Children’s portrait photography featuring ponies

I’ve been spending a lot of time with horses on my photo shoots recently, with a visit to the wonderful Ebony Horse Club in Brixton and also this wonderful photo shoot with ponies in Essex. I spoke a bit more about one of my favourite images from this shoot in my recent ‘Just One’ preview blog post – it’s been really lovely to do something a bit different, and I’ve been learning so much. I rode a little when I was younger (before a head injury put paid to that particular hobby) but I read oh-so-many-books on the subject – it’s lovely to remember all that excitement about the sheer joy of riding as I take pictures of children riding now. I love the concentration on the children’s faces as they go over a jump, the exhilaration as they speed to a gallop, and the tenderness as they groom and hug their ponies after a good ride. It’s wonderful to see.

These pictures are of my dear friend Jez Dickson and his beautiful family, and I was very lucky to have the opportunity to photograph them recently as they rode on a magical, misty morning. The girls were so much fun to photograph and happy to show me all their best riding skills and explaining all the different things to me, in particular the different aspects of grooming which had never featured in my weekly riding lessons when I was younger.

I really enjoyed watching the different types of riding – from jumping to dressage – and seeing what they involved. Our morning made for such an interesting set of pictures, pictures that I am really thrilled with and very pleased to share on the blog today. I do hope you enjoy this selection.