Knowing how to take a good conformation photo is a handy skill for any horse person to have under their belt. A conformation photo can be a make or break factor in a horse’s sale ad, or if you use them for record keeping, following a consistent strategy when taking them will keep an accurate record of your horse. But conformation photos take more skill than one may think—follow along for seven quick tips on how to take the ideal conformation photo.

1. Bathe Before Photos

Before you take your conformation photos, spend some time pampering your horse! Give them a bath, brush out their mane and tail, and spritz them off with some coat conditioner to make them shine.

2. Pay Attention to Lighting

Bad lighting can ruin an otherwise good conformation photo! Remember, you want to be able to see the horse, so pay attention to where the sun is—it is ideal for the sun to be behind the camera—and pick your spot accordingly.

3. Avoid a Busy Background

A cluttered background distracts from the horse, so try to find a spot with a simple background, away from trailers, busy barn sides, and other horses. With a zoom lens, you can even achieve a blurred background effect to make the horse even more prominent in the photo.

4. Space Out Horse’s Legs

Ideally, you want the horse to be standing with their legs “open,” or spaced out so that you can see all four legs. Make sure you have the legs on the side closest to the camera as the ones that are offset: the hind leg closest to the camera should be slightly behind the hind leg further from the camera, and the front leg closest to the camera should be slightly in front of the other front leg. Not only will you be able to see each leg, but this enhances the way the entire body looks! You’ll also want to ensure that the horse is standing on even ground so that their body does not incorrectly appear uphill or downhill.

5. Keep Horse’s Focus

A distracted horse can ruin an otherwise great shot! You don’t want the horse to look bored or looking off in another direction. Having a helper with treats, horse sounds, props or whatever works to get the horse’s attention is key, as is reducing the amount of distractions around when taking photos.

6. Encourage Your Horse to Stretch & Lower the Neck

See if you can get the horse to stretch their neck slightly down and out to show off their muscles. A tense horse with their head in the air might make their back appear more hollow and their neck not as well-muscled. The handler can take a step back and draw their attention lower to encourage them to stretch down.

7. Stand at the Girth Line

Aim to stand at the horse’s girth line when taking photos for an angle that will not distort the horse’s body. Do not stand too far back or too far forward. If you are using a zoom lens, you may position yourself far back and zoom in for a blurred background effect as mentioned above while still keeping the horse’s full body in the frame.

It takes time and practice, both for the horse and handler, to get a good conformation photo. Don’t let yourself get frustrated—eventually you will get the perfect shot!

This article about how to take the ideal conformation photo is a web exclusive for Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

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Today, the traditional sport continues, but not without controversy. Animal welfare activists feel it is cruel to encourage the hounds to hunt and kill a fox. Others would argue that other means of controlling the fox population (i.e.. traps, poison) are equally or more cruel than a quick kill by a hound.

Because of the controversy surrounding the tradition of live fox hunting, many clubs have shifted to a drag hunt, where hounds and horses follow a scent dragged across the countryside minutes before the start of the “hunt.”

The dragsman lays a scent using a bag pulled along the ground in 1- to 3-mile sections across the countryside, with stops for the horses and hounds to catch their breath (called the “check”).

One of the benefits of a drag hunt is the predictability of the path the riders will take through fields and forests. Drag hunts are also more efficient, and last just a few hours instead of all day, because the hounds aren’t as likely to lose track of the scent as they would with a live animal.

Also read – Fox Hunting with George Washington

Reimagining fox hunting in this way allows club riders to enjoy their timeless equestrian sport; there are currently over 160 registered drag hunt clubs in the U.S.

I had the pleasure of photographing a drag hunt with Minnesota’s Long Lake Hounds at the peak of fall color in 2020. Established in 1959, this club has a rich history of hosting drag hunts and hunter pace events in the summer in fall.

Hunter pace events award the group of horses and riders that cover a route closest to the optimum time, which nobody knows in advance. Hunter paces have a variety of jumps and are meant to mimic the pace and terrain of a fox hunt, which can be another great way to experience the thrill and camaraderie of “hunting” without all of the formalities.

As many of our horse sports come under increasing scrutiny, it is good to see some rethinking of the traditions to the benefit of our horses as well as other species.

This article about a new approach to fox hunting amid controversy appeared in the October 2021 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

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Here are a few simple tips for taking pet photos that will elevate your results. These tools can be used by all levels of photographers with any type of equipment, from phone cameras to mirrorless or professional DSLR cameras.

Reviewing Your Pet Photos

Modern cameras, both digital and phone, have many advantages over the old film equipment of the past, the most useful being the ability to instantly view your results—no more waiting several days to see if you captured your friend on her horse at the last show without cropping her head off.

You can now study your composition, timing, and focus in the camera before continuing to snap away. This tool can be the key between creating an ordinary photo or an inspiring image that excites the viewer and perhaps wins a photo contest!

By looking at the image in the camera and asking yourself, “How does it look, and how can I make it better?” you can check for proper focus as well as distractions in the background, and then recompose your image to improve its overall appeal.

Here a few key things to think about when taking pet photos, as well as shooting and reviewing the images in your camera.

Selecting a Subject

Good photos start with good subjects. Dirty spots on a horse, tangled and matted hair on a dog, or bold logos on clothing can be distracting and will take the attention away from your subjects. Take the time to prepare your models, if possible, before taking pet photos.

◆ Horse/Dog: Should be well turned out and clean.

◆ Tack/Equipment: Should be well fitting, clean and in good repair.

◆ Rider/Handler: Safe, simple and neat clothing is best; avoid logos and words on shirts. Shirts should be tucked and buttoned.

Background

Avoid busy backgrounds that take the viewer’s attention away from your subjects when taking pet photos.

Choose a simple and clean background and place your subjects a decent distance in front of your backdrop to draw more attention to them.

◆ Blurred Background: Blurred backgrounds can be achieved by adjusting your camera aperture (the opening where light enters the camera) to around f/2 to f/5.6—the smaller the number the bigger the opening, which allows more light in. This is good if you’re in a darker lighting situation or if you want to blur the background. Or you can use portrait mode on a point-and-shoot or phone camera. This decreases the depth of field and will give more detail to your subject, blurring out what is behind it. The farther away your background is from your subject, the more blurred it will be.

◆ Black Background: A black background can easily be achieved by placing your subject in front of an open barn or indoor arena doorway with the sun shining directly into the door. Place your subject just in front of the shadow where the light will hit them, and make sure any lights in the arena or barn are turned off.

◆ Framing: Take pet photos to the next level by using something to frame your subject, such as a doorway, window, or trees. This can add to your image and attract the viewers’ attention even more towards your subject.

◆ Distractions: Watch for things such as fence lines or trees poking out from the top or side of the subject. We’ve all seen plenty of images of a tree unfortunately growing out of someone’s head.

Composition

◆ Heroes, Friends and Villains: When taking pet photos, think of your subject as the Hero and everything else as ether Friends or Villains. Friends support the hero and villains distract from it.

Villains should be removed either physically, such as relocating a blue bucket or pile of manure, or by zooming in and/or recomposing your image to take it out of the frame. To recompose your image, try moving a few feet in one direction or another to shoot a different angle so you can avoid things you don’t want in the background.

◆ Rule of Thirds: If you break an image into thirds both vertically and horizontally, the human eye is naturally drawn toward the intersection of those lines. The rule states that something of interest should fall on one of those intersections, as opposed to smack-dab in the center of the photo.

Overall Appeal

◆ Mood and Interaction: Mood and/or interaction can bring an emotional feeling to an image and tell a story. By setting up your shot, reviewing it on the camera, and adjusting anything that needs to be adjusted, you will be ready for that special moment.

◆ Action: Stopping motion is more technical and difficult. Point-and-shoot cameras have a sports mode, which tells the camera that you want to stop a moving target, allowing the camera to automatically set a higher shutter speed.

On more sophisticated cameras, you have shutter priority. This means you select the shutter speed, and the camera will alter the aperture depending on your lighting conditions. Shutter speed is calculated in fractions of a second, and the minimum shutter speed needed to stop a horse or dog in motion is a 500th of a second or higher.

Many higher-end cameras also have continuous focus or continuous tracking, which allows you to track the subject in motion, keeping it in focus at all times. The faster the speed you use, the more light is required, so it’s best to shoot action on a bright sunny day.
Happy shooting!

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Photographer Bev Pettit knows that when it comes to horses, you have to be patient and wait for the moment. But it’s time well spent, leading Pettit to the vision for her striking and imaginative HorseScapes series. The quiet hours spent observing her own horses let creativity take shape.

“Just hanging out with horses allows me to keenly observe their physical design, their curves, their lines, and their textures,” she explains. “As I began to look more closely at them, I saw the many details in their bodies and muscles, and how they change shape as they move. I saw their ever-changing facial expressions, the soft movement of their manes and tails as the wind blows. I noticed the various shapes and designs created over their backs through the play of evening light and shadow, and in the patterns and textures of their fur, I started to see natural landscapes and think of common elements of weather patterns.

“One image can take on an entirely different look and feel when shown in monotone. In many cases, I try to match the existing “real” landscape, such as a mountain range in the background, with similar curves or lines in a horse’s back or neck.

“When I’m with a group of horses, I lose all track of time. I become one with them and feel honored to be invited into their world and allowed to stay to photograph them.

Meet the Photographer

Bev Pettit has been creating fine art photographs for more than 25 years. She has traveled the world from Asia to the back roads of Europe and South America, creating unique images. After settling back into her favored rural lifestyle in Arizona, she began to photograph what she loved the most: horses and the West.

“As an equine photographer, I am very fortunate to be surrounded by many horses in my life on any given day,” she says. “My work has become more fine-tuned and meaningful over the years; I’ve gained a better understanding of how horses think through hours observing their behavior and their interactions.

“The beauty and grace of horses captivates me,” Pettit continues. “I strive to capture their essence, their personalities, their peacefulness and wise instincts by focusing on their expressions, their eyes and their body language when I photograph them.”

An award-winning photographic artist, Pettit’s work has been published and exhibited worldwide, and her images grace the walls of fine art collectors. www.bevpettit.com

This article originally appeared in the January 2017 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

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