clean up with good grooming!

Seems like a no-brainer, doesn't it? But alas, I've seen photos of horses for sale that are unkempt, shaggy, stained or mud-coated. If you want to best present your breeding stock or sales horses on your website, give them an Olympic grooming—gleaming glossy coat, white whites, stray hairs trimmed.

Sure some work can be done in Photoshop, if you have the capability, but it's best to actually start off with a clean horse. Use Quick Silver on the white socks and stockings and white facial markings. If you can't fully bathe a grey horse, use a product like "Cowboy Magic" to clean up the manure and urine stains. Baby powder is also helpful at hiding stubborn stains.

If you don't have time to bathe or the weather is not coopoerating, make sure to give your horse a good grooming and use a towel to smooth off the last bit of dust and make the coat shine. Use thinning sheers, pull or trim the mane, depending on the breed. If your horses traditionally have natural long manes, then makes sure they are brushed. You can also use a hair shining product to make them look luxuriously silky. Same with the tails...brush them out with a detangling product and fluff them up.

Trim up “goat hairs” and fetlock hairs. Trim muzzles if it’s your preference, but avoid trimming the hairs around the eyes, as those are important protection for the horse. Trim the bridle path and trim and bang the tail if that's traditional. Braiding the mane is not necessary, but that extra care does make for a nice presentation.

Try not to take photos of sweaty horses. If you are doing action shots and conformation shots, do the conformation shots first, before the horse runs around and gets out of breath.

Keep towels, fly spray, and brushes and combs nearby for touch-ups and to wipe mouths, nostrils, eyes, and coats as needed and to spray them if the flies become a nuisance. Some fly sprays also help to enhance a shiny coat.

Obviously the best time to take photos of horses is when they are sleek with their summer coats, but if you are need to take photos in the winter and can't shave the horses, put a blanket with a nylon lining on the horse overnight or at least for a few hours to help make the coat lie flat and look shinier.

A little extra effort can go a long way towards presenting your horses on your website as the champions they are or will be.

Here are two photos showing beautifully groomed and trimmed Pure Spanish mares at the opposite ends of the spectrum, a pristine white coat and a gleaming black coat. The manes and tails are trimmed in the traditional Spanish way.

Since your website is often times a potential client's first impression of you, your farm and your horses you want to make sure you give them a positive and lasting image. Make it count!

It's always best to hire a professional for your photo shoot. And not just any professional, but one who specializes in horses. Not only do they have the best equipment and technical knowledge of photography and lighting, they also have the skilled eye to capture equines at their most beautiful. There is an obvious difference between photos taken by professionals on websites. When you start looking for it, you will see it clearly.

If you would like to schedule a photo shoot with our photographer contact us at and let us know if you would like a website designed (or redesigned)!

Website tip by Carolynne Smith
Gray mare: Fabulilla MR owned byWatchman P.R.E. Horses
Black mare: Marabella KR owned by Yeguada Charileen
Photos by Natalie Hays>

stand up to stand out!

Since your website is often times a potential client's first impression of you, your farm and your horses you want to make sure you give them a positive and lasting image. Just like when you first enter the ring at a horse show, you want to put your horse's best foot forward so the judge immediately thinks you are going to ride a medal winning performance. Your web presence should be no different.

To best show your stallions, mares, and sales horses on your website, ideally you want an "open stance" where all 4 legs are visible from profile view with the horse alert with ears pricked with neck slightly raised and extended forward, yet still relaxed enough that there is a slight, natural bascule. The horses' head can be in profile, or slightly turned towards the photographer. If the horse is holding his head too high, it may appear to give him an upside down neck with the lower muscles bulging. Traditionally, the right front leg should be slightly back and the right hind leg slightly forward, with the left front leg perpendicular to the ground and the left hind cannon perpendicular to the ground as well. You do not want the horse leaning forward over his front legs with the back legs "camped out".

The handler should try their best to be at least a few feet from the horse as to stay out of the photo, holding the reins or leather lead loosely. Best to pose adult horses in a bridle or traditional headgear, for instance it's nice to see Spanish horses presented in their presentation halters with the rosettes and ribbons and Friesians with their white headstalls. Foals are best presented in clean leather halters with a leather lead, or no head gear if you can get them to stand on their own. Try to avoid ugly rope or nylon halters with bright colored nylon or cotton leads unless you are prepared to Photoshop them out. They are distracting and look unprofessional.

This example shows a horse that is properly stood up.

Website tip by Carolynne Smith
Photo of Watchman P.R.E.'s Europa by www.66northphotography.com

Proper lighting shows your horses in the proper light!

Since your website is often times a potential client's first impression of you, your farm and your horses you want to make sure you give them a positive and lasting image. Just like when you first enter the ring at a horse show, you want to put your horse's best foot forward so the judge immediately thinks you are going to ride a medal winning performance. Your web presence should be no different.

With that in mind, when presenting your horses on your website, it is important to have photos that show your horses at their best. In general, the best time to take photos are mornings and evenings, when the sun is at an angle and not directly overhead to avoid harsh shadows from the high noon light. Always take photos with the sun behind you so that the horse is clearly lit.

Yes, I know this tip may seem like a no-brainer, but these are very common mistakes. And this is one of the easiest things to remedy!

This example shows a horse that is properly lit.

Website tip by Carolynne Smith
Photo by www.66northphotography.com

What is a Brand?

A brand is two things – it is the representation of a business, and it’s the emotional association in the consumer’s mind.

Your brand is a fully expressed description of your company, product or service, and its position in the marketplace. This includes your business’s personality, its feel and the lifestyle associated with the brand.

Your brand represents the fundamental principles of your business – your company’s ‘reason for being’, and this should be understood by anyone who comes into contact with it.

Your brand is what the consumer thinks and feels about your company, product or service – it’s this mental and emotional association that is behind a consumer’s purchase.

It’s the inherent and perceived value the consumer places on your business.

A brand is a shortcut into the consumer’s buying power. It’s a direct ‘plug in’ to the emotion involved in a purchase.

Your brand is a promise; a promise of quality, satisfaction and authenticity.

A brand determines the position and strength of your marketing strategies, as it is the ‘vocabulary’ for all of the your ‘conversations’ in the marketplace.

Article by Jodi Riddick

The Value of a Website as a Marketing Tool

There are many easy-to-use website tools these days. This encourages small business owners to think of electronic marketing as a do it yourself project but this inclination may warrant second thoughts. A website is similar to wedding photographs...they make a lasting impression and are seen many times by a variety of people; some who don't know you. A great deal of thought and planning goes into a wedding so just the right image is created and beautiful memories are captured on film. A business website merits the same kind of thought. Strangers will see it and form an indelible opinion.  Once more, they will communicate their opinion to others.  The business will be stuck with the projected impression.

The business owner may be an expert on their product and have well thought out ideas about sales and marketing but to effectively project an image that is positive and flattering requires another kind of expertise. Electronic marketing is a two edge sword. On one hand, it provides constant access to sales material, it creates a lasting impression and instantly updates with new information. These exact qualities can be negatives if there is no branding strategy, cohesive sales message and thoughtful updating with new images and text. No website is probably better than an amateurish effort because while the creator is working hard to improve their product or service, the website can be projecting a mediocre impression. Electronic marketing services are available to suit most budgets and is money well spent. Just like wedding pictures, the website provides a permanent picture of you.

Article by Terry Waechter