Taking flight. Tina has given us this challenge for the Lens Artists challenge #144. The usual response would be birds or planes but why not horses? These jumpers are truly taking flight.
Thank you Tina for the chance to show some flying horses!
For readers of this post do take a look at the amazing birds Tina captured with her camera where she lives. https://travelsandtrifles.wordpress.com/2021/04/17/lens-artists-challenge-144-taking-flight/
These pictures are beautiful! Show jumping is one of my favorite riding sports. That and western pleasure as well.
Thank you. I’m glad you enjoyed the photos.
so gorgeous! love seeing horses & riders as such a team 🙂
Thank you!!
Beautiful, indeed! Amazing captures!! I love this series, thank you for sharing. 🙂
My pleasure Amy!
At 4*, you’re likely jumping at 1.65m fences regularly. They start you easy at 1.40-1.45m, then ramp you up to 1.50-1.55m by #3. From that point on, it’s mostly 1.60-1.65m. The daughters have said this is when you want a tall horse. And, sometimes they might sneak in 1.70-1.75m fence, but not too often. You might see that height in a World Cup Final, but usually as a single.
Well to me those fences at the CSIs look pretty big. Not just high but also wide and in tricky combinations as well.
Deborah is 5’7” tall. If she stands tippy-toed, she can peer over the top rail of a 1.65m fence. Elizabeth is 5’5″ and Tara is 5’4″. Both of them, tippy-toed are eye level with the top rail of a 1.65m fence. The maximum width of a fence combination is 2.0m, the heights always ascending. Can’t be descending because a horse can’t judge the distance.
I used to be 5’8″ and I can remember the time when I realized the top of the jumps was getting to my eye level. I think that was in my last couple of years in the jumpers. I have shrunk since then .🤣
I have lots of flying dreams – if I could do that on a horse, it would be the ultimate dream! 😀
They really do fly, horses give us so much of themselves don’t they. I used to love flying through trails over fallen trees & puddles not so much anymore as horses always fly but I don’t bounce as well as I used to. lol
Have a wonderful weekend.
I hear you ! I am always tempted to jump those logs in the forest. And sometimes I do and then I let out a big whoop of joy. But it is silly of me to do it. Both my hips have been replaced so there would be a bad bounce if I came off. Enjoy the weekend and thanks for leaving this comment.
I know from my modest effort at photographing dog activity that jumping action images are tough to capture. You did a grand job.
Thank you! The key thing is the timing of when you click the shutter. If you want to catch the horses in mid air you have to click as their front legs come up to the top of the jump. I don’t use a motor drive to get a lot of photos of horse action.
Excellent photos as usual, Anne – and graceful horses and riders! I tried jumping when I was a horse girl some 50 years ago…but the horse stopped just in front of, so I jumped alone…I didn’t get hurt though, but that was my only attempt at this. I still love watching the big horse shows on TV and I still love horses. Thank you for giving us the opportunity!
Well that stopping and allowing the rider to go first is something that happens often in jumping. I certainly had it happen to me several times. It is fun to watch the jumpers though. I’m glad you enjoyed the photos!
♥
So graceful! They make it look easy to fly!
Yes they do! Thanks for commenting.
YES! They are flying with such elegance! I never jumped anything this big, like you just up to 4ft. Such beautiful photos you took, they are all WONDERFUL! ❤️🐴
I’m so glad you liked the photos. This challenge was a great opportunity to get them out of my archives.
Wow! These images are spectacular. The first one took my breath away.
Thank you. They are really flying I think! And those jumps are BIG!
You are welcome. Thank you for sharing. They are indeed flying!
Always thinking about horse is a amazing quality of you maa. These pictures are marvelous, this sport is truly a great treat.
I try to come up with something relating to horses for the lens artists photo challenges. Sometimes that is not possible but this time it was. I’m glad you enjoyed the photos and thank you for leaving a comment.
These are wonderful. Such amazing horses and riders. 😊
Thank you Irene. These are all top horses and riders and it is fun to see them .
These horses in flight are beautifully captured by you and your lens. Thanks.
It’s my pleasure Anne I’m glad you enjoyed them.
Such beautiful photographs of powerful creatures. Did you write about Rachael Blackmore & the Grand National yet?
No I have not written about her and the Grand National. I will look that up. But to be honest I do not know much about those races other than they are extremely dangerous for both horse and jockey. They do not cover the big steeplechase races here in North America in the news media.
The Grand National is heartbreaking – the jumps are so big and usually some poor horse breaks a leg and that an end to them (and the jockeys break things too). I never really understood why they put down horses with a broken leg until I broke mine. I struggled to get around for weeks, there’s no way you could get a horse to “rest” its leg (although many cats and dogs cope with only three legs).
Yes horses need to have all four to stand and balance. Also they need to be able to walk to keep their digestive systems working properly. The Grand National may be exciting but it was tough for me to watch.
I have to admit that I haven’t watched it for years (too many conflicting emtions, yes its exciting but usually some poor horse has to be put down afterwards).
Great shots, looks like a ton of fun, and probably literally a ton flying through the air, wow!
Those horses would weigh between 1,200 and 1,400 pounds. It is a lot of fun to jump but at my age it is not advisable . If you jump you do have lots of times when you come off and sometimes you come off into the jump or the jump standard so I’m too old for that now!😁
Ha! Excellent. They are most definitely taking flight. Hang on!
Thanks John . They are flying for sure!
LOL re the horse that dumped the rider (hopefully he or she was not hurt!). I took riding lessons as a kid and the first time we went out to try jumping over a tiny little fence, my horse decided he wanted to jump the big one! My dad and the owner of the stable came running out to see if I was OK (I was) and to tell me I did a great job staying on the horse – YIKES!! That was my one and only jump 😂. Your images are wonderful and the horses and riders so graceful and well-partnered. Great idea for the flying challenge Anne.
Thank you Tina. These riders are all top athletes and the one who got dumped was not hurt. I used to jump when I was a teenager but did not compete with fences this big. The highest I jumped in competition was just under 4 ft. Now they measure it all in meters!
They are so amazing!
Yes I think they are. Thanks for commenting.
Great photos…I would be scared to death!!!!
When in went to take these photos I stood at the ringside ans thought ” I’d like to go back to the jumpers ‘ The next horse refused a fence and dumped his rider into the fence . Then I remembered why I don’t jump any more.😀
The elegance in the pictures is amazing. Such a great jumper. I like the line at the top. ‘Its a bird, plane? No it’s a horse🙂
Haha! Yes! Thanks for this comment
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