

Wendy

Upcoming Photo Shoots

Hello Everyone, Due to some health issues, I’ve had to cancel all of my scheduled photo work for the rest of the year. If you are interested in knowing more about this, please visit my Personal Blog at

http://www.wendyspersonaljourney.blogspot.com/

BUT, I am going to squeeze in a couple of shoots this weekend. One is for a very nice girl that I took photos of a couple years ago at a local horse show. On Sunday we will be doing her Senior Pictures. I’m thinking we will have a lot of fun and hopefully get some great images for her. I will post some of them next week. On Saturday I’m headed up to Spirit Lake, not too far away, maybe 20-30 minutes max. I’m going to be meeting a trainer that I photographed at Ride the West last month. Her name is Susan Kirk and she and her mustang Mac put on an at liberty performance at the Spirit of the West Show on Friday night. Then on Saturday I photographed her working with a wild mustang, doing a horse gentling clinic. Saturday she will be working with 1 and maybe 2 of the mustangs that were adopted at Ride the West last month. She lives about 6-8 hours from here, so when she asked if I’d like to take some photos of her working with the mustang, especially since she will be so close to me . . . . . heck, how could I refuse!! I totally love mustangs and I was really impressed watching her work with them, so this should be a lot of fun as well as a great photo opportunity.
Here are some images of her and Big Mac and a couple of her and the wild mustang. If you want to learn more about Susan, please visit her website at http://www.blackriverquarterhorseranch.com/index.php

Ride The West

Hello Everyone,

It’s taken me a couple of weeks but I am finally posting some info on the Ride The West Expo that I photographed.

This is one of my favorite events of the year. I love this expo because I get the chance to see and photograph many different breeds of horses & mules as well.

Susan Rae & Rick are also 2 of the greatest people there are!!! They definitely put their heart & soul into this expo.

This years program cover was a tribute to a wonderful draft horse named Doc Holiday that passed away in Dec 07. Doc was pretty much the mascot for Ride the West and will be greatly missed. Susan Rae & Rick are good friends with his owners and wanted to do something special for them this year. At the beginning of the Friday night “Spirit of the West Show” they presented Doc’s owner’s with a beautifully framed print of Doc and his owner Allen that I had taken at the expo 2 years ago. It was really an awesome moment and I have to say that I am so thankful that I was able to be a part of it all.

Susan and others listening to the announcer tell the story of Doc Holiday.

Allen holding the just presented gift.

A closer look at the print that was framed.

This is the cover of the 2008 Ride the West Program.

Northwest Trail Challenge-May

May 10th & 11th was the first in a series of trail challenges being held locally at Bridle Path Quarter Horses, in Hayden, Idaho. Although the weather was a little cool, a little windy and just a bit of rain, it was a pretty good turn out.

It was quite exciting not only to watch, but also take photos of these amazing horsemen, horsewomen and their trusty companions as they tackled many different obstacles.

This is a family oriented event and includes vendors ranging from tack shops to food & beverages. The next trail challenge will be held on June 7th & 8th. For more information check out their website at http://www.northwesttrailchallenge.com/

Below are some of my favorite images from the weekend. If you want to see more photos please visit my website http://www.wildspiritphoto.com/ and click on the Proofs link.

Quick Notes

This weekend is the first in a series of the Northwest Trail Challenge. I stopped by Bridle Path Quarter Horses today and got a tour of the planned course. They have quite the spread there and this looks like it is going to be a great time!! If you like trail challenges, or just like horses and/or just like people and/or just like having a good time . . . . you’ve got to stop by and see the action this weekend!!

Check out their website for location and additional information http://www.northwesttrailchallenge.com/

It was a beautiful afternoon today and I have some flowers that I received recently so I put them outside to take some test shots. I have attached photos of these pretty flowers and I want to thank my dear friends Annie & Carolyn for 2 of these and my daughter Jessi for the 3rd.

As soon as the weekend is over and I’ve had a chance to work on the photos from the trail challenge, I will post several of them here.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend

Wendy

Published in Western Horseman Magazine !!!

I am just so excited and wanted to share with everyone that I just had a photo published in the May issue of Western Horseman Magazine!!

This is my first published work and in Western Horseman of all magazines ! ! ! ! !

Below is a copy of the page. The article is all about the X-Treme Trail Challenge that is held at the Ride the West Horse & Ranch Expo in Spokane, WA.

If you have not been to Ride the West, I highly recommend it. It’s a great time for horse lovers young & old. Here is a link to their site for information . . . . http://ridethewest.net/