Meet the beautiful Major’s Summer Breeze. I had the opportunity to photograph Summer and her person, Lauren, at Hidden Hills Farm & Saddle Club in Ooltewah, Tennessee during the fall.
Summer is a 22-year-old Missouri Fox Trotter, which is a breed that developed from light harness horses and saddle horses in the Ozark hills during the 1800s.
The Story of Summer
Summer is a former North American Riding for the Handicapped Association, Inc. (NARHA) therapy horse. As such she is rarely phased by anything. Tractors, loud children, tents and other things that might cause a typical horse to sit up and take notice barely even register on Summer’s attention scale.
Even though she is 22-years-old, Summer still loves to go jumping and galloping across the fields. She even gets competitive when racing her buddies.
Summer gave birth to one foal around 11 years ago. Approximately, 5 years ago, and through a complete fluke, both of their owners ended up boarding at Hidden Hills Farm & Saddle Club and he ended up being in the same herd as her. Ah, reunited and it feels so good!
Fun Facts about Missouri Fox Trotters
The breed association for the Missouri Fox Trotter was not established until 1948. Currently, there are more than 80,000 Missouri Fox Trotters registered in the United States and beyond. The majority of them are found in the United States with approximately 1,000 in Europe. Of those in Europe, Germany seems to have the highest concentration of the breed.
Like most breeds, there is a Sire behind how the breed emerged. In this case, the sire was “Old Fox” and his job was to train cattle in Missouri.
Fox Trotters are durable horses that are extremely surefooted. Due to this, they are very popular with those who compete in long-distance endurance riding. They are also a popular choice for forest rangers who frequently have to go into a variety of rough terrain.
Since 1982, only horses from registered parents are allowed to be entered into the book.
Betsy Bird of Ride the Sky Equine Photography spends her days doing insane things to make horses look at her. Clearly, she’s desperate for attention. When she’s not celebrating the stories of the amazing horses in her clients’ lives, she invests time and energy into perfecting her equine photography skills and growing her business, hanging with her favorite rescue dog, Nitro, and planning her next big adventure. She also tries to spend some time educating and entertaining her fans and potential clients by blogging and posting on social media about whatever catches her fancy at the moment.
Betsy is a Certified Professional Photographer (CPP) with the organization Professional Photographers of America (PPA). The CPP designation is held by fewer than 2,000 photographers nationwide and is a hallmark of consistency, technical skill, artistry, and professionalism. Ride the Sky specializes in on-location photography for equines. Ride the Sky also has the option of bringing the studio to the stable. Based in Chattanooga, TN, Ride the Sky Equine Photography works on location in Tennessee, North Georgia, and beyond.