Preparing your horse for your Photoshoot

You should have your horse show ready on photoshoot day, I am not able to edit out stains on your horses coat or edit a clean mane and tail. Ensure they are washed and groomed, you can have a natural or plaited mane.

The shinier your horses coat the better, no matter when colour they are, especially if we are doing Black and White photos. Ideally oil your horses hooves also.

To make the most of the session, especially portraits, I recommend lunging lightly, a tired horse makes an easier photoshoot but saying that, we also don't want a sweaty or dirty horse.

I always advise feeding something before a photoshoot, if we are on grass it can help to prevent your horse constantly wanting to eat, although, some horses are very greedy so hopefully treats will help them stay focussed.

A bridle or a leather head collar looks the smartest but make sure its cleaned beforehand because I cannot edit dirty tack!. Please try and avoid bright nylon head collars and lead ropes as they can be distracting in the photos.

Most importantly, bring your horses favourite treats, they can be very good at getting your horses attention and bribing them into certain poses.

Preparing yourself for your photoshoot

The main thing is choosing something that you feel comfortable and confident in, and appropriate for the weather​,  I recommend bringing a selection of different clothing pieces; black, neutral and pastel colours always work so well. Depending on what you want from your shoot you can wear anything from a dress to causal clothes, or a formal riding outfit.​​

To ensure you feel as comfortable as possible, I recommend wearing some make up, but unless its your norm and you're comfortable don't over do it. If you are comfortable without make-up, that is also fine.

Pinterest has a lot of ideas on outfit choices, if you are unsure, it is always worth a look. If you find any pose ideas that you like, save them onto your phone and show me on the day. I can not guarentee we can get it, but we can try our hardest.

Ideally, bring a helper along to the photoshoot. I try to bring Alex along however he is not always available and often, the more hands the better.