An Equine Photoshoot in Herts with Charlie, Bea & Tink

On an autumnal Tuesday morning in October, I drove over to Dunstable in Hertfordshire and received the warmest of all warm welcomes by devoted horse owner Charlie and her two beautiful mares, Bea and Tink. Here is a recap of our session together.

Setting the seasonal scene

One of the things I get asked most this time of year is about the weather. "What do we do if it rains?". My answer is always tiered. It depends on the rain - if it's non stop down pour, of course we just rearrange, however if we get what happened on Charlie's shoot day (no rain forecast, but intermittent light showers), we work around it, we keep you as dry as possible and we duck in and out under cover taking lots of short breaks where needed!

We truly had every season this day, from bright bursts of sunshine to short light showers, and then the perfect overcast cloudy moments too. It was pretty windy at moments but we worked with it and were able to produce beautiful results for Charlie to treasure of her wonderful girls forever!

Charlie's outfits

My best advice when choosing photoshoot outfits is always to dress for the season. We don't need to freeze or overheat ourselves wearing something entirely impractical. Charlie did a fantastic job and planned for all eventualities! We had lots of layers - big thumbs up for Autumn photoshoots!

Outfit 1 was a cosy sweater, comfy well fitting jeans, a Barbour wax coat and a pair of clean Le Chameau wellies. Charlie wanted to channel her country roots and relaxed demeanour, and it also ensured we eased ourselves into the photoshoot comfortably.

Outfit 2 was a frilly embroidered shirt with a cable knit sleeveless jumper. Charlie went for a wine coloured fedora by McKenzie & George with her feathered pin, and a gorgeous pair of tan Fairfax & Favour Regina boots! This look acted as our elevated, smart look - the look you'd never normally wear around the horses day to day but one that is easily glam enough for a trot up!

Both outfits ensured changing was simple, they were practical for walking around the yard to get to the various shoot locations and warm enough for the breezy day we found ourselves with!

Charlie's mares

Bea is a gorgeous ID mare who we decided was absolutely born to be photographed in Autumn! Her vibrant chestnut colouring and noble looks really were a photographers dream - Bea used to be a very anxious girl. Separation anxiety in horses is a tricky challenge to deal with and Bea has come on in leaps and bounds since finding her peace from being supported by the clever Miri Hackett and her brilliant team at Hackett Equine.

Piebald girl Tink is a newer addition to the family - Charlie acquired her after what was supposed to be more of a temporary arrangement... it happens to many of us, they come along and never end up leaving! I find we often discover they're sent and find their way to us for a reason. Tink has the most amazing front and is a lovely little compact streamlined Cob! She'll turn her hoof to most things and again, like Bea, is a cheery character to be around.

Two very happy and content horses made my job a total joy!

The viewing session

I'm the biggest hotel nerd and absolutely adore working from comfy, cosy lounges in front of an open fire or beautiful window view. We chose to meet at Sopwell House the following week after our photoshoot - convenient as both Charlie and I are the sort of people who love nothing more than sitting down somewhere gorgeous with a cup of tea for a good old chin wag! So we found ourselves a lovely little nook and watched all of Charlie's photographs back - tears made an appearance (it happens a lot more than you'd think!) but happy ones, of course.

I know how much this experience meant to Charlie and I'm so honoured that I could be the one to deliver that to her, with the fantastic help of the whole team at Hackett Equine. Thank you for trusting me Charlie, you have been a really wonderful lady to work for.