Horsebreaker Photo Story

Two weeks ago I had the privilege of compiling a photostory about a local Horse Breaker for submission into a National Geographic photo competition. While I didn’t succeed in winning the competition, the creative process taught me a number of things.

The task involved submitting 3 – 5 images that were interconnected and told a story (about a ‘place’ I have visited). Regardless of the outcome of the competition, I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of not only creating a single good image, or even five good images, but also ensuring they linked together and told a story. A good story.  This was something I have never been tasked with before, but is the challenge that photographers for publications like National Geographic do on a daily basis.

I found out about the competition only 8 days before the competition closed, so I was behind the eight ball from the start. I knew that such a competition would have a massive number of entries, so I tried to go with something a little different, something that the judges wouldn’t see in a hundred different entries.

A friend of a friend, after getting in contact is was agreed that Tom would give me his time in exchange for a family photo of he and his three children (Tom is a single father). Tom was very accommodating, and showed me the entire process of horsebreaking / training, as a result I was able to gain and understand of the processes involved and ideally show this in my images.

This is the series of images I was able to produce, shown in order with captions below.

Often a solitary occupation, Horse breaking and training often involves up to twelve hour days, seven days a week. Each horse receives careful attention and treatment in order to achieve best results. Tom is pictured riding ‘Brody’ during a warmup routine in the roundyard prior to commencing a training session (1DX, 24 – 70mm f2.8 @ 50mm, ISO 1000, f/13, 1/60sec).

Communication between horse and rider is essential. Tom uses a number of audible, hand and leg ‘aides’ to communicate with the horse. Fast paced activities such as cattle work require the rider and horse to work together in order to be successful. A well-trained stockhorse will even be able to move and turn instinctively while on the job, without the slightest need for input from the rider (1DX, 400mm f2.8 IS, ISO 1600, f/5.6, 1/1250sec).

Young horses are often flighty, and are introduced to new experiences and locales gradually. Here, Tom introduces Brody to cattle work, a relationship that will be important in his future as a stockhorse (1DX, 400mm f2.8 IS, ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/2000sec).

As a single father and a strong family man; Tom’s three children mean the world to him. All three children help their dad with the running of the business. Tom’s youngest daughter Abby (pictured), is a keen barrel racer and strong rider. As the working day draws to an end, Tom takes time out to coach Abby and improve her technique (1DX, 70 – 200mm f2.8 @ 185mm, ISO 500, f/5.6, 1/2000sec).

Tom pauses to reflect after putting away his saddle and equipment. He says he doesn’t mind the long work hours, having worked hard to build a reputation as a quality horsebreaker & trainer, Tom finds great pleasure in what he has worked hard to establish (1DX, 24 – 70mm f2.8 @ 70mm, ISO 1000, f/4.0, 1/500sec).