Charlotte and Scooter
It was a joy to work with Charlotte and Scooter again for the Jump for Hope Amberlea Horse Show. After having to cut our session short earlier in May, it had always been the intention to continue our session at Jump for Hope and I was even more pleased with Charlotte booked me for another day. It was a pleasure to get to know her and Scooter the first time and I was looking forward to spending more time with both of them and watching them excel at their rides. So far that show season they had already been cleaning up at RMSJ, Spruce Meadows and other shows.
Arriving at the show grounds, I found Charlotte in the grooming stall, putting on Scooter's corks. They were at the very end of the barn, with a lake sized puddle outside their door, clear evidence of the kind of summer we had been having. Today was sunny though and that's all that mattered. I was thrilled to see them again and quickly got to capturing some quiet moments and catching up with Charlotte. Scooter is such a handsome horse and instantly captures the attention of anyone, and especially anyone with a camera, you can't not take a picture of him, he is just too good looking. Charlotte has certainly heard me gush over how handsome he is many times now, but I seriously can't get over it.
As per usual, this show was a lot of "hurry up and wait", with the class before Charlotte's taking nearly an extra hour to finish. It wasn't a bother to me though and gave me plenty of time to chat with Charlotte and learn new quirks about Scoots, such as his love for timbits and ramen noodles(supposedly the only thing he won't eat is chips). Next time I'm going to have to bring something more creative than just peppermints, although he did love those too. It was wonderful to catch up with Charlotte and hear about how her show season had been going so far and what she had planned for next year. There are certainly big things ahead for this pair and I can't wait to see what they accomplish next! For now though Charlotte was looking forward to the break that they would both be taking after this show. As I was going on my own holiday soon I totally understood the need to take some time off!
After waiting around for a little too long we were all excited to hear the announcer call that they were setting for Charlotte's class. We left the barn and headed towards the warm up ring.
Although the grand prix ring was what the day was all about, it was impressive even just watching Charlotte and Scooter warm up. The highest I've jumped was 1.20m and it was one fence and I was terrified. Looking at the sizes of fences that Charlotte jumps with ease is incredibly impressive. It takes a lot of heart and trust in your horse to do that.
Charlotte was one of the first to go in her classes, since the other riders were still warming up. Her and Scooter entered the ring with poise and were soon headed for the first fence. I only got to watch the round through the small viewfinder on my camera but even then it was impeccable. I'm always in awe watching the big grand prix classes and Charlotte and Scooter make it look so effortless. They went clear and were soon on to the jump off. They made some quick and sharp turns and had an excellent round, except for one unlucky rail. Charlotte came out happy and still in 3rd place. By the end of the class they were just out of the placings but Charlotte rode beautifully and it was clear she was happy with her round.
Scooter was happy to head back to his stall, a little less happy to get his legs hosed off and his ice boots put on but I gave him plenty of peppermints to cheer him up. I may admit that I lingered a bit longer than I usually would after a round, because this pair is just so much fun to be around. They are certainly one to watch in the equestrian world, not only because of their incredible talent and Scooters ability to jump but because of Charlotte's down to earth attitude and caring attitude towards her horse. We next have portraits planned together and I am so excited to get to know these two more and capture more of their memories together! Look out for their next feature in the blog, it'll be a good one!
