Balanced Horse Bodywork (Kamloops Equine Photography)
My friend Katie recently launched her equine bodywork and structural integration business, Balanced Horse Bodywork (give her page a like!). Back in late December, when we amazingly still had no snow, we used my horse Theo as a model to create some photos to advertise her business. Theo very much enjoyed his treatment, falling asleep and letting his rope hold up his head, leaning into her touch, yawning dramatically, and even resting his head on her shoulder when he was untied. What a ham!
You can check out Katie’s website to learn more about the fascinating art of structural integration and see how it might benefit your horse: https://balancedhorsebodywork.com/ She has special introductory rates for spring 2019, and services the Kamloops area as well as travelling within BC — she’s recently done trips to the lower mainland and Pemberton.
Kirin and Kirsten – Monte Creek Ranch Winery Wedding in Kamloops
Although I have lived in BC for seven years now and worked at many Kamloops wedding venues, this was the first time I have photographed a wedding at a vineyard! Monte Creek Ranch Winery certainly provided a stunning backdrop for this special day, filled with love, laughter, family, and friends. In addition to a beautiful couple and bridal party, I also had Kirin’s restored Volkswagon Beetle to use as a prop. 😀 He’s had this car since he was a teenager and his goal was always to include it in his future wedding day. He just finished it this summer, although it ended up needing an engine replacement rather last minute, as in the last month! I’m so glad everything worked out, though naturally we had to do a silly photo of Kirsten pushing the car. 😉
Their winter engagement photos are also worth a second look!
Cake: @vjrigby
Kirin and Kirsten opted to do a reveal, where they see each other before the ceremony, and do most of their portraits beforehand too. The reveal was in Kirsten’s parent’s lovely backyard garden in Barnhartvale.
Ashley with Levi, Milo, and Catniss – Horse and Rider Portraits (Equine Photography)
When Ashley, the Executive Director of the Kamloops Therapeutic Riding Association, asked me to photograph her with three horses, I knew I was up for a bit of a challenge! Multiple horse photography is not an easy task, so I thought I would share some tips for anyone who might be attempting it. 🙂
To start, we had the two geldings, Levi and Milo (on the left in the photo below) stand next to each other, because they live together. Does that mean they always get along? No, because Milo can be a bit of a grouch to other horses, but there was a better chance of him behaving next to a horse he knew. 😉 Because mares and geldings sometimes have “opinions” about each other, we had Ashley’s mare, Catniss (on the right, below) stand across from the boys.
The boys stayed in roughly the same spot most of the time, but Catniss turned away from the camera at one point and had to be repositioned. I instructed Ashley to look at me the whole time and not worry about what the horses were doing or where they were looking, because otherwise, when they finally all looked at the camera at the same time, she might not be! Once the horses were in place, we had our helpers Crystal and Hannah shaking grain buckets and jumping around to try to get their attention, and it worked until they realized they weren’t going to get any treats right away. What didn’t work to get their attention? My app with horse whinny sounds, goats walking by, and airplanes flying overhead (KTRA is by the airport, so the horses are actually quite used to low flying aircraft). I kept joking that her horses were TOO desensitized. Luckily we got this shot within the first couple minutes, and while I took a few extra just in case, this was a favourite of both Ashley and I. She chose to have this along with a couple other of the shots made into gorgeous metallic prints!
Kamloops Therapeutic Riding Association (Horse and rider portraits)
It’s been a busy couple of weeks since I moved to Kamloops. I have been running around putting up posters, designing new promotional materials, and networking with local people and businesses. I’ve driven about an hour in each direction from the city, scoping out my new territory and getting the lay of the land. I would like to show some photos from my visit to the Kamloops Therapeutic Riding Association. From their recent spotlight on Social Fire:
“The Kamloops Therapeutic Riding Association (KTRA) is a charitable non-profit that offers horseback riding to children and adults with a wide range of disabilities. KTRA’s riding lessons benefits the riders by using the motivating medium of horse care and riding to draw an individual’s attention to their strengths, successes and most importantly build self-confidence.”
In the past, I have volunteered with the Lethbridge Therapeutic Riding Association, and it was a great experience to see the positive impact that the horses had on the riders. I encourage you to support your local therapeutic riding association, as the work they do truly makes a difference in the lives of their clients!
The horses in the programs must, of course, be very gentle, calm, and tolerant. I could tell that every horse I met had these qualities just by looking at them from a distance — you can tell by their kind eyes and relaxed stance. 
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