A Day at Horse Shows By The Bay

I didn’t go to the Olympics, but I did go to Horse Shows By the Bay two weekends ago to watch the hunter/jumpers and shoot the Grand Prix event of Week Three in the big ring. It was hot. It’s always hot at HSBB, but not as hot as many areas of the country are experiencing in this record breaking sweltering summer.  So, I went prepared with sunscreen and a floppy hat that wouldn’t interfere with the camera. It’s become my photo shoot hat for any outdoor excursions. 

At any rate, I arrived a little early and had time to wander around doing some random shooting in the various rings (there are five) and in the barn area. Much to my disappointment, the small and medium ponies were all done, and the leadline class never materialized. But I did witness the awards photo op for one of the pony divisions, apparently a tie. (see above) Aren’t these two little girls cute? How about that hat? One can only guess that the co-winner was not too keen about sharing her award as she’s looking pretty glum. Such is horse show life with kids, I guess. 

A well turned out hunter on the way to a class. I'm a sucker for these types of head shots. 

Get a load of this tiny girl on her big horse. I took lots of photos of her in the warmup ring, and she was having the time of her life, grinning from ear to ear the whole time. Was it her first show? Did her big sister let her ride her horse? Whatever the situation, she handled that big guy with no problems. 

Now to the other extreme. I like a flashy pinto as much as the next person, but this girl is "going to need a bigger horse" next year. 

I'm always on the lookout for dogs at the  horse show and always find a few. This is one photogenic dog of the day. 

The warmup ring can get quite crowded as this one is. They all manage to get around without any crashes, all doing their own things. Did you know that the rules of ring riding are similar to rules of the road for cars? 

Betsy Van Dyke did a dressage demonstration before the Grand Prix event of the day as she has in past years. Here she and her mount are demonstrating the piaffe, a trot in place. 

Having solved the camera problem of the dressage show, I was ready for some fast action, and that’s just what I got in the Grand Prix ring. In fact, more than I bargained for. Here are a few jumping shots for you. 

Over the "water jump" with a high vertical. 

I'm not a jumping person, but I believe this is called a triple oxer. 

Jumpers tend to be hot and show a lot of intensity and "go". 

This may have been the most challenging combination on the course, an in and out with only one stride between jumps and over an oxer.

It happens sometimes. As horsemen, we all know the risks and choose to take them. On this day one of the young riders lost her balance over a jump and had a bad fall; bad enough that the ambulance had to be summoned. It took forever to arrive as she cried and screamed in pain. It was unnerving to all of us spectators. Since I felt myself beginning to fry in the sun, I chose to leave when they loaded her in the ambulance. I found out later that she had broken her arm. 

The camera performed perfectly in its inaugural debut at a horse show, and I got one killer shot during the jumping. That makes the day very worthwhile in spite of the fallen rider. 

Cat Painting Update and Ice Bergs

ice remnants on the lake

 Isn’t it marvelous that Spring is finally here?! The ice went out of our lake yesterday morning when there was a stiff breeze, so now we have open water again. Actually, the ice is usually broken up on a windy day or two in the Spring and just blows east down the lake from us. The marina to the west helps the process by going out in boats to make waves. This year they posted a short video on their Facebook page showing them using a boat as an ice breaker in the marina area. The ice was pretty thin by then so no danger to the boat.

The first photo is of an “ice berg” out in the lake in front of our house. I took the photo early this morning while the lake was still. It won’t last long with the warm temperatures as the lake waters warm up.

I feel so lucky to live on a lovely lake with all of its wildlife!

Now that gardening season is back, I decided that it’s time to get back to exercising; something I’ve managed to neglect all winter. After walking on the treadmill, I did my “legs and back” exercise routine, and later in the day went for a short spin on Scottie. This morning I had a hard time getting out of bed! Ack! But, if I keep it up, the stiffness will go away.

In addition to exercising daily, I’ve set a goal for myself of doing some artwork every day this week, even if only for an hour. This is in hopes that both goals will become established habits if I keep them up long enough.

"Annie", 6x6 gallery wrapped canvas oil painting

I managed just an hour yesterday on the little cat painting I started a while back of our kitty, Annie, when she was young. Most of the time was spent setting up and deciding what colors to use and then mixing paint. So, I was limited to working on just one ear and the forehead markings before it came time to clean up and leave for the barn. Otherwise, I would have painted longer.

Please note my painting setup here. I came up with this brilliant idea a while back when I noticed some scraps of pegboard out in the garage. Even though I’ve looked at those scraps for years, THAT day the thought struck me that they would be perfect to use on the easel to hold small paintings and paintings whose edges need to be painted. I’d been trying to figure out a solution to this problem for a while now since I’ve been working on smaller canvases lately. How DOES one paint the edges of those gallery wrapped canvases without getting your fingers in the paint?

I had my husband cut a couple of pieces to fit on the easel and cleaned off the garage grime. Yesterday, I used one of them to hold the Annie painting, and it worked great! As you can see, the painting is resting on pegboard hooks. It can be moved from side to side to get at the bottom of the canvas, and I can set the painting at a comfortable working height. In fact, I might just expand this for use with larger paintings, too!

Now, why didn’t I think of this sooner!?

I’ve just had a chat with my gallery owner (Adams Madams, Central Lake, Michigan) who has requested that all her artists replace their pieces which have been in the gallery for a long time with new artwork. She is readying the shop for the coming summer season when the summer residents and visitors will be returning. She tells me that she gets visitors from the Horse Shows By The Bay people each summer as they explore the area when they’re not showing. These people have money to burn, so that gives me incentive to get some horse show pieces done to put in the gallery during the four or five weeks of the show. A series of small paintings of horse show dogs would be perfect as well as some leadline class photos of toddlers on cute ponies.

Ah! I’m getting super inspired!

Polo By The Bay

It couldn’t have been a more perfect day, which almost made up for missing the dressage musical freestyles the day before. You see, Mother Nature had thrown me a curve ball by remaining overcast and rainy until shortly before the freestyles were going to begin. By that time, it was too late to clean up and drive the half hour to the show grounds.

But the day of the polo match was beautiful, and I headed to the horse park in the morning with plans to catch the last few dressage halter classes and then wait for the polo match. As luck would have it, the last class was ending as I headed down the wooded horse path to the lower rings. Three fiesty Friesians came up the path at me, so I respectfully stepped off the trail and grabbed a few shots as they approached and went by.



That meant that I now had over two hours time to kill before the polo match was scheduled to start. I looked around for the polo ponies and spotted the trailers arriving and unloading on the other side of the upper rings in an area that was accessible. So, off I went to take photos of the ponies lined up beside the trailers.



Then off I went to the Grand Prix ring where I found some shade beside a VIP tent and sat down to wait. While there, I surveyed the best spot from which to photograph the action, and when the crowd began to arrive and fill up the bleachers, I moved down to “my” spot for the rest of the wait. I had the good fortune to sit next to a very friendly young couple from the Detroit area, and we struck up a conversation. That helped to pass the time until events in the arena began.



First up was a dressage demonstration by local rider Betsy Van Dyke riding Cantana. She explained what dressage is and demonstrated the various movements and then did a bit of musical freestyle - which almost made up for yesterday. Above you see Cantana doing two tempe changes, and below he is doing an extended trot.



Once the dressage was over, the polo match began. While the ponies were warming up, the basics of polo were explained to us, and we learned that we would be watching arena polo which is played on a much smaller dirt field and consists of four chukkers (or periods of play) versus the seven chukkers that are played on a much larger grass field. After each chukker, the riders switch to fresh ponies because the action is non stop, and ponies get worn out fast.

In this contest, Team Elmers (a local asphalt and excavation company) was pitted against Turtle Creek Casino and Resort. The ponies and riders were provided by Meadowview Polo Club of Grand Rapids, but most of the riders were either members of the Michigan State University or University of Michigan polo teams. It may not have been high goal polo, but it was definitely fun to watch and challenging to photograph.

Below are some of the many shots I took during the match.




The action was over much too fast with Turtle Creek Casino winning by two goals, and we spectators reluctantly packed up our stuff and began the long trek through the ring area to our vehicles. The horse park seemed desolate compared to the hustle and bustle of earlier weeks. The viewing tents had been taken down, the potted flowers removed, the rings groomed and even the fencing around the rings was gone. Staff was in the process of taking down all the tents in the barn area as well. It was a little sad to realize that eleven months will go by before Horse Shows By The Bay returns. I wonder what improvements will be made in the intervening months? What new shows or horse events will be added to the yearly schedule at this horse park?

I can’t wait to find out!

HSBB Part 2; Thrills and Chills in the Grand Prix Ring!

Meanwhile, down in the Grand Prix ring at Horse Shows By The Bay, I sat down on one of the new bleachers that have been added this year for spectators. Just in time to catch the leadline class of little tykes on their ponies, I soon realized that I was on the wrong side of the ring. Not only was the sun behind the ponies, but the little ones were all looking away toward the “judge” and show mascot. I still managed to get a few good shots which will be useful for backlit subjects in paintings. Below is one of the contestants. By the way, it was a tie for first place between all the entrants who got ribbons and a goody bag; just like at the Oscars!



After the leadline class, there was a demonstration by a local company which trains personal protection dogs and scent dogs for law enforcement and search and rescue. They brought a handsome black German Shepherd who showed the crowd how he could find drugs and defend his owner against an agressive stranger. It was pretty impressive!

The grand finale of the afternoon was the Spy Coast Farm Grand Prix of show jumping. After a few jumpers had gone, I switched to the sunny side of the ring and got some better photos. This is the event in which all the top riders at the show compete for big prize money.



I didn’t stay to watch all the riders since it was getting late and I was tired. On the way back to the car, I encountered these Jack Russell terriers and couldn’t resist getting some final shots for my horse show dog series.



If you want to see more of my photos, I put quite a few in an album on my Facebook page and made it so that anyone can view them. Just follow the link to my Facebook album.

Going to the show was an extra pleasure this year because of the cool weather we’ve been having. Not only was the day sunny, but it was pleasantly cool with a nice breeze blowing. I just hope this weather hangs around for another couple of weeks until I get back to take in the dressage and maybe the polo.

In the meantime, I’m going to pick out one of my photos and get started on a new painting or drawing. Hmmm, which one will it be? Such a tough decision since there are so many good ones!

I Just LOVE This Show!

The highlight of my summers has become visiting Horse Shows By The Bay near Traverse City, Michigan every July and August. This year the show has expanded to four weeks of hunters, jumpers, ponies, dressage and a polo match on the final weekend. Top riders from around the country now come here to compete including Peter Pletcher, Tammy Provost, Patricia Griffith and Scott Lenkart, along with junior riders Caitlin Ziegler and Victoria Birdsall. HSBB is now considered one of the best shows in the midwest under the exceptional management of Dean and Alexandra Rheinheimer.

Last weekend I spent the afternoon at the show and enjoyed every minute of it! Every year more improvements are made to the grounds, and this year was no exception. A new pathway for visitors from the parking lot all the way to the Grand Prix ring at the far end has shortened walks and given better access to all four of the rings for those of us who like to wander around and catch whatever action is going on in the various rings.

For a change, I was not disappointed in my photos. I don’t know if my expectations have been lowered or if I’m shooting better; whichever it is, I see many good paintings amongst them.

This year I remembered to put the long lens on the camera which greatly increased my chances of getting good jump shots. That was a good thing when I got to the Grand Prix ring which is the largest of all and has limited access for spectators.

Last year I posted the photos on my website, but I found that very few people bothered to follow the link to them, so this year I’m posting them right in the blog. Here are just a few of the photos for your enjoyment.

The first photo shows a lovely iron gray hunter horse in a warmup ring. I couldn’t resist him.



This photo shows a groom holding a pony and is very typical of this level of showing. Unlike most of us who do our own grooming, saddling, bathing, etc., the show barns have grooms to do this work. When the horse is ready, the rider hops on and is off to the rings. When the class is done, the rider hops off and hands the reins to the groom. I even saw one groom picking out the feet of a hunter while the mounted rider was waiting for her class! These unsung heroes of the horse show circuit make it possible for riders to compete in several classes in a day without wearing themselves out caring for their horses. Some riders ride more than one horse which makes the grooms doubly indispensible.



I took this shot while the show photographer was shooting this winner and his rider. The proud mom and groom are standing by, but no amount of coaxing could get this pony to look at the camera and perk his ears. He was totally bored by the whole thing.



This next shot I caught in a warmup ring. The two older riders seemed to be mentoring this little girl on her cute white pony, and giving her encouragement. It’s a great idea for a painting and just goes to show that the best action is not always in the rings during a class. You can catch many good candid photos in the warmup rings if you’re alert for them.



Since not much was going on in the pony ring, I wandered off from there to the Grand Prix ring. More in the next post.

Curses! Foiled Again!!

Felled by a few grains of pollen! Or was it a few mold spores?

I have severe allergies, and despite allergy medications and shots, periodically I get sick. It's like having the flu; aching all over, lack of energy, sinus headache, scratchy eyes and throat. Oddly enough, I rarely get all stuffed up like most allergy sufferers which might explain why it took 12 years and 5 doctors to correctly diagnose my problems. Some thought I was just depressed and needed to go on anti-depressants, but fortunately I refused.

But, I digress. Last week while madly digging away in the dirt getting my perennials planted, I noticed my energy waning away each day to the point that by Thursday I had none. The consequences of this are that I missed going to Horse Shows By The Bay on Friday and missed the first-ever polo game in NW Michigan! Needless to say, I was disappointed and moped around all evening while the match was going on. But, the news reported that there are plans to make the polo match an annual event, and HSBB will be back again next year. By then, the yard landscaping should be complete, and I will have more time and energy to visit the show. So, all is not lost.

In the meantime, I'll select an image from a previous HSBB to begin a new work of art which will violate my only-three-works-in progress-at-one-time rule, but rules are made to be broken, right? Besides, Bard is close to being finished.

Since I still had a few photos left to shoot on my compact flash card, I decided to take some photos of the cats this weekend to use them up. Annie, our long-haired cat, needs to be clipped again, and her coat is at just the right length to be very photogenic right now. Normally, she grows a large mane, like a lion, and the hair on her sides grows so long that it hangs down making her look like a yak. Since she has digestive problems as it is, a long coat which makes more hairballs is very bad for her. So, I clip her a couple of times a year. Then she looks like a skinned rat for a while, and our other cat hisses at her.

Above is a photo of Annie who is camera shy and gets very self-conscious when photographed, so you have to shoot quick! Below is an interesting shot of Molly. A good title for that one is "Kitty In The Window".

At any rate, the last of the plants and shrubs are now in the ground, and I can get back into the studio while the weather does whatever it wants outside. With only a little bit more mulch to put on a few more beds, the gardens will be in shape to handle the heat and dryness that usually comes with August weather.

Horse Shows By The Bay

On Sunday I dragged myself over to spend some time at the big "AA" level hunter/jumper show, Horse Shows By The Bay in Acme, Michigan, just outside of Traverse City. This is its fifth year of existence, and it gets bigger and better every year.

Of course it was hot, but there was a nice breeze blowing, and by going as much as possible from one patch of shade to another, I managed to put in a couple of hours without collapsing. There is a lot of walking at this show, especially if you are going back and forth between rings to catch action at certain times, and I was grateful that my bad knee and back survived without too much protest.

I wore my floppy canvas hat which worked great for shooting and was pretty cool as well. I ignored the fact that I look pretty dorky in it, and only ran into one person I knew; my barn owner who already knows that I'm a dork and a little odd.

My main reason for going was to shoot the toddlers in the Lead Line class. It was held in the new Grand Prix arena, and I was allowed to go down and shoot from the in gate so managed quite a few shots as the kids waited for the class to begin. They are SO cute on their spiffy little ponies! Some were so small that they hadn't a clue what was going on and didn't care; they just wanted their naps.

I was quite disappointed to find that this new arena is not photographer friendly. It sits down a slope from the rest of the show grounds, and spectators are limited to sitting a ways up the hill for the show jumper classes. So, that is not a good vantage point for getting photos of jumpers to use for paintings. It didn't matter much on Sunday because I had forgotten to put the long lens on my camera before I left home, so I didn't even bother going back to shoot the big jumper Grand Prix class. Instead, I wandered around shooting show scenes and a little of the hunter rings but the light wasn't good and most of the jumps too far away, so those shots didn't come out well at all.

On my way in and out, I took some shots of horses being bathed to get more references for wet horses if I need them as I did for the Mural Mosaic project. I didn't get down to the pony ring but hope to catch some of the ponies when I go back on Friday this week when the dressage show will also be going on. Last year the dressage and ponies were in adjacent rings, so I went back and forth for most of one day.

My one complaint about this show is that it's very difficult to find a list of classes so that you know what's going on in each ring at any given time. In the past I was able to plan out ahead of time where to go at what times to catch the action that I wanted, but not so this year or last.

By clicking on the image above, you can go to my website and see a small portion of the photos I took on Sunday.

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Since finishing the Mural Mosaic project panel and shipping it off, I have kept busy nonstop.

First was a thorough house cleaning in preparation for our "kids" coming home to visit over the July 4 holiday. Daughter Tina stayed for over week, and we had fun visiting two nurseries and buying lots and lots of plants! I had far more plants than room to put them in! But that would shortly change.

My gardening project for this summer was to dig out new beds between the shrubs along the road, amend the soil and get some new perennials planted. My husband, thankfully, pitched in with the digging part, and now we only have three sections to go. The big push on this project was to get the really heavy work done before the heat and humidity of summer really hit. Late July and all of August tend to be very hot and humid (relatively speaking!) up here in recent years, and that whole fence line is in the sun most of the day. Our lot is quite wide; around 160 feet, so that's a lot of area to dig out grass and weeds, loosen the soil and mix in peat and good dirt to amend the sandy soil. My husband's reward? A lot less area between shrubs to trim by hand at lawn mowing time.

I'm happy to say that as of yesterday most of the new plants are now planted, if only temporarily in order to get them out of their confined spaces in pots too small for them. Some will be moved once the new beds are dug out and prepared. They all have perked up and look much happier in their roomy new surroundings.

The view above shows the yard and some of the new beds that go along the fence starting at the driveway. The tree in the foreground is a flowering crab, and the tree further back is our poor misshapen sugar maple which we hope will fill out better now that it's not growing amongst other trees. We will also be building a tree ring around it using landscaping blocks that we got at Menard's on sale yesterday. They are the same blocks used in the beds up closer to the house, so they will tie this area to the house area for a more unified look. We'll also put a smaller ring around the flowering crab, and the whole bed will have edging bricks along it to keep the crab grass from invading the new beds. They have worked well in the bed that I created three years ago that's hidden from view by the large Burning Bush you see above.


While at Home Depot to get more dirt earlier in the week, I couldn't resist buying these beautiful Asiatic Lilies which were on sale. I also bought a few more lavender in hopes that it will keep the deer from eating the lilies, phlox and other plants as they have in the past. The photo above does not do these fabulous lilies justice; they are a lovely deep magenta that looks like velvet.

Today I'm going to head over to Horse Shows By The Bay in hopes of shooting some photos of the leadline class and the showjumping Grand Prix that comes after it. If all goes well, I'll get some other show scenes as well. I'm anxious to see their new Grand Prix arena where all the highest level classes are being held. Fifteen hundred horses have been entered for the three shows over three weeks this year, and the show is gaining prestige and becoming a favorite of the show crowd because of our good weather, the closeness to Grand Traverse Bay and all of the fabulous things to do in this resort area.

Stay tuned for horse show pix tomorrow.