Great Meadow International 2019 – Show Jumping

horse getting excited before their round

Ah, another year, another Great Meadow International. I believe that’s the saying.

I love that Great Meadow hosts so many events, primarily because it’s minutes away from my house. It really makes it convenient when world class competition and events literally come to me.

Now that I have B, getting out of the house is a bit more complicated, but I still managed to watch some of the show jumping and cross country. I was going to watch some of the dressage too, but it rained, so uh… no thanks.

It’s the first time in quite a while that I was able to get show photos. I really enjoy taking photos, so it felt pretty odd when I realized how much time had passed. But, it felt good to be doing it again!

I know there’s the general “rules” to horse show photography, but I’m not really interested in following them. I like interesting action shots. And cutting people’s heads off apparently. That’s on accident, though.

I’ve spent some time learning new techniques in photography so hopefully it shows a bit. I’m also rather fond of these white backgrounds, but until I find a faster way to make them, I’m going to hold off. It’s way too time consuming to create.

Anyway though, here’s the recap of GMI Show Jumping – It was an absolutely beautiful day in Virginia, with the most perfect weather we could ask for. There were a bunch of horses, and they jumped things. Sometimes, they didn’t fully jump those things, and instead knocked poles to the ground. No one fell off that I saw, although one rider had me clutching my imaginary pearls a bit.

My overall thoughts were – man, I need to get riding again. It’s been so long that my helmets have expired. I need a new helmet now. Luckily I got a tip that National Helmet Day or something is coming up in September, so I guess I could wait until then to buy a new one.

Hopefully you didn’t want an actual recap because really I’m the last person who should be giving one. I know very little about eventing, I just like watching horses do cool things. But instead, I will give you my expert analysis on other important matters.

I bet it took her some effort to get this horse clean. Well done! I wonder if she was trying to go for a grayscale outfit/horse theme, or if it’s just a concidence that it happened?

Quite frankly, from the smile to the pat to the piping on the saddle, this is perfection in all aspects. Also, I’ve never seen anyone ride with so many rings. Good for him for not ending up with a bunch of bent rings.