Independent project to promote the Whoa Podcast about Horses and Horsemanship.
Mission: Cover the "Mustang Makeover" type of event for the Vaquero Heritage Challenge (VHTC). The VHTC is an event where 6 trainers take a horse roaming the wild areas of Tehachapi, California. For three months they train the horse, then the trainers compete with the horses to demonstrate training both on the ground and under-saddle.
Goal: Demonstrate the train-ability of the the horses to promote adoption and shrink the numbers of horses on open land.
Challenges: Horse events are difficult to photograph with the busy backgrounds, corral panels, and tough lighting. Audio recording is challenging with outside background noise and wind.
Accomplishments: Coverage of the event in podcast, video, and photos on social media has increased the adoption rate of these horses. In 2015, I participated as one of the trainers in the the VHTC and own one of the wild horses today.
Video Coverage of the VHTC
Photos of the VHTC
Stepping into the saddle
Five of the six competitive trainers.
Steve Perron getting to know his horse
Unique perspectives heighten interest.
Demonstrating connection.
Demonstrating trust.
Trust from both horse and trainer.