I first met Jess early in 2015 when I was visiting Natasha Baker’s yard to take some pictures of Natasha and her horses, and I still can remember her warm welcome and the offer of a tea! Jess is Natasha’s full-time groom, who manages the yard and goes to local competitions with the team.

Having met her before, we were thrilled when Jess asked us if we would capture her with her own horse ‘Zotti’, on one of our visits to the yard in May.

Zotti is a 12 year old KWPN mare, whom Jess has owned since she was 4 years old, bred from stallion San Remo, and mare Otti. Zotti’s grandad was a famous and talented Oldenburg showjumper, Peter Pan – and with those amazing bloodlines, she also clearly inherited some great looks, as you can see in the photographs! She just has THE prettiest head!

 

 

Jess lived in Holland for 13 years before coming back to UK three years ago: “I bought her over there as a four year old, and she was my first horse. She’s generally very quiet and placid, and has become more cuddly since we moved back to UK, as I can spend more time with her now that she is on the yard with me. She likes her routine, can be a bit nervous going to new places, but is very loving and great with children too.”

Having only ever seen Jess on the yard in classic grooms clothing of jodhpurs and tops, we were completely impressed with her choice of outfits for her shoot – she really listened to our advice and suggestions before the shoot! I also loved her choice of tack for Zotti, who wore a blue/brown headcollar first followed by a black leather bridle  a pretty decorated browband and no noseband – this really showed off her lovely bone structure and head.

We started Jess’ session with some cuddly head shots of Jess in the stable, we could see Zotti was very much in her comfort zone, and with the help of a few treats, we soon had the shots in the bag.

 

Jess then got changed (another impressive outfit and a also hair style change!) and we headed up the lane around the corner from the farm  to capture some shots of them in a natural, green background. Apart from a few distractions with Zotti whinnying and eyeing the stallions grazing in a field nearby, this part went smoothly!

Jess had asked for a few shots with Natasha so we left Zotti in her box, Jess changed again and we captured a few portraits of them in one of the barns. Its fairly obvious when you spend any amount of time with these two that they are like sisters/partners in crime/best buddies!!

 

 

Finally, we finished with a few flash lit shots in the arena, with Jess in a lovely smart shirt and jacket again, a lovely finale.

 

If you’re interested in booking a shoot with your horse/s we’d love to hear from you either for a chat to discuss ideas or a booking – you can contact us here, or email jo@johansfordphotography.com.