 |
| no i cannot tell you what is happening here |
I mean, we all know I'm not a pro of any sort and the only horse I train is my own, so I have no vested interest in a perfectly curated online presence for any reason other than my own vanity. Plus, if you've been reading this blog for any length of time, I'd venture you have no illusions of grandeur regarding my own riding.
I fail. Frequently. Publicly. Hilariously.
 |
| and i stayed on even |
I mean, I love those pictures that make me look like I know my shit and have a handle on things, but we all know it's not a normal state of affairs around here.
So to me, part of being honest on my blog is being honest about what the day-to-day looks like. It's messy. It's hard. It's also funny. I'd be lying to you if I said every ride was great and I'd be lying to you if I said I didn't laugh my ass off at the pictures I've ended up with.
 |
| it's never not funny |
 |
| he's also not an xc horse |
If' you're
 |
| indoors or outdoors! |
Dude, I don't even GET photos of myself riding. Haha. I'd take whatever I was given, awesome or fail or both. It's all content, unless I'm selling that horse, I'm not concerned at all.
ReplyDeleteI have no idea how you deal with this situation. I've been known to do friends' laundry to get them to come take pictures of me. It's a sickness.
DeleteI've been judged by a couple of people pretty harshly for poor riding photos, so now I only post ones that look halfway decent. And since I rarely get anyone to take pictures of me, these are rare.
ReplyDeleteI like honesty on blogs, and I strive for the same on my blog as well.
ReplyDeleteBefore I started blogging I only posted photos on social media that I thought were good. As I continue to learn, sometimes I look back at the photos I thought were good four years ago and cringe.
ReplyDeleteNow that I've started blogging, I try to share bad photos too, especially if they illustrate something I'm writing about (like my "narcissistic" left hand haha). I think I'll still probably always post more good photos than bad (probably because I'm a ridiculously type A perfectionist), but I think for those of us who are blogging about our amateur riding journey, it's important to show the lows as well as the highs! We don't have to look like professionals all the time -- we aren't!
I used to only want to put good photos of myself. When I started the blog I promised that I would be honest and that included the 'bad' photos. The problem is that sometimes people use that to criticize. But now I'm 'whatever' about it.
ReplyDeleteI can understand why a pro would want to be careful of what gets posted. D had a video of Stinker and I on her professional Facebook page and someone months after it was posted commented with all the things that were wrong with it. But at the same time you can handle something like that in a professional manner.
ReplyDeleteAs far as I am concerned I much prefer video and GIFs to photos because they aren't a snapshot in time. I'm totally ok with fail photos of me and I am always up for a laugh at a fail. But there is a difference between a good joke at a fail and being rude about someone's riding. No one is going to look perfect all the time.
As a photographer, I tend to take pictures of everything: The good, the bad, and the horribly ugly. That being said, I try to use discretion when posting, and I generally only post bad photos of myself on my own horse. If I have permission from the subject I may share, but I definitely avoid posting anything bad about sale horses, whether or not I have permission, and whether or not the picture is of me riding.
ReplyDeleteWell and there's a huge difference between a good photo of a fail moment and just a plain bad photography. Bad photos annoy me. Good photos of fails are wildly entertaining.
DeleteLove the one of you guys jumping
ReplyDeleteAll fail fotos all the time. My blog is literally a shrine to them haha
ReplyDeleteI find your fail photos inspiring. I think by posting them you make everyone feel like they can be open and honest about their not so nice moments. I think it is important to own your progress and be able to laugh at those awkward moments. I just wish I had more photos to share (fail and win). I need to hire a photographer :)
ReplyDeleteClearly, Courage is trying to save you from a pit of quicksand in that second photo.
ReplyDeleteHumor is necessary in life, with or without horses. Fail photos are funny. I think it's a great way to see your mistakes and learn/move on, but not take yourself too seriously.
LOL that last meme.
ReplyDeletelook i love fail pictures. and videos. i finally have my dad trained not to throw down the camera in distress when i fall off and he gets GREAT videos now!! and a couple weeks ago when I was playing photographer i got a sweet fall (horse and rider were fine) and i actually think she bought low quality versions of it bc it was extremely epic
professionals are dumb, theyve ruined their hobby by turning it into a job. what do they know ;)
Ha! My feelings exactly.
DeleteDon't ever stop posting your fail pictures. The only reason I don't have more is that I don't usually have someone to take pictures while I ride. But trust me, we fail ALL THE TIME even though it's not documented. I think being brutally honest about everything is what makes blogs so enjoyable to read.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I LOVE your fail photos and your attitude. Not because bad things happen and create photos, but because you're secure enough to post and show everyone that you and your horse aren't perfect, which, no one is. No horse is.
ReplyDeleteI try to force everyone into taking photos of me during bad moments. Horse is bucking? Don't you dare stop taking photos!
Without humor, life with horses would be terrible. Can't be serious all the time!
I love pictures where I look good and my horse looks good. I'll happily post a picture of my horse looking good and/or happy and me looking like a spaz. Hey, anyone that knows me knows I have lots of spaz moments. I keep pictures of my horse looking upset/wrong close to the chest. I don't have many of those, but I don't want to invite the armchair professionals in to tell me how I'm abusing my clearly distressed horse.
ReplyDeleteDon't ever stop posting the fail pictures! Even in the midst of the most epic fails you two look so amazing together. I'm seriously jealous! Also, I'm impressed by how confident you are in the posting of them and the laughing at the funny enough to make awesome memes. Even if I could convince people to photograph my horse time for me, I don't know if I'd be brave enough to actually post them without your making it so cool.
ReplyDeleteI can understand why trainers and clinicians can be very picky about photos and videos of them that go online, but for us bloggers, sharing is caring! Love all the fail memes and its good that we all laugh at ourselves.
ReplyDeleteI am truly jealous of the amount of fail pics you have. I wish I had more TBH
ReplyDeleteI'm a professional rider and I don't mind my fail photos unless the horse is for sale. People are gonna see me suck whether I'm ammy or pro, and I may as well have a good attitude about it!
ReplyDeleteSome great photos there! I don't have any like that, but there has been plenty of opportunity!
ReplyDeleteI love a good fail picture as much as the next person, but they can be taken out of context, so it's easy to understand why a pro wouldn't want any out there.
ReplyDeleteThe trick is to fail so terribly that there's no possible context in which a human being would want to do what you're doing, so there's literally not a positive interpretation.
DeleteI personally love fail photos. People can pretend all they want that they ride perfectly all the time, and their horse is always on the bit. But that's not reality. We all struggle (maybe not Charlotte D?) ... it's funny because we all relate!
ReplyDelete