I was out shooting barns and horses and hay bales the other morning when I stopped at a small horse farm in Bowers, PA that I knew had adult horses, ponies and mini-horses along with Alpacas and several other types of animals. These two ponies would taunt one another until one of them would raise up on two legs, enticing the other one to “dance” for a while before the taunting would start all over again. It was fun to watch.

Nikon D300 with a Tamron 28-300mm F3.6-6.3 LD lens, manual priority mode, single exposure @ F5.6, 1/125 second, ISO 640.

I blended several textures from Kim Klassen in order to get the soft, aged, painterly look I was going for.

I found several Ponies grazing in a field next to the Red Caboose Motel and Restaurant in Strasburg, PA on Sunday. I had to wait about an hour to get one of them lined up with the American flag on the fence and the Amish farm in the background. While I was waiting, a baby Pony kept on coming over and poking his head through the fence wanting me to pet his mane. These are the moments that take you away from the 9 to 5 grind of the work week and allow you to relax and just enjoy life.

D300, aperture priority mode, F8, ISO 200.

I found this horse on a farm in Union County Pennsylvania during a covered bridge photography trip back on 4-2-2010. He was a very friendly and curious fellow. I was trying to shoot a barn at the time and the horse kept on getting in my shot until I took its photo and pet him on the nose. I seem to have a way with cows and horses.

Shot as a single exposure with my Sigma 10-20mm on the D300.

Two horses graze in a field in front of the Bertolet barn at the Daniel Boone Homestead. It was really windy today with gusts up to 50MPH so it was a challenge to try and find things to photograph. The value of a good quality sturdy tripod cannot be underestimated on a day like today.

I shot this as five bracketed RAW frames at .7 stop variance and then combined them into an HDR and toned mapped them with Photomatix Pro to create the final product. I’d like to thank the horses for the minimal amount of movement in between shots. They were especially cooperative today.

For more information on visiting the Daniel Boone Homestead visit their web site.

This horse wanted to be in every shot. Such a ham.

Shot as a single exposure with my Sigma 10-20mm on the D300.

On my way to try and locate the Hubler Covered Bridge in Union County today I came up on this farm with these friendly horses. The tan colored horse really caught my eye because of the color. You don’t see many horses that color in Pennsylvania. He seemed to be both curious and very friendly and came right up to the fence and let me pet his nose. You folks who live in the city don’t know what you are missing by not being able to interact with animals like this on your journeys. I never did locate the bridge (one of many GPS failures during this particular day) but I got to make some new horse friends.

Shot as a single exposure with my Sigma 10-20mm on the D300.

I was out driving around randomly in the middle of nowhere after work today just looking for interesting things to photograph when I came upon this farm called “Skyline Stables” near Alburtis, PA. I couldn’t pass up the chance to photograph these beautiful horses in the magic hour light of the setting sun.

Apparently Skyline Stables is a full service Horse farm with horses for sale, a tack store, riding lessons and a Summer riding camp for kids ages 7-17. More information on their web site.

“When you look into my eyes
And you see the crazy gypsy in my soul
It always comes as a surprise
When I feel my withered roots begin to grow
Well I never had a place that I could call my very own
That’s all right, my love, ’cause you’re my home” – “You’re My Home” by Billy Joel

For more information on Gypsy Vanner horses, check out http://www.VannerCentral.com/.

I shot this while at the Eastern PA Horse Horse Expo at AG Hall in Allentown, PA on 4-4-2009. This particular horse was expecting at the time I made this image and has since delivered her foal. With all the rain we have been having the past week, I needed to post something bright and cheery.

Logan, a Miniature Horse at the Eastern PA Spring Horse Expo held at Ag Hall in the Allentown Fairgrounds on Saturday 4-4-2009. They had two minis there at the show, one dark and one tan and white.

For more information on miniature horses, check out Lil’ Beginnings Miniature Horses and the Keystone Miniature Horse Club.

I spent part of Saturday at the Eastern PA Spring Horse Expo held at Ag Hall in the Allentown Fairgrounds. They had a handful of horses outside with demonstrations in a paddock area. Most of the show was indoors and featured vendors selling anything and everything having to do with Equestrian pursuits.

I had never photographed a horse before so I figured I’d give it a shot. I think, if I heard correctly, the horse on the right is a Gypsy Horse and she was “with child”. She had a beautiful mane of hair and with all the wind we had on Saturday, it would blow back and forth like a super model throwing her hair side to side. I think I’ve been around horses less than an hour in my entire life so this was a cool experience for me. The horses they had there were each unique in their own way and all very friendly.

I wish I had the chance to photograph a horse like this out in the open field. With the Sigma 10-20mm super wide angle, a shot like this needs a nice open pasture behind the subject to really shine.