Hunter/Jumper Event - Woodbine Farms

This is turning out to be the summer of getting to know your horse(s).  Not that it is a bad thing.  
This past weekend I was able to spend a few hours at a hunter /jumper event in Ann Arbor.
As this was the second time I've been there, I was really looking to improve on the overall quality and variety of my shots.  Last time out, technically the shots were OK, but once I got home I know there were some lessons to be learned.
I spent just over 3 hours there.  The forecast was for rain in the afternoon, and it was correct.  That covered the Novice class - and as such I saw only a limited number of riders, multiple times.  The other event that started just after noon has the riders jump as many gates as they can in a  certain amount of time.  It's a little faster then the Novice class events.  I like them both.
One of my 'experiments' for the day was to see if there was any real difference between  the D500/70-300 combo and the D780/200-500 combo.  Aside from the weight difference, both took excellent shots.  That being said, the monster lens gets heavy very quickly.  Next time, I'll have a monopod at the least.
One of the nice features on the D780 is you can select a 16:9 size format in the optical view finder.  That's generally what I end up formatting to for the monitors.  A number of my shots were in this format.  It's a lot easier to frame the shot, instead of remembering to keep enough space above and below in the frame that will be removed later.
Speaking of cropping, for this event I didn't end up cropping much.  I tried to get a lot tighter.  And, I also missed a number of shots due to missing part of the entire object.
Here are a few from the day.
I like this shot for the position of the horse's head.  The rider is looking in one direction and the horse has other ideas.  Spoiler alert, the rider was correct.

Rider Close Up

NIKON D780 Ver.01.01/200-500mm f/5.6

240 mm, 1/800 sec, f/5.6, ISO 1600 (AUTO)

EV +1, MANUAL Mode, Size 16:9

Not that I know a lot about horse breeds, but I do know when one isn't brown.  Not sure what this is called, but I like it.  Marble?

Jumper

NIKON D780 Ver.01.01/200-500mm f/5.6

270 mm, 1/800 sec, f/5.6, ISO 560 (AUTO)

EV +1.33, MANUAL Mode, Size 16:9

I'm going to run out of names for these shots.  A lot of 'Jumpers'.
So now we're into the upper ring where the action is a bit faster.  I keep hearing that the best photos are when the horse has all four off the floor and even over the jump.  But I like the 'launch' shots.  And more of a head on shot.  I always thought, not being around the sport much, that the horse and rider would always be symmetrical.  But they are not, thankfully, and the position of the horses head vs the legs vs the rider give each jump a bit of personality.

Jumper

NIKON D780 Ver.01.01/200-500mm f/5.6

240 mm, 1/800 sec, f/5.6, ISO 400 (AUTO)

EV +1.33, MANUAL Mode, Size 16:9

Camera switch, the next photos are from the D500/70-300 combo.  The actual reach is around 450 so the combos are very close.  I can tell a little difference in the post processing.  The D780 processor is a newer generation and I hope I'd see a bit of difference.  But in the final product, tough to tell.
Still in the upper ring, I like the shallow launch.  Shows speed.

Jumper

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

277 mm, 1/800 sec, F/5.6, ISO 220 (AUTO)

EV + .33, MANUAL Mode, Size DX

The next two shots are a set.  And a bit of a story.  
Photography is of interesting things.  For today, it is a horse and a rider going over a jump of an extreme close up.  Some of the jumps don't always go as planned.  Even what I would call the good combos sometimes miss the mark.  In my opinion, it's not a bad thing.  When a horse says "I ain't doin' it", it might be for the best.  The combo does a number of jumps in a short amount of time, and the majority of the time, the combo is successful.
But when they are not, it can be an interesting shot.  The angles are really good.
And the second shot of the set is for equal time, this combo was pretty good.

Jumper - Halt

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

277 mm, 1/800 sec, F/5.6, ISO 360 (AUTO)

EV + .33, MANUAL Mode, Size DX

Jumper

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

292 mm, 1/800 sec, F/5.6, ISO 320 (AUTO)

EV + .33, MANUAL Mode, Size DX

This is just about everything I look for in a shot.  Launch position, four off the floor and the horse's head appears to be just off center.  
I noticed in all the shots, there is dirt flying.  Lots of times in places I don't expect.  When I zoom in to check for focus, I see a lot.  First I thought it was contamination of the lens.  Then I took a breath.  And cleaned the lens anyway.