How to Prepare For Your Equine Photoshoot
Preparing Yourself
What to Wear
Don't feel pressure to buy all new clothes, gather a mix of outfits to give yourself some options and select something that reflects your style, personality, and that compliments your horse's coat. I highly suggest checking out Pintrest to get some outfit ideas. You can always talk to your photographer about what to wear. You can even use your show clothes!
Hair and Makeup
Hiring a professional hair and makeup artist is strongly recommended as well as treating yourself to a mani/pedi. It's not an absolute necessity, especially if your confident and have a good understanding about what looks good. But the camera really does see everything. If you do end up doing your own make up remember to use a bit more foundation than you normally would and blend it well.
Preparing Your Horse
Practice Makes Perfect
It's important to make sure your horse will be comfortable during the session. Spending time in the location you want to shoot in and practicing your poses beforehand
is a great place to start to ensure your session goes smoothly and you get the look you are wanting to achieve.
What to Wear
Depending on the look you are going for you may want your horse to be in tack. Make sure your saddle, bridle, and pad are clean and well fitted. If you plan to be in your show clothes your horse would benefit from being in their show tack. That being said you may not want tack at all and opt for a nice leather halter. Rope halters are always a plus as they are easily edited out.
Early Bird Gets the Worm
Make sure you get to the barn early with extra time to spare it also helps to have some extra hands on deck to make sure your horse is looking flawless.
I would suggest getting the horse ready first, start off with a lunge and once they are calmed down and more tired, prepare your horse like you would for any horse show. Give them a bath, braid or band their hair, and make sure they are glowing and spotless. If your going for that classic show look don't forget hoof polish and shine spray as well as face polish. But don't use black as it can get all over your outfit!
Once your pony is all ready to go, tie them up and get yourself ready. It helps to have a bucket of grain or treats for rewards as well as fly spry, a brush, and towels just in case.
Relax
Once the photographer gets there, take a deep breath and relax. This is all about fun and documenting you and your horse's bond. Think about how much this horse means to you and smile away.