Michigan Barrel Racing Association

With the air racing industry at a crawl, if not shut down entirely, my weekend schedule is somewhat more flexible this summer.
I'm having fun going to the horse events.  The people are nothing short of great to be around.
This is the second MBRA event I've been to and what I've learned is this is fun and available to all ages.  I've seen kids who don't have enough weight on them to keep them in the saddle (yes, they stay on, but you get the point.) to those who would be in the post collegiate divisions.
Like a good airplane shot, a horse in action shot can be just as intriguing to me.  Great lines on both subjects.  Prior to this year, what I knew about horse visual scenes came from the opening credits on a Howard Hawks western film.
Getting a good horse shot to me is as difficult as getting a good prop or helicopter shot.  With a solo jet shot, it is just shoot with a high shutter speed and go for it.  With an opposing jet shot, double the speed, use a high frames per second setting and go for it.
I'm working on figuring out what works best for horses, IMO, so I take a lot of shots, and throw a lot away.  I'm still learning.
There are a couple of shots I'll post from the event, but starting with this one.
The events have two elements, poles and barrels.  The poles, to me, offer two photo opportunities.  I can get shots with the horse and rider going through or around the poles and a straightaway.  In the barrels element, the best shots are around the barrels.
This is a shot of a horse and rider coming down a straightaway in the poles event.  This reminded me of a pony express rider.  The horse, the rider, the hat.  Ah, the sunglasses, maybe not so much.  And at the time of the Pony Express, trash bins were not metal.

Pony Express Pose

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20/70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

270 mm, 1/1000 sec, f/6.3, ISO 200 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

I was trying something new.  I was moving the focus point around in the optical viewer.  Usually, I have the point in the center.  A lot of my throwaways are because my frame often drifts up, that is I lose the lower part of the subject.  If my focus point was higher, maybe I'll keep more of the subject in the frame.  Maybe.  Still a work in progress.
As to the barrels, there are a lot of interesting shots.  Most of what I take has to do with the horse and rider leaning into the ground.  With the format I use, it often doesn't fill up the frame.  Price of the scene.
In this shot, I held on to the shutter a bit longer than normal.  A mistake.  Sometimes I'm just lucky.  This shot fills the frame.  What I really like is how the sun plays on the horse.  And there's some hair flying as well.

Around the Barrel

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20/70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

150 mm, 1/1000 sec, f/6.3, ISO 140 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

It was a fun visit, although I could only stay for a few hours.  It was HOT.  Hot in July, who knew?