Cover Photo #48

Thursday May 31 2018

I've been waiting for the surprise to hit the fan. 

I knew my photo would be on a cover of Endurance News, I just didn't know which cover or when. It's the next June issue!

It just so happens that my 48th cover photo features my good friend Connie and her horse DWA Saruq (one I've ridden in a couple endurance rides), who was bred by my good friends Helen and Archie of DWA Arabians.

I kept it a secret, and the timing was such that I told Connie her birthday surprise was in the mail. Helen and Archie will be thrilled, too, when they find out. They breed wonderful Arabians, and they have long contributed to our sport of endurance, so it's lovely that one of their home-bred horses is now a cover boy!

And The Winner Is….

Sunday March 2 2014

Gold Dust.

I had nearly 200 votes from readers when I asked them to vote on a cover photo for my upcoming book, Soul Deep in Horses: Memoir of an Equestrian Vagabond.

The voting percentages:

#1 Gold Dust - 44.4%

#2 Stormy Herd - 20%

#3 Stormy Water V - 11.2%

#4 Doobie - 8.8%

#5 Harry - 4.8%

#6 Stormy Water I - 4.1%

#7 Dusting - 3%

#8 All photos - 2.4%

#9 None of the photos - .8%

Plus two write-ins for my avatar

I randomly numbered all the voters who chose Gold Dust for their first and only choice, and I used a random number generator to pick the winner of an autographed copy of my book.

I'm thrilled to award it to Imke Lamsma from the Netherlands! (And I'm also happy one of the "Anonymous" voters didn't win, because that person might have been a little hard to track down : )

This brings back happy memories . . . I first visited Imke and her family in the Netherlands in 2007 when she was a wee shy horse loving 8-year-old girl, who had just recently completed her first 8 kilometer endurance ride on her Shetland pony Panter.

Imke is on the right

Nearing my publishing date of April 1, I will post the resultant cover that I will design from this photo.

Thank all of you for participating - one voter coined it as "my Tribe" participating in my book journey. I appreciate all of you who took the time to write comments - many of them very well thought out. They often made me see my photography in a different light. I am glad you have all chosen to be a part of this ride, and I hope you'll all enjoy the finished work.

Southern Racehorse Cover Shot - 2014 Stallion Register

Tuesday December 3 2013

My photo of the Thoroughbred stallion Gold Legend (Seattle Slew - Gold Beauty, by Mr Prospector) is on the photo of the Southern Racehorse 2014 Stallion Register.

The handsome stallion stood at Valor Farm in Texas (where I shot him) before moving to Esquirol Farms in Alberta, Canada, where he passed away April 12, 2010.

That is my 44th cover photo/s on 7 different magazines, including New Zealand and France!

See more samples of my published work here:
http://www.theequestrianvagabond.com/PUBLISHED.html

Thanks again, editor Denis Blake!

The Horsemen's Journal Cover Shot - Summer 2013

Saturday June 8 2013

My photo of a Thoroughbred foal is on the cover of the Summer 2013 issue of The Horsemen's Journal, the official publication of the National HBPA (Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association), editor Denis Blake.

This makes 42 cover photos on 7 different magazines, including magazines in New Zealand and France!

More samples of my published work are here:
http://www.theequestrianvagabond.com/PUBLISHED.html

Thanks again, editor Denis Blake!

Southern Racehorse: March/April Cover

Wednesday March 27 2013

My photo of a horse jogging on the racetrack in the morning fog is on the cover of the March/April 2013 issue of the Southern Racehorse.

I relish shooting many horse disciplines. This summer my goal is rodeos - so appropriate here in the West, and cutting - a discipline I'd like to try in the saddle, though I expect I'd fall off a good cutting horse! I should probably stick to staying behind the lens there.

More samples of my published work are here:
http://www.theequestrianvagabond.com/PUBLISHED.html

Thanks again, editor Denis Blake!

Coverboy: Horsemen's Journal - Winter 2012

Friday February 1 2013

I am remiss: I didn't flaunt Stormy's fourth magazine cover!

This is the cover of the winter 2012 issue of The Horsemen's Journal, the official publication of the National HBPA (Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association), editor Denis Blake. I took the photo of my retired Thoroughbred racehorse in a snowstorm, who, as most of you know, or should know, just happens to be The Most Beautiful Horse On The Planet. (I am not biased; it is just a fact.)

Stormy's been featured twice on the cover of the Washington Thoroughbred, once on the cover of Southern Racehorse, and now on The Horsemen's Journal.

The rest of the Owyhee herd isn't so impressed. They keep Stormy in his humble place by chasing him around. And anyway, Stormy would rather just eat than look at himself on a magazine cover, but I sure enjoy his celebrity!

Cover Boy: Southern Racehorse

Wednesday January 2 2013

The Most Beautiful Horse On the Planet, and former Thoroughbred racehorse, Stormy, is on the cover of the November/December issue of the http://southernracehorse.com/

It's actually the third time Stormy has been on the cover of a magazine! It never goes to his head though. Really, all he wants to do is eat, and he does that very well.

Thanks again to editor Denis Blake!

Cover Girl

Tuesday November 1 2011

That's my photo on the cover of this month's Endurance News magazine, of my friend Nance and her horse Jasbo (LJ Jasuur Haraka) during a vet check at our May Owyhee Fandango 100 miler.

Nance has over 8000 endurance miles, Jasbo has over 4200 miles (and he was bred by crick neighbors Rick and Carol of Lost Juniper Ranch!), and they have two Tevis buckles together. I rode Jasbo on his very first 50-mile endurance ride in Death Valley in 2005. I also remember him dumping me once while riding him around here when he was 4 or 5. I'm not sure if he's ever gotten Nance off, but he can still be a stinker! But a lovable one. And a tough one!

I thought it made a great picture, Jasbo eating contentedly while Nance took a little doze in the sunshine.

No Living With Him Now

Tuesday January 27 2009

Boy, ONE picture on the cover of a magazine, and it all goes to his head.

Stormy's no longer just another brown horse in Owyhee county, or just another ex-racehorse. He's a BIG STAR. He's a DIVA. And he's got BIG DEMANDS now.

Free and full access to all the alfalfa and grain he wants. A bucket of carrots twice a day. A gold blanket. A silver water trough. A new five-horse shiny aluminum padded trailer. A gilded stall. Adulation from his fans.

Actually, he took one look at his photo and, seeing it was a magazine, and not a magazine with a carrot inside, he stuck his head back in the hay.

He's got enough hay to eat, and he gets carrot treats. He doesn't need a blanket, he's got a nice warm winter coat. He has a running creek to drink from. He doesn't like stalls; he has a couple hundred acres to roam. He doesn't want a horse trailer, he likes it in Owyhee county just fine.

Food, treats, warmth, freedom... And he's got me, his biggest fan, who tends to adulate him to excess. Sometimes to his annoyance.

Coverboy, or no Coverboy, it makes no difference to him. He's already got all he needs.



- It's the Washington Thoroughbred magazine - Stormy's home racing state in his glory days!