Empire State Arabian Show

 

Boy was it a gorgeous day yesterday! I got the wonderful opportunity to attend the Empire State Arabian Show yesterday. Can you say giddy, over-excited female? For that is exactly what I was on my drive down to Syracuse, NY! My first trip to use my camera to photograph horses! Not to mention the day surrounded by horses and away from home for a bit. Felt like a kid on my first field trip!

 

Unfortunately I'm not sure of the horses' or riders' names. They were doing announcements in the big arena for the other shows, but not the dressage arena. All I know is that I got to see some amazing ladies and their beautiful horses. I think what makes these photos even more special is that this was an Arabian show.



 

 

 

Why does that make it more special to me? Well my first experience with dressage (coincidence that yesterday's trip and my first experience both fell on Derby Saturday) was watching the White Lipizzaner Stallions perform at a racetrack in Cleveland, Ohio. They were amazing! However what really made me breathless was watching the bay Arabian they had with them. The Lipizzaners made the moves look beautiful. The Arabian however was pure poetry in motion. They performed. He danced. Though dressage has always been something warmbloods and baroque breeds seem partial to, I definitely think that the Arabian dressage is where the magic is.

 

 

I mean just look at that extended trot! I'm sure there are many dressage riders and judges that know the sport much better than I do and could find the faults in these rides. However, to the less trained and less critical eye, these ladies and their horses were performing a magical dance routine fit for Dancing with The Stars! I honestly can not wait to work on a series of paintings featuring these beautiful horses! So be prepared to see artwork with dancing Arabians in the near future.

 

On another note, (those that follow me on Facebook might know this already) I am in the process of finishing my Master's degree. The class I am in currently has me working on a journal. The professor enjoys blogs and has encouraged us to share our blogs and our journal entries on our blogs. Because of this learning experience I will have a few "school related" blog posts from time to time in the next couple months. Some of you might enjoy learning a bit more about me. For the rest of you, the artwork and horses will still be here too, I promise! 

Oh and I have yet to show you what I am working on for the Equine Jubilee!! Next post I'll share that one, so come back soon!