Rocky's Story

I made almost daily trips up to Robin's place to photograph Ozzie. My goal was to photograph before, during and after of her giving birth to her foal. The trip took about 2o minutes each way and I visited 2-3 times before she popped out Rocky. Ozzie is an Irish Thoroughbred and was in foal to a Irish Draught Stallion. Ozzie was a dream to photograph. She was good looking and gave textbook examples for all the stages a mare goes through shortly before foaling. Only thing is Ozzie put on such a good show that they all lasted for days... such a tease! I don't think I could have asked for a better example of "waxing" or softening of the muscles.

Ozzie was a sneaky mare. She gave birth to Rocky in the wee hours of the morning in between Robin's crawling out of bed to check on her, which happened hourly. Robin did get to see Rocky stand up and suckle for the first time and was satisfied that he got his colostrum, the very important first milk. I got a call in the morning announcing the birth of Rocky. I was bummed I missed his birth but gladly went up in the afternoon for baby pics. I got some super cute images of Rocky but noticed that during my hour of hanging with him that he was developing diarrhea and it was tinted with blood. I notified Robin and suggested she call a veterinarian promptly. I had seen several other foals at another clinic I frequent that had diarrhea with varying results, many not good.

The vet came out promptly and gave Rocky some medication for a bacterial infection and diarrhea relief. He came out several times over the next two days to attend to Rocky but with no improvement. Finally Robin sent a plea out to another vet who worked out of a clinic and he had her bring the mare and foal into the clinic.

Rocky was a fighter. The second vet decided that there was a possibility that the foal was allergic to Ozzie's milk so they switched to Foal-Lac. Rocky drank and drank both the Foal-Lac and water from a bucket, a huge boon. Many foals need to be bottle fed or won't eat/drink anything at all. With him willing to drink from a bucket it made keeping his hydration and nutrients all that much easier. Also a good sign that he was not giving up the fight. In addition, Rocky was also on I.V. fluids. The vet also allowed Robin to spend nights in the stall with Rocky so she could keep giving him his Foal-Lac and water around the clock. Rocky was also acting colicky on occasion so the vet would leave her with a dose of pain killer to administer into the I.V. drip if he got painful in the middle of the night.

Three more days go by with this arrangement. Robin spent every night with that foal and then would go home to sleep while the vet clinic had regular personnel tending to Rocky. I stopped by twice to keep Robin company at night and chat and see what progress had been made, if any. Turns out, not much. The third night Robin stayed at the clinic I stopped by again for a while and Rocky was obviously not doing well at all. I took a few images of him and the stall arrangement. He was alternating between no activity and short moments of thrashing, which we assumed was due to colic spasms. She told me the vet would be returning soon, and she asked me what she should do. I told her it wasn't looking good for Rocky and that maybe it was time for her to let him go but that I could not make the final decision for her.

While we sat there, waiting for the vet's return, she administered one of the pain killer into the I.V. because the spasms were getting more frequent. The vet came back to the clinic within the hour and I stayed with Rocky as Robin went out to talk to him about the probability of this foal recovering. Both the vet and Robin came to the conclusion, quite quickly, that it was time to let him go. They had done their best. Robin wanted to have a necropsy done on Rocky so she would know what his killer was for sure. Everyone, by this time, was sure Rocky had Clostridium. Clostridia-associated Enterocolitis.

I asked Robin and the vet if I could photograph the euthanizing and necropsy of Rocky. Both were more than willing to allow me. The image I took of the vet euthanizing Rocky is one of the most haunting images I've ever taken. It is a such a sad moment to let a cherished animal go but at the same time it is one of the greatest acts of kindness one could ever grant to another being. To end suffering and pain in an irreversible situation. There is absolutely no doubt after the necropsy that it was the highest form of compassion that Robin could have ever done for that colt.


Rocky had been suffering from the ulceration of the hind gut due to the bacterial infection. There was no level of treatment that would have saved him at that point. The intestinal ulcers had perforated and trying to fight it any longer would have been cruel. He was going to die a painful and toxic death regardless of treatment or painkillers. The vet sent many samples to to a lab for conformation for the diagnosis. You can see the images of Rocky's necropsy here. Graphic Warning: it IS a necropsy.

Ponies!

It's snowing here tonight, not too seriously, just kinda flakey. I am, however, already tired of being cold and we have a couple more months to go! It is a good time to go back and continue my adventure with Amy around her neck of the woods. I left off with her mom's dirt bathing chicken in September. One of our free non-show weekends, we decided to head to New York. We wanted to visit Saratoga and both race tracks there. The flat Track and the Harness Track. We stayed overnight at a friend of Amy's mom, Marsha Himler, of Stonecroft Welsh,who generously helped us chase her little Welsh Ponies around the wildflower-filled fields for us. As I recall, I was not exactly happy as a clam in the Stillwater, NY July summer heat and humidity but it sure looks more appealing now!

Holiday Cards

I spent so much time this last 2 weeks making everyone else's holiday desires come to fruition that I never did get around to those snailmail holiday cards. So, Heres to you and yours, best holiday wishes to you all!

So, you want to be a pet photographer!

I borrowed a friend's studio light set (thanks Marie, You're the best!) to take for a test drive. I wanted to see if I understood lighting even a little and I thought I might like to take a few images of my pets and my brothers family. I've taken plenty of very nice available light images of them so I thought it couldn't be too hard.

So, first, I set up the lights and the back drop and got the cat's favorite chair and covered it with a fancy piece of velvet. I took a test shot or two, looks all right so I guess I need a cat! It shouldn't be that hard to get a cat on it's favorite piece of furniture, but for some reason they were ignoring it. I know, how about a favorite toy! So I got one of Cecil's all time favorite toys and put it on the chair. Nope, not good enough. I resorted to tossing it on the chair. That got his attention, kinda. He only plopped his front end up there and fetched the toy and brought it back for another throw. In the meantime, Squeak had stealthily moved in under the chair. To Cecil, that was far more fascinating than fetching.

Cecil spent a great deal of time circling the chair with Squeak under it. Every so often she would launch herself at him and take the fabric with her. I kept putting it back up in the hopes that some cat would get ON the chair. Soon Cecil settled down in a "safe" place and just stared at her through the fabric, taunting, daring her to launch again. Squeak got bored with that game and decided to go exploring..... she got on the chair! Under the fabric. Quite amusing, but not very photogenic. Eventually she wiggled up all the way to the top and morphed into Queen Squeak.

After she jumped away, consequently chased by Cecil, I decided to try a different tactic. What cat can resist catnip? Cecil can, but it sure got the attention of my little kitty-druggie, Squeak. She hopped right up on the chair and proceeded to roll around and around in it. Again, not very photogenic of her not, that she cared about my goal. It didn't take long for Cecil to decide she was having way more fun than he so he joined in. It wasn't pretty, but it's good for cat action shots.

Time to give up on the chair. It just wasn't working out with Squeak continually under it launching herself at Cecil so I decided to try a box. Great idea, she can't get under a box! It turned out to be way too small for big Cecil to be interested in the top side. I tried a bigger box. Cecil circled and inspected it from all sides but the top, again. Soon, he disappeared behind it. I found him mesmerized by a thumb tack in the wall. Placed there to discourage cats getting behind and under the backdrop where they were sure to have more fun than necessary.

OK, I give up. Lets see what the dog can give me. He will do anything I ask and sit anywhere I want and he will stay put. Outside. It turns out all my teaching him to stay off the furniture backfired with a completely non-photogenic guiltily crouching dog when asked to get on a piece of furniture. In this case, the coffee table.

During the attempts to photograph Cody, Cecil decides to goof off on the couch. The couch isn't bad looking so I turned around hoping to catch him striking a pose. I was not so lucky, he was in total fruit loop mode lying on his back and digging between the cushions after another toy. Back to the dog. Once Cecil got sufficiently ignored, he jumped up to take a break, guess where..... the now, undecorated and not in the the ideal circle of light, favorite chair! Uncooperative Toad! Meanwhile, the kitty-druggie, Squeak, is nearby desperately trying to break into the catnip vault. What a zoo!

In the end I did get a few decent shots of the sort I was imagining as well as a whole memory card full of them being totally themselves. I really enjoyed playing with the lights and seem to have a grasp on how to work and position them to get what I envisioned. However, I'll admit that formal pet portraiture is definitely not for the feint of heart or patience-challenged. Stalking them with a camera in ambient light is one thing. Getting them to be somewhere specific AND posed is a whole 'nother ball of wax (maybe I shoulda tried that). And to think, these are my OWN pets! I know them and they aren't scared of me either. After the cat fiasco, I briefly thought maybe I could venture into photographing kids..... on second thought, they can be pouty and they have parents! I think I'll be far more successful, not to mention somewhat sane, if I just stick to the equines!

Lights, Camera, Action!

Twice this year I have had the opportunity to mix horses and studio lighting. This first was in Tyngsboro, Massachusetts where we met Jorge Gabriel at his Casa Lusitana. Jorge is one of the kindest people I have met in my travels and he was gracious enough to host Lynne Glazer, Amy E. Riley, April Visel and I for a day. He let us hang around and photograph his regular work day and later in the afternoon he dressed up a few horses to the hilt for us. However the photographic pinnacle of the day was later that evening when we completely took over his indoor riding arena and turned it into a studio. He dressed up one of his Lusitano stallions, Solar, in authentic 18th century dress and performed for us.

Just a week ago, I was blessed with a second chance to play with horses and lights at Fox Hill Farms near San Marcos, CA. Donna Richardson and her husband and a student each took turns modeling for us with various horses. Exuprey, recently returned from the National Horse Show with the title of Working Hunter Champion. Donna later dressed up and brought out her Lusitano Stallion, Postulano for some quality posing. He also took a time out to give fellow photographer and studio lights owner, Marie Cobb some horsey smooches.

Cecil: A Helpful Cat!

Recently I have been taking a lot of images for DPChallenge.com. In fact, I'm on a forced march of twelve weeks in a row due to playing on a team with a select group of people for a select amount of time - 12 weeks! I've got a great team and we seem to be holding on to an overall average score that is keeping us in third place.

A few weeks ago, the two topics we had to choose from were Red and Blue. I spent a good deal of time trying to get a nice image that conveyed the topic and my extremely curious and helpful cat, Cecil, was there to help and cheer me on for both my shoots.

For Blue, I tried to incorporate both his blue eyes and my blue door. It was tricky and eventually I got him to come around the door after I had placed a black matte board against the wall. Cecil had to go through the act several times before I finally got it right on my end.

For Red, he wasn't a planned part of the shot, but he just had to check in and make sure the Gerbera Daisy was the correct hue for the paper backdrop behind. Oh, and he decided he might as well stop and smell the thing while he was there!

All in all, I ended up using a flower shot that didn't have his nose peeking in and helped clinch another decent average score for my team.

There are more kitty photos here. Of Cecil, Squeak, my dearly departed Ollie and various other furry felines.

Band of Wild Horse Photographers Sighted

Last week I travelled to California to meet up with other members of the Vision 18 Collective, a band of fellow horse photographers. We were hosted by the ever gracious Terri Miller, Axel Steiner and Tinto. The gathering included several shoots, one at Fox Hill Farm, a dressage barn near San Marcos, CA. The following day we took a drive out to the Imperial Sand Dunes near Glamis, CA to photograph a pair of arabians in the sand dunes. The last day we ended up at the San Diego Zoo where much cuteness of Meercats and the like was observed and documented. We took a wild group shot before heading to some fine wine and dining on Coronado Island in the San Diego Harbor.

In attendance: Terri Miller, Lynne Glazer, Mary Cornelius, Amy Riley (Cody), Darlene Wohlart, Kim Vickrey, Marie Cobb, Karin Naimark and myself Cristy Cumberworth. Sharon Fibelkorn also made an appearance for a short while. Sorely missed were Susan Sexton, April Visel, Melanie Snowhite and Candace Craw-Goldman.