Du Quoin 2010 Spring Fling

Tonight I was processing some orders from the NCHA Weekend show and one of our regular clients purchased an image from the Spring Fling in Du Quoin, Il. It sort of struck me so I thought I would share it with all of you.

This is Rick Jackson riding Chinas Little Haida.

2010 Du Quoin Spring Fling

This past weekend, April 17th and 18th, we had the privilege of shooting the 2010 Du Quoin Spring Fling cutting show at the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds in Du Quoin, IL. Aside from watching a fantastic group of riders and horses, the cows were lively and the weather was almost perfect. Cutting is one of our specialties, but I will admit that there is nothing I really enjoy more than watching a good cutting horse work a cow.

I would like to thank everyone for making the weekend such a pleasant time again and a special thanks to Scott Shaw for his invaluable assistance throughout the show.

Here are a few images from the show, I hope you enjoy them as much as we did in taking them!

2009 NCHA Weekend Du Quoin, IL

I had the wonderful opportunity to shoot the 2009 NCHA Weekend event at the Du Quoin State Fairground in Du Quoin, IL. As with all the cutting shows, the people are great, the atmosphere wonderful and I get to spend over 30 hours watching some of the finest horses in the area. The Du Quoin State Fairgrounds has one of the nicest arenas in the state and there are many people that wish the Illinois State Fair would move the cutting show from the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield, IL to Du Quoin for that reason alone.

Cutting is a fast paced, excitement filled event that tests the ability of a horse to maintain control over a cow and during the 2 1/2 minutes the horse is in the ring, they may work as many cows as possible, although 2-3 is the average. Between the events in Byron, Rockford, Springfield and Du Quoin – Illinois has some of the finest events in the midwest.

Here are a few images from the 2009 NCHA Weekend event in Du Quoin, IL.

Rough Ride

Every once in a while, an accident occurs, horse stumbles, rider falls, you never quite know what will happen and sometimes it happens so fast you have little opportunity to capture it; then again, once in a while you just get lucky!  While working as the Official Photographer at the NCHA Weekend Cutting Show in Du Quoin, IL I was able to capture a rider as he came completely out the saddle.

Unplanned events and images are more commonly referred to as candids, in weddings, senior portraits, children photography, you look for these moments, although not quite like this!

Illinois Futurity 2009

One of my favorite events to photograph is cutting. There is nothing more exciting than watching a great horse slide into the herd of cows, “cut” a lively cow and go nose to nose for two and half minutes! Cutting events are where a horse and rider enter a herd of cows which at congregated at one end of an arena, the horse and rider will selectively “CUT” or separate one cow from the herd. There job is to “work” that cow just like a horse and rider will on a ranch. Of course that cow has every intention of returning to the herd and will use every sneaky means necessary to get back to the herd.

The scoring is simple, all riders and horses start out with 70 points, they then receive additional points for doing things well and lose points for making mistakes. The highest scoring horse in a particular class is the winner. Now, there is certainly a lot more to it than that, but it is the shortest explanation I can give!

So here are a few pictures from the 2009 Illinois Futurity held at Du Quoin State Fair Grounds in Du Quoin, IL.