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| Photographs taken by my father in the early 1970s. . |
“Riding a horse is not a gentle hobby, to be picked up and laid down like a game of solitaire. It is a grand passion. It seizes a person whole and, once it has done so, he will have to accept that his life has been radically changed.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
18 comments:
Muffy:
Were these shot with slide or print film and then scanned? Once again, these are a tribute to your Dad's eye for composition, subject matter and telling a story photographically.
PLEASE, please find a publisher and provide us with a book of your Dad's work!
Paul Connors
Wonderful photos. I can almost smell the horses and the leather.
I second Paul Connors proposal. Your father's photographs are too good to languish.
Beautiful! I used to pass this club on my way into town every day. It was always such fun to drive by during a show. And my aunt and uncle used to live just down Bulkley. Like a lot of things in Westport, it's slightly obnoxious--but pretty from a distance! I was up at Sunset Hill Farm in Redding last weekend and that was more my speed--it abuts an 800-acre open space, and does not offer "fine dining."
@Paul - This, as with virtually all of his color photographs, is from a slide.
@WRJ - I admire your restraint. Only slightly obnoxious? :)
Well...you know how I feel about the horses, so this is a post that is near and dear to my heart.
Riding horses (in most cases) is the best therapy for whatever ails a person. There is something very therapeutic about learning how to properly care for a horse and then putting your life in their hands while you ride them.
I have never been on a Hunt, but would, more than likely, thoroughly enjoy it.
The photos are beautiful.
My son is 6 and just rode a horse for the first time yesterday. He was beaming ear to ear and now wants to start lessons - I couldn't be more excited for him. It is such a special thing to connect with animals, great and small.
Just got back home from Jr. day with our local hunt. It is wonderful to see the next generation enjoy the beauty and excitement. Thanks for these great photos.
Gorgeous photography! I would buy that first one in a print. Wow. I studied photography a little bit, but I never knew horses until my daughter started riding at age 7. I have grown to understand the love for the sport-- which other sport includes a living creature that becomes your best friend? I've never seen a hunt in person but jumping, yes, every week!
Although I haven't hunted in more than 25 years, these photos bring back wonderful memories of hunting with the Monmouth County Hunt in New Jersey. I enjoyed your father's photos immensely.
It is very possible that my mother and father were there that day. They hunted with the Fairfield County Hunt in the 70's and 80's. What a great picture!
Muffy, I had a very dear friend by the name of Morton Wistar Smith. He told the story of how his father and several friends founded the Fairfield Hunt Club.
Do you know the history of the club? I would be very interested to know more.
Beautiful pictures once again. I can idenify with the love of horses and riding as my Grand Father was the stable master for the Homestead in Hot Springs, VA. As a young buck I rode "English" and took lessons at All Around Farms in Gwynedd Valley, PA
My own neighborhood! :)
Loved these; the Old Thanksgiving Day Hunt, a grand collective charge and vestige of when you really COULD hunt and go X-country in Fairfield, back before the Merritt Parkway cut our the territory in half. You were a "big kid" when you could hang on for the whole wild and woolly ride without falling off!
We actually did continue to hunt the Fairfield Beagles here (I whipped in) through '92 or so. The Fairfield Bridle Trail Association still maintains many miles of lovely riding from that era of fond memories . . .
Started this past Sunday the poor man's version of fox hunting...I call it Beagling! I know we hunt hare! In Virginia they're plenty of red fox and deer also! They can be a distraction to hounds:-)
Tally Ho!
Anon. 7:17:
Do you mean "Cappy" Smith? He's still alive,teaching and training down South I hear!
question: blue blazer in wide-whale corduory - does it work?
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