I was fortunate to be able to work for 2 years on a ranch in Canada and whilst I was there I had the opportunity to photograph Brittany with a couple of her horses, GB and Delilah. GB is a 19-year-old and has been with Brittany for 10 years, Brittany and GB are quite the team! They’re a competitive pair in the showjumping ring; GB makes tight turns that are needed to win a jump-off seem easy! At other times, they enjoy Polo together but also galloping round a cross country course, and skijoring in the winter! The lovely Delilah is a yearling that Brittany bred herself who is sure to have an exciting future ahead of her.

We spent the first part of the shoot with Brittany and Delilah in front of the lens. Due to Delilah’s age, we stayed relatively close to the paddocks with the other horses, to help keep her calm. Delilah was the perfect model and was very cooperative in keeping her ears forward! Although she didn’t understand why she wasn’t allowed to eat the hay bales we were posing her in front of at one point!

We then added Brittany’s other horse, GB, and took some photos with both horses. When I’d arrived, I’d noticed how gorgeous the house was and I knew I wanted to have it as a backdrop to some of the photos.

I’ve been wanting to try black background portraits for a while but haven’t had anywhere suitable to practice so, just before we were finished with Delilah, we popped her into a field shelter to create some shots. I was really pleased with the results and was also able to capture some detail shots of GB.

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It was GB’s turn next and we were able to go a little further afield from the rest of the horses and explore some of the other beautiful locations on the property. One of those was the Polo field, which caused some excitement as GB, understandably, thought that meant we were going to be playing Polo, so we focused on walking shots to help relax her and prevent her from getting bored. Not one to miss out on any action Brittany’s dog Emma joined us for a couple of photos as well.

What I’ve found to be one of the most important things when photographing animals is to always have your camera ready, as you never know what they’re going to do. One such moment came up when we were returning GB to her field and the other horses didn’t want to miss out on any attention. I was able to capture the moment and it really shows the close connection that Brittany has with her horses.

It was Emma’s turn next so, with their beautiful house providing a backdrop, we did some portrait shots of Brittany and Emma, before Brittany’s husband Waylon joined us.

To finish the shoot, we took a walk through their pastures to capture a couple of photos of the other horses.

Brittany and Waylon are both vets, specialising in horses and cows respectively and so I am really grateful them that we were able to fit this shoot in during what is a busy working season for both of them.