With Badminton Horse Trials not far off the horizon, I am looking back to last year when I was at Badminton for the Voltaire Designs Badminton Grassroots.
Following on a beautiful equine portrait photoshoot in the Spring of 2021, I was commissioned to capture Maddie and Barney’s first Badminton Grassroots, telling their story from start to finish. The day was bittersweet, because Maddie was heading off to University later on in the year and her partnership with Barney would be coming to an end as he headed off to a new home, ready to impart his knowledge to his next lucky rider.
Maddie has a fantastic support team around her, including Mum Mia and Dad Nick, making the day a real family affair. The lorry park was a buzz of nervous activity as riders prepared for dressage tests, frantically checked their phones for results and prepared for the next phases.
I focused on being a ‘fly on the wall’, capturing those behind the scenes moments such as Mum looking on as her daughter put their jacket and bib on for her dressage test, to Maddie having a chat with Barney before getting on board. I felt so privileged to be invited to capture this momentous day, I got quite emotional as Maddie crossed the finish line at cross country, embracing her Mum through tears of joy and kisses.
We put together a beautiful leather bound album filled with her Badminton Grassroots debut memories for Maddie and her family to treasure, celebrating a wonderful partnership.
“I just wanted to drop you a quick message to say that you captured the whole Badminton experience perfectly. We are over the moon with the images and will treasure the album forever. We could have filled 10 albums and the choice was so difficult as each photos stunning and captured an individual moment. The final choice tells the story so well – thank you xxx” – Mia Loweth
