Author - selena

First day in the UK was a success! Rented a car, my brave husband drove us out to Bath (while I navigated) – it was definitely something out of National Lampoon’s Christmas vacation. Took the Roman Bath tour; had tea at the Jane Austen Center with mom, and walked (more…)

This morning was heartbreaking. Waking up and finding out your first horse  passed away tragically last night – there are no words. I handed Ryan (my husband the phone) as the tears poured out and
the uncontrollable sobs swept in. Julie, “Tim’s” current owner messaged me about what happened. “Literally in 2 hours he went from happily eating an apple and cribbing to being gone. I gave him a kiss from you on his soft nose and told him what a good boy he was. I miss him already, I’m exhausted, but I wanted to let you know first, because I know he was special to you too.”

Truly, he was a special horse. He was my first horse that I owned – I was so proud of him, even for the silly 4 year old he was at first. We spent so many beautiful moments together; out on the trails, jumping around the arena (crazy homemade jumps that he could’ve cared less about), galloping along the grassy lanes near the barn – we even played hooky from work one snowy sunny day and went for a trail ride with our besties (Amanda + Esperado). He gave me confidence to jump big, as he jumped everything I put in front of him – I could gallop him around bareback with a halter and lead rope. If you’ve ever owned your own horse, you know the feeling, the bond that is only between you and your horse. (more…)

Summer has been full of adventures, and I’ve been a Slacker (yes, with a capital S) in terms of blogging. There’s really no excuse as I’ve had many photographic adventures — thought I’d share this one. A few weekends ago, we took our friend Shannon out whale watching for her birthday! It was a beautiful day out on the water (yes, a few people lost their breakfast heading out – yours truly was NOT one of them) and an even better day to get OUT of the desert heat (108 that day?). Here’s a few of our adventures at sea, and although we saw no whales, we saw hundreds of dolphins, or porpoises (shows how well I was listening to the captain). PS. Our friend Shannon (the blonde) is single and ready to mingle! Just sayin’ =) (more…)

Although my road to London ended at Spruce, I am extremely thankful for the opportunity to have photographed the youngest equestrian athlete competing in London, Reed Kessler. She rides like a pro who’s been there and done that – truly, I think ice runs in her veins which I admit, made me a little shy to approach her. After a number of emails and texts, I spotted Reed schooling Mika on the flat under the watchful eye of (more…)

These past few weeks have been unbelievable for me. Although I came very close to attaining Media Credentials for the Olympics in London, I just didn’t quite make the cut. I’m over it, promise. I believe there’s a reason for everything, so I’m looking forward to whatever that is during the last few weeks in July and into August. Out of all the places I’ve travelled to this year, Spruce Meadows (Calgary, AB, Canada) takes first place. All 4 +1 alternate USA Showjumping Team members were (more…)

The shadows came out to play today!

Life has been BUSY and I can’t complain. I’ve been working on a number of different projects for various publications (which you will see in the coming months) and one project took me out to Somis, CA. As Ryan had a meeting with some of his business buddies in LA, we decided to make the trip together. After having lunch in (more…)

So much history behind eventing – especially the Rolex Kentucky 3-Day, I felt black and white would be a creative Closing out my 3rd Rolex and it was off the charts this year! Thank you to everyone for (more…)

Second inspection finished up this morning (9:32 EST) with 4 combos deciding to withdrawl from the final phase of competition – showjumping. Karen O’Connor, Marilyn Little-Meredith, and Allison Springer kept it hot on this chilly spring morning. Show jumping will (more…)

Well, let’s be honest, it’s actually 2 days that I’m wrapping into one post. Might be a bit longer, but you can just scroll through the photos and read later =)

Power-packed would be the understatement of the century for the 2012 Rolex 3-Day CCI 4*. Arriving 1 hour before the jog on Wednesday (oops! Forgot that time change from Nashville, TN to Lexington, KY) I have been going non-stop. Rider’s reception, Alltech Dinner, ROLEX RIDE THE COURSE, and not to mention all the photos I get to take on a daily basis! Rolex has been a bit like the battle of the sexes – the ladies (more specifically Karen O’Connor) took the win for (more…)