This Saturday I was asked last-minute to film the observation competition for this year’s World Championships for Young Dressage Horses. Sweden’s finest 5-, 6- and 7 years old horses competed. The observation competition took place at the beautiful Björbäcks Ryttarförening.

In the picture above is the 6-years-old stallion Zucchero, who finished 7th with a score of 74,600 %.

Beforehand, I had absolutely no idea of what to expect. I did not know the setting, and as I was asked only the day before the competition, I did not have time to orient myself like I usually do. I was told that the officials on site would show me where I had to film from. I don’t know why, but I was somehow convinced the competition would take place in an indoor arena :)

Upon arriving, I suddenly realised that I did recognise the place, this was where I was last summer as the photographer for the South Sweden Foal Championships (for Swedish Warmblood foals)! A truly beautiful location!

I was appointed a nice place with a great view of the dressage arena. Only there were waist high white fences in the way, so I had to find something to stand up to film and still had to hold the camera at eye level in order to make sure the fences were not a too big distraction.

Above a screenshot from one of my videos, if I had not stood so high, the fence would be right over the horses body… This was still not ideal, but for the situation, it was the best I could do.

My camera/lens combination weights over 2 kilos, so already after half an hour of filming, my arms were almost falling off 😅 Another lesson for next time, always, always always take a tripod, even when you think you won’t need it! Even though I get smoother videos handheld, a tripod would have helped by not securing the camera on it, but using it as a kind of rest place for my hands.

I did not have the possibility to take a lot of pictures, but the horses were beautiful and very talented.

The judges of the competition were positioned in cars on the side of the arena. For the 5 and 6 year olds, there was only one car with judges. But after lunch break, when the 7 year olds started, there were two more cars with judges and one, of course! parked just in front of my beautiful filming spot 😱 So suddenly my view of a third of the arena was reduced to a car with a licence plate that - seriously! - read ‘OMG’…

Luckily I was able to reposition more to the side so that most of the arena was still filmable. Once again I realised how important it is to be able to quickly adapt when filming or photographing an event or competition, especially in between starts…

Now, before I will be listing what I have learned this Saturday, I’ll show you the 2 of the videos!

The competition for the 6 year olds was won by Sofia Lexner riding the mare Pantera, with a score of 83.400%:

And the competition for the 7 year olds was won by Jennifer Lindvall riding the gelding Fashions IronRock with a score of 74.665:

So what are the biggest lessons I will take with me from this competition?

• Always be prepared – Even last-minute

• Know my location or scout if possible - Live or via Google Maps!

• Always, ALWAYS take a tripod!

• Adaptability and critical thinking is crucial to ensure the best results

• And, last but not least, watch out for OMG! cars, they are often in the way 😁

Have you ever been thrown into a situation last-minute and had to figure it out on the spot? What did you learn? Let me know in the comments!

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