Josh Walker's Method Behind the Magic

Thanks for coming back for the second part of photographer Josh Walker's interview here on Three Days Three Ways. I know I'm not his only fan so I'm happy to have the opportunity to showcase his moving work and give you a chance to revel in it!

Q. What’s it really like behind the scenes at an event?

A. It varies from event to event but, I’ll take Rolex as an example. This will be my fourth or fifth year. Every year it gets better and better because you start to know everyone. You see Buck Davidson and Karen O’Connor and they say hi and know who you are. Not to sound star struck but it’s nice to go as a part of the sport that they are the top of. You’re helping progress the sport that they are reining over-so to speak. That’s one of the exciting parts of being behind the scenes at an event.

photo courtesy of Josh Walker

Then you interview people like Buck who’s been winning nonstop. You start to build a repore. It’s nice to have a conversation that turns into an interview and you get to share that with people. I was in Ocala filming for the Young Event Horse stuff and Karen O’Connor was there; she’s a legend, but she’s so nice. I was watching the dressage and she just walked up and sat down next to me and started talking. It’s cool. There are so few sports in the world where that would happen. It’s a very unique community. As far as the atmosphere for Rolex: exciting. For AEC [American Eventing Championships] I would say: so busy. You’re going in twenty different directions at one time. So many horses and riders and things that need to be done. Being a part of the staff you’re a part of everything. You’re not just taking pictures. If you need to unpack or organize merchandize you do it. Everyone is a master of many trades and you do what needs to be done and have your specialty that you’re really good at.

photo courtesy of Josh Walker

Q. What are you thinking about when you take pictures?

A. Gosh, it all kind of comes second nature now. I guess mood. It’s really one of the biggest things I try to focus on: to capture the mood. Taking into consideration the lighting, what’s the background, the angle it will capture. There are good angles but there are angles that are unflattering to a horse and rider. I like it when they’re looking in my direction. When they’re looking away I feel like viewers will lose the connection. It has a whole different dimension when you can see their eyes and the emotion and the horse really doing it’s job. When you find your angle you have to look at the sky and make sure you’re not shooting directly into a low sun. Sometimes it works but mostly you get a muddy backlit photograph. Usually it’s not as appealing as side light. I really like sidelight because it reveals texture-you can see all the muscles and veins in the horse. If it’s behind my back it’s flatly lit; I like to give it a little more dimension.

photo courtesy of Josh Walker

Once I’ve got my angle and light I have to look at the background and make sure it’s mostly neutral and not distracting. Second, that it’s far enough away to get that separation and keep horse and rider nice and sharp but the background blurred out to give it that nice soft quality that is unique to a photograph. After that it’s having the horse come through and getting the timing right. That just comes with practice. Another thing is how many jumps can you get, you know? It’s really hard to get more than one jump with trees. Or if it’s winding you can get only one or two fences. Where at Rolex you can get six or seven efforts in one short distance and you have a variety of pictures. One of the main differences between the way I shoot and a photographer that’s selling to the riders is that I try to get as many different angles and as many different jumps on the course since I’m trying to give an overall feel of the whole venue. It’s second nature after a while and the main thing is finding a rhythm. When I’m out there the first few horses I’m still trying to find a rhythm and where I’m supposed to be and capture this horse coming through. Once I’m in a good spot—it’s kind of like listening to a good album. When the horses come through you’re listening to the song. The horse goes by and it’s the break before the next song. Okay now here it comes again. That rhythm goes through wherever I am. You have to find that complex’s rhythm and stick with it.

photo courtesy of Josh Walker

Q. What photographers do you look up to?

A. Richard Avedon was my biggest influence. He did a lot of portraits of regular people on a stark white background. I did a project to mimic that. I had people hold their dogs up in front of a white background. There’s nothing to focus on so you really start looking at the subject. In the horse world I worked with Shannon Brinkman all last year in 2008. As far as capturing the mood and the beauty and the power and everything that makes eventing what it is-she was the person that revealed how to do that. She’s been doing that for 25 years and is one of the best in my opinion. Amy Dragoo, also. I love her work. She’s up in the Pennsylvania area. Also Amy McCool—on the West Coast and very artistic the way she captures it. Charlie Mann does different horse sports and sports in general.

from 'Dogs and Their People' series. That's love.

photo courtesy of Josh Walker

Q. Where do you want this to go?

A. This is where I want to be. I watch football on tv and other mainstream sports and I always admire the guys on the sideline but at the same time, I feel like there aren’t any other sports that are as unique or have that special mood and feel that eventing and horse sports do. There’s no other sport like it. I feel like it’s a pretty special niche to be in. I like where I am now. The only other sport I would go back to would be surfing. But it’s so hard to get into that. I’m lucky to get into this industry the way I did. I’ll stick around for a while.

I love the Brady Bunch look!

photo courtesy of Josh Walker

Q. What about when you’re not behind a camera?

I sit around and putter with my guitar and piano and record stuff on my computer. As far as type of music I like-lots. I tend to listen to things that you don’t often hear on the radio. I like to scan internet radio to hear independent artists, alternative rock, and movie soundtracks—scores. Those inspire me, I like that they’re so powerful. If you think about it if you watch a movie without the music it’s not as powerful without the music. If you took the music out it wouldn’t work. When you put the music behind it, it works. Long story short, I like the emotion in the music. I’ll seek out some of my favorite Hollywood composers—Hans Zimmer, James Horner, John Newton Howard.

Q. Anything else?

A. Literally and figuratively I wouldn’t be here without Emily. I got into the horse world with hard work. But she has been the number one inspiration to me in advancing so quickly as I feel I have.

photo courtesy of Josh Walker

That concludes the Josh Walker interview. I hope you enjoyed it. If you've fallen in love with Josh Walker's photography the way I did you can see more of it on his website: www.theredhorse.net. See you next time!

Amy Tryon on Poggio's True Character and Getting Ready for Rolex

We continue Amy Tryon's interview with a bunch of stories about her experiences at the Rolex Kentucky 3-Day Event. Which is timely since it's coming right up! Plus she talks about Poggio's willingness to always try his hardest despite not being a natural to 3-Day eventing. It's hard to believe given their impressive career together!

Q. You retired Poggio last year at Rolex. How would you describe him?

A. He’s quite a charcter. I got him when he was five and he’s been a very interesting horse to train and have. Contrary to popular belief he was easy to train. He always tried his hardest. He was not natural at this sport and he’s incredibly long. He did it because of attitude instead of aptitude. He’s wonderful in the barn and wonderful to travel. He was had his own idea about doing things on cross-country and I had to get used to that. But he never thought of running out or stopping or not doing what was asked of him. He’s still at the house. I was so worried he would get kicked so we decided to buy him a donkey. He’s a very generous horse.

Above: Amy Tryon at the Athens Olympics

photo courtesy Dean Rutz/ The Seattle Times

Q. Did he like any kind of treat in particular?

A. He likes his ears scratched, the inside of the ears. He’ll like anything you feed him.

Q. What preparations do you make for Rolex?

A. You know when you’re on the way there! I have two young horses, Cold Creek and Leyland. Leyland did two 4-stars including Burghley. Cold Creek had most of the season off with a leg injury. They both had a little time off in the fall and started back working and did their first event at Galway [Downs]. They cantered quietly around intermediate to get their feet wet for first of season. I try to be up on fitness levels when I travel since I don’t know if the facilities will room to gallop. I did a lot of work at home before we left. Now they’ll do a couple horse trials not with the idea of going quickly or trying to win just trying to prepare for [Rolex] Kentucky.

Amy Tryon with Poggio and the girls

photo courtesy of Samantha Bergin

Q. Do you have any favorite parts of the Rolex course from the past years?

A. It has a great atmosphere to it. Jeanie Atkinson does an excellent job. For us it sets the tone so we always like to do well; it decides if you will qualify for a championship or not so it’s a little stressful. The crowds and great.

Q. What was it like the first time you competed at Rolex?

A. It was interesting. It was my first season I went and so this is when they still had the three-star. It was something I felt very prepared to do and the horse that I was riding was a very generous horse called My Beau. I knew if I rode him he would go well. It was great to do that and think how I could do better next year.

Poggio and his buddy, Jethro, all bundled up

photo courtesy of Samantha Bergin

Q. Anything you would like to add?

A. Thank you to all my owners and sponsors who support me and who enable me to do this sport because it’s not something we could do by ourselves. I’m very lucky to have a great group of supporters.

Thanks for reading Three Days Three Ways. Feel free to leave a comment and remember our Wednesday giveaways start next week!

Leslie and Lesley Law: A Perfect Match

Leslie married Lesley. It's unbelievably cute. But their accomplishments are more along the lines of intimidating. He (Leslie--bear with me and try to keep on top of the genders) is British. He won the Athens Olympics and took home the team silver in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. He followed this up tidily with the European team gold in 2001, the World team bronze in 2002 and again the European team gold in 2003. Not too shabby. Lesley (she--are you with me?) is Canadian and has completed impressive competitions such as the Fox Hall Cup and Fair Hill International 3-stars in addition to finishing 20th at the Rolex Kentucky 4-star. Plus she's well rounded with an honours degree from York University in International Relations and Philosophy. Their names match but they are much more than the sum of their parts.

Q. Where are you each from originally?

Leslie: Hereford, England.

Lesley: Toronto, Canada.

Q. How and where did you two meet?

We met originally at a coaching symposium in Canada where Leslie taught with George Morris how to coach students. Lesley was one of the guinea pig riders. Then we later ‘remet’ at Rolex 2005 and the rest is history.

photo from Horse and Hound

Leslie and Lesley marry in Aruba

Q. How did you begin riding?

Leslie: On ponies my dad would buy at the market and make my brother and I break so he could resell them for profit.

Lesley: In a riding school outside of Toronto.

Q. Who was your first horse/ pony?

Leslie: My brother and I had lots of rogue ponies that my dad picked up from the auction.

Lesley: An off the track thoroughbred named ‘Chloe’ that I got when I was 16.

Q. How would you describe each other?

Lesley of Leslie: Very relaxed until he’s not…very talented, very dedicated and extremely hardworking.

Leslie or Lesley: Terribly organized and smart, runs our business like Mussolini running the trains, very passionate, big hearted, very willful, very committed.

Q. Where is your business located? What do you like about the locations?

Ocala, Florida and Bluemont, Virginia. The best of both worlds if you are an eventer!

Q. If you weren’t eventing where would you be and what would you be doing?

Lesley: I would be working in Canada for CESIS. That is where I spent 6 years at university for.

Leslie: I have no idea.

Leslie and Lesley at home in Ocala, Fl

Q. Who do you look up to in the eventing world?

Lesley: Bruce Davidson and Phillip Dutton for their tremendous talents cross country and the O’Connors as they are very good riders/coaches. But more than that, terribly smart I think.

Q. Who are your upper-level horses right now?

Leslie: Fleeceworks Mystere du Val and Private Heart are my main two. But I also ride Evening Shade and Quintus 54 at the Advanced level.

Lesley: Timber Spirit and my upcoming super-boys Java and Hugo Fast who just did their first Intermediates.

Q. Who’s your favorite horse?

Leslie: Shear L'Eau.

Above: Leslie and Shear L'Eau

Lesley: Timmy.

Above: Lesley on Timber Spirit (Timmy) , Rolex 2006

Q. Do you always go to competitions together or do you split them up?

We try and go to them together as much as possible.

Q. What are the challenges for you in eventing?

The biggest challenge is the amount of hours and work we have to put in to run the business. We literally often work seven days a week during the main parts of the seasons. It is very hard to get away from it, even for a day.

photo by Emily Daily

Q. When you’re not immersed in horses what do you do with your time?

NOTHING. It is so seldom that we are not around the horses.

Q. Is it fun to go to the Olympics? Which Olympics have you attended?

Atlanta, Sydney, Athens. Atlanta was no fun however as I didn’t get to ride because of a stone bruise!

Q. Are there challenges to working together?

Of course, but the benefits far outweigh the negatives. We feel very lucky to spend so much time together. Although we are at the barn all day together we are often apart doing our own things. But we are very lucky to be able to watch each other ride all the time.

Below: Books by and with Leslie Law.

Wendy Lewis Makes it Happen: Lucky Breaks, Going to Rolex and a Secret Grooming Tip

Photo courtesy of Shannon Brinkman

Q. When did you start riding?

A. I started in 1st grade.  My mom gave me two weeks of lessons at a summer camp for my birthday to get me out of the house.  Little did she know what it would turn into!

Q. Did you start eventing right away?

A. No, but I was lucky when in my early teens, through a friend, I met Lousie McCarthy who was very influential in the sport and heading the Area II Young Riders Program.  She gave me my first event horse, one of her daughter's old horses, and that's the whole reason I got into eventing.

Q. What was the name of your first horse?

A.  I was miserable without a horse in college so my parents scrounged together enough money to buy one for me; that was my first Advanced horse, Maelstrom, and we went to Rolex.  He had gone Training but had a serious ditch problem.  It took about a year of stopping and falling off for him to get over it.

Photo courtesy of Shannon Brinkman

Q. Are you in a relationship?

A.  Yes, I've been married for 11 years.

Q. Do you have any kids?

A. I have a daughter, Kira, who is three.  If it were up to my husband we would have many more!  But time will tell.

Q.  Who's your favorite horse of all time?

A. I owe my whole career to Maelstrom.  He was so generous and I didn't know what I was doing and we learned together.  Rampant Lion was the one who was the nicest and brought me to the top.  I wouldn't have ridden him, but Murphy Himself ridden by Ian Stark was the most amazing horse to watch go around.  He had so much exuberance.

Q. What were their barn names?

A. Maelstrom was Bleu and Rampant Lion was RL.

Q. Did they have any unique mannerisms in the barn?

A. RL loved for anyone to put a towel in his ear and clean it.  He'd lean his head over for it!

Q. Do you have any superstitions?

A.  The more I hang out with Buck [Davidson] the more I get.  I have always avoided using anything brand new at an event.  If something goes well I'll use that equipment over again and again.  I do find I get into patterns and rituals I didn't even realize I was getting into.

Q. What are you known for or proud of in your riding style?

A.  I try to take pride in having a well prepared and confident horse and take pride in my  turnout. I take a lot of pride in how I take care of the horses at home and having a daily routine to get ready for events: A thorough grooming every day, feeding the best quality hay and grain tailored to meet their needs, keeping them in consistent work according to their work level.  I keep everything cleaned and organized so it's not a frantic environment.

Photo courtesy of Shannon Brinkman

Q. Describe your ideal horse.

A. I've had a lot of success with greys (Maelsrom, RL and Blazer were all greys) even though they're a pain to keep clean.  A 15.3-16.0h gelding, beautiful mover, brave jumper that takes me to the jumps a little.

Q. Where is your operation based?

A. Perrineville, NJ, a few miles form where Jersey Fresh is held.

Photo courtesy of Shannon Brinkman

Q. What's your most memorable or defining moment?

A. There were two.  One was after completing my first 3-star at Rolex (it was only a 3-star then) on Maelstrom and knowing I wanted to do this the rest of my life.  The most sense of accomplishment I had was completing my first 4-star at Rolex and finishing 9th on RL.

Q. Have you had any memorable tumbles?

A. One when I was riding Hyperlite Preliminary and fell off cross-country and he stepped on my right hand with a stud and crushed half of it.  I had to have it put back together.  Another would be when I was four and a half months pregnant and the horse I was riding tripped and fell over.  I got knocked out and sent to the ER.  I didn't ride the rest of my pregnancy.  Both me and the baby were fine; it just left an impression!

Q. What the most common mistake you see in eventing today?

A. If I had to say one thing it's that people are getting involved in the sport who aren't taking the time to get the experience that's necessary.  It's not something you can just jump right into and be successful at and compete at the upper levels.  It take years and years to develop the subconscious reactions needed to give a really good ride cross country.  It's time and hours in the saddle.  Everyone wants things right away in this day and age.

Photo courtesy of Shannon Brinkman

Q.  What's your favorite competition?

A. Rolex.  Because it feels like you're a superstar when you're there  competing.  It felt like being a movie star and professional athlete all at once.

Q. What is your ultimate goal?

A. To ride for the USA.

Q. Do you have any favorite tack or supplies you can't live without?

A. I love my Nunn Finer products, especially the leather products and their new five-way breast plate.

Q. Any grooming tricks?

A. I was the first one to have known about the Cape Cod metal polish and introduced it to the eventing world and now everyone has it.  But the credit goes to my mom for finding it.

Q. What's your barn management style?

I expect a lot of the people who work for me but never expect more than what I'm willing to put in myself.  But Buck did nickname me the Drill Sargeant since I like things orderly!

Buck Davidson (photo credit to www.StockImageServices.com)

Q. Who is your favorite rider and why?

A. Buck Davidson.  On a personal level because he's such a friend and mentor to me and has helped so much.  On a professional level I respect him for his amazing riding ability.

Q. Is there anything you want to add?

A. Despite the recent bad press the sport is getting I have been doing it for a long time and am still doing it because I love it and there is really not a better group of people to be found.