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.

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?

Woodbine Farms Hunter Jumper

Fun day out of the house today.  Since March, I've probably been out of the house for more than an hour less than ten times, and at least half of those times I just took a road trip and stayed in the car.  I've been looking forward to today for a few weeks.  And it didn't disappoint.
I'm doing a slow suffer as my air shows are cancelling.  The Reno Air Races officially cancelled their event yesterday.  Thunder over Michigan is still on, but my guess is it will cancel in the next few weeks.  The Refuge is flooded, still closed since the heavy rains and dam failures last month.  I won't be doing any indoor events like hockey for a while.
But today I was able to get out of the house, somewhere to go.  
Time to give the D780 a 600+ shot day.
My horse subject expert from the camera club told me of today's event a few weeks ago.  Hunter Jumpers.  I have no idea what this means, but I'm going to learn.  Essentially its a horse and rider combo where at some point the horse will jump, land and move to the next gate.  I'm good with that.  Some form of action.  I need this.
The morning was severely overcast.  The sun came out in the afternoon.  Big difference in the shots.
As to the camera set up, I guessed I could get close to the action.  I started with the D500 and the 70-300 lens.  With the crop factor, too much lens.  The D780 and 70-300 was a good set up.  I started with a set up of 3 frames per second, went to 5 FPS and eventually went to 7 FPS.  At 7 FPS, I could catch more of the desired shots - horse and rider at the top of the jump.  Yea, there are more throw aways, but that part is easy.  I shot at 1/1000 sec.  Apertures were either at f/8  and f/5.6.  ISOs went between 100 to one shot at 5600.  I also used the EV function more than usual.  I think this helped out a bit.  With the day being overcast, I didn't have to concern myself with whites burning out so this helped out with getting more of all the light in the shot.
One other thing I was able to do with these shots that I can't do with aircraft or bird shots is avoid the aggressive cropping.  The subjects were big enough to fill the frame.  I have a few good shots that are missing some hoofs.  Got in a bit too close.  Yep, it's a journey.
So much for the technical stuff.
There were fours types of shots I was looking for.
First, the support shots.  What goes on outside the arena.  People watching.  
Next, in the arena area but not competing.  Yet.  Horses and riders getting ready to enter the course.  Warm up.
Then, my favorite shots which is the horse and rider in lift off mode.
Then, everyone else's favorite, horse and rider at the top of the jump.
It was a 600+ shot day.  I'm down to about 250 good shots.  Technically all came out good.  And we'll define 'good' as something was in focus.  (That's just plain funny.)  Sometimes the auto-focus would go it's own way.

That center post, perfect focus.  If there were a fly walking on it, we could see the color of the eyes.  Too bad the post is not the star of the show.  Not sure if this should be a point of pride, but I'm getting better at telling when the AF is not where I need it to be, and I can correct it on the next shot.  I'm still laughing at these mis-focused shots.  It's a journey.
Now to the good shots.
Most of the time when I take 100s of shots in one day, it is hard to pick one that defines my day.  Today is not one of those days.  I lucked into what I consider to be one of my better shots.  Got it right away.
But this one isn't it. 
This one made it to the best finals on the rider's facial expression.  Most of today's shots shave facial expressions that may be flattering, and some not so much.  But fact of life, we all have them.  But this one is good.  Concentration and determination.  The angle at about 45 degrees works for me.  These are my favorite shots, launching.

Jumper 01

NIKON D780 Ver.01.01/70-300mm f/4.5-5.6

270 mm, 1/1000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 2800 (AUTO)

EV +1, MANUAL Mode, Size FX

This shot made it to the favorites, well, not sure why yet.  Just struck me.  Just looks like the rider and the horse are on the same page, effortless.  Been there, done that.  I have more than a few of this combo, they are good.

Jumper 03

NIKON D780 Ver.01.01/70-300mm f/4.5-5.6

195 mm, 1/1000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 500 (AUTO)

EV +0.67, MANUAL Mode, Size FX

As I mentioned before, few shots get the 5 star treatment on the first round of shot triage.  Last shots to move me were the inverted F4U,  the F/A 18 with the sonic clouds and the horse in the stall from last year.  
I found a shot location that worked well, looking down an area with two jumps in line.  All that framing photography stuff.  If the horse and rider stayed in the middle, perfect.  If they drifted to either side, well, just perfect -.

Jumper 02

NIKON D780 Ver.01.01/70-300mm f/4.5-5.6

300 mm, 1/1000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 560 (AUTO)

EV +0.67, MANUAL Mode, Size FX

OK, maybe not down the direct center, but it works.  The horse is 4 off the floor, head slightly off center.  And as much as the horse's head is off the center line, the rider's body is off.  Of all the shots I took today with this scene, nothing like it.
If this gets best horse shot of 2020, don't tell me it was an off year.  It's good, I like it.  This is an early favorite, maybe for shot of the year.  Certainly on the short list.
It was a good day.  Got some good natural vitamin D.  I did sort of say I'd have some photos to the event available to the farm some time after next weekend.  Looks like there will be just over 250.  And that's another story - but a good one.

(More) Four off the Floor

This post is about hockey pictures.  Really.  And may help with the horse shots for the upcoming season.  But it is for hockey help in the short term.
Last year, the focus was on improving prop driven aircraft.  This year, it is finding ways to live with digital noise.  There are a few realities in my world.  (Unless there is a lottery winning in my future) I will have middle of the road lenses.  There are no $6K, $9k or $12K lenses in my future.  There will be good camera sensors, crop or full.  I will have to make do.  Easy, eh?
So I'm going back to the Michigan Interscholastic Horsemanship Association event from last October.  Yes, it was fun.  Yes it was a light challenge.  Importantly, I took a lot of photos at different settings.  A place to return to when I have an idea or question.
First, about the shot.  Horse, four hoofs off the floor.  Rider, determination.  And there are folks in the bleachers.  It's all good.  I'm fairly certain there was no horse related teams at my high school back in the day, although there were farms all around.  I'll stop there.

(More) Four off the Floor

NIKON D500 Ver.1.15/18.0-200.0 mm f/3.5-5.6

82 mm, 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 6400

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

Not sure why I missed this one in the first round of viewing.  
Here's the hockey connection.  There is a lot of white, and shades of white.  And limited light.    I've been struggling to keep the ISO of the hockey shots to 800 - 1000.  What about drifting to 3000 or higher?  Will the available light in the photo overcome some of the digital noise?  Seems to me I have to work a bit harder to clear up the hockey shots - compared to this shot.  Am I drifting back to the 35mm days?  

Horse Stall Window

The goal today was to intentionally underexpose shots by up to five stops ISO, and then recover the final product.  The event was something called the 'Fun Event' at a farm near by.  The equestrian event was an interesting way to spend a Sunday.
But first the disclaimer.  My learning curve got ahead of my goals for the day.  One of the YouTube videos I was watching explained the benefits of the camera program Banks.  Good enough for me.  I created three banks.  One for standard settings, one for HDR setting and one for low light.  Guess what I chose today?  Yep, one of the new ones not for HDR.  When new banks are created or are used, the default settings are used.  Shooting in RAW is not a default.  Guess what happened?  Yep.  JPGs only.  On the bright side, it was JPG Fine in a large format.  Not a total disaster.  And, in a good way I'll get to see how much software has improved over the years to handle JPGs.
The goal today was to shoot action shots in crappy lighting.  Action being defined as 1/320 to 1/500 depending on the amount of movement.  And intentionally under-exposing the shots by lowering the ISO.
One of the downfalls of using this methodology is the preview images are all very dark.  So it may be a while before I get through all of them.  Maybe I will put them on the laptop and take them with me next week?  Post from the road.
If the rest of the JPGs turn out as well as my first effort, I'll be very happy.
I'm guessing there were about 20 to 30 families at this equestrian event today.  In each class there was probably an average of five riders.  There were judges and there was a support group.  And there were ribbons given out.  Very cool.
And everyone let the one that didn't belong (me) roam around.  Very nice people.
I moved around a lot.  During the moving about I passed a stall with the occupant looking toward a very dirty window.  It was a clean dirt.   It was barn dirt.  Maybe overly dusty?  So the stall is very dark and this light is hitting the occupant very nicely.
Yea, this isn't my normal interest.  But the scene did whisper to me.  Didn't talk, just a whisper.  And that was enough.  The question is, shooting in JPG, can I save it?

Horse Stall Window

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20/18.0-200.0 mm f/3.5-5.6

20 mm, 1.125 sec, f/5.6, ISO 800

EV +2, MANUAL Mode, Size DX

I get it, it's dark.  I ran a version with a bit more light, but the stall walls sort of took away from the horse.  The light on the horse is what gets to me.  Just enough to see the horse's face, or part of it anyway.  I don't generally favor dark images, but again this one whispers to me.
This may be a candidate for a paint job, in which case I would lighten it up considerably.
On a related note, one of the Topaz modules is a JPG to RAW program.  Since I have a number of JPGs to work with, maybe I should try it.  30 Day free trial.  Yea, that's the ticket.  That's why I shot JPGs only.  HA.

MIHA - Cloverleaf Event

I can't get over this is called a Cloverleaf event.  It's Barrel racing.  But my knowledge of anything horse sports related is quite limited.  But I know more now than I did a year ago.  
When it is drawn out, I see the cloverleaf.  But when I look up, I see the barrels.
What ever, it is fun to watch.
My goal for the day was more about shooting with different settings.  The event was in an arena with questionable lighting at best.  To start, I had no idea for what speed to use.  For the Cloverleaf event, I was guessing over 1/320.  For the increase in speed, I was giving up ISO.  And I wasn't going to use a flash,
In the end, 1/500 worked well.  I could get by with 1/400 if I had too.  I also settled in on f/5.6 to start.  I'd also start, with the D500, at ISO 8000.  Less is clearly better in the ISO department.  What I'm finding out is that with the higher ISO, the image size is limited.  They are fine on the phone and tablet, and OK on the monitor but I think a large print is out of the question.  For a large print, a flash would be required.
Again, this issue is only with shooting in the arena.  Outdoors in the sunshine, no issues.
The point of all this is that I don't have many photos that are really 'good'.  Most images are dark - but somewhat savable.  Thank you RAW.  Most are really noisy - but somewhat savable.  Thank you Topaz DeNoise.
Most of the shots look alike.  There were only two good shooting vantage points, and I logged time at both.  Also, because I'm new at this, I was fairly fixated on certain points in the event.  So, a lot of the shots look alike.  That's OK, lots of room for improvement.

I like this first shot because for me to get the banner in, I couldn't go in real tight.  To me, the banner helps center the shot.  The subject team did their part.

The first two are ISO 10000 and the last one is ISO 12800.  Good on the small screen.

Four off the Floor

One of the better parts, for me, at the MIHA event yesterday was meeting the event's official photographer.  We had a few hours of interesting conversation.  Clearly, he did not see me as a threat.  I didn't ask any trade secrets.  During our conversation, I did ask where some of the better angles for shots would be for the Cloverleaf event.  The photographer was very knowledgeable of the event and the arena.  He suggested a few places, what I would see in each place and where to stay away from.  Very cool information.
When it was suggested to me by a photo club member that this would be a fun shoot, the only advice I was given (more of a directive) was don't use flash.  And that made sense to me.  Last thing I want to do do is startle a 1500 lb critter.  Oh yea, and maybe ruin a kid's career.  And I'm OK with not using a flash.  I have a nice flash unit, but it is very rarely used.
Wait, what?

Wasn't me.  It was the guy who takes pictures at these events for a living.  I was shooting 7 FPS at this time.  We matched.  Sure, the image is a bit off on my end, but that's what you get when you use flash and 10000 ISO.  Anyway, moral of the story is the horses and riders at this level don't startle easy.
Back to the real purpose of the post.  In my conversations with the photographer, he was nice enough to tell me some of the things people look for in a photograph.  One of those shots would be where all four hoofs are off the ground at the same time.  And he told me where in the Cloverleaf pattern I would see this.  He also said, not every horse and rider is capable of this coming together and I'd be lucky enough to catch it.  In fact, there would be very few opportunities.
I had a mission.
Here are the three I have with all four off the ground.

Four off the Floor #1

NIKON D500 Ver.1.15 /18.0-200.0 mm f/3.5-5.6

82 mm, 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 10000

EV +2, MANUAL Mode, Size DX

Four off the Floor #2

NIKON D500 Ver.1.15 /18.0-200.0 mm f/3.5-5.6

82 mm, 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 10000

EV +2, MANUAL Mode, Size DX

Four off the Floor #3

NIKON D500 Ver.1.15 /18.0-200.0 mm f/3.5-5.6

82 mm, 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 12800

EV +2, MANUAL Mode, Size DX

Fun part of the event, and lots of good 'horse' type photos.  Great practice and stretching the D500's abilities.

Helping Hand

Had a wonderful day today at the Michigan Interscholastic Horsemanship Association (MIHA) State Finals.  I'm still very much a novice at what I saw today, but I do know more about the event than I did 24 hours ago.
I'll get to more about the event in later posts.  Tonight I had to work on something photographic specific.  It is not going to wait until tomorrow.
Today. the D500 and I went to places we've never been before with regard to low lighting.  The event is held in covered arenas, with the main arena open to light on only one side.  I arrived just after 8:00 AM, just in time for the National Anthem.  It was not a pretty day.  Overcast, damp and early.
The short version is I spent the first three hours fiddling with exposure settings to match the lighting.  What speed do I need for this?  And what ISO can I live with?  The only thing I had an idea on was aperture.  This is a lot different than a sunny day in Reno.
The shutter actuated 1,180 times today.  The bad news is I have a lot of throw away images.  The good news is I will be able to see a real world examples of the ISO settings from the D500.  I think, or at least I tried to manipulate the settings enough to, I have many combinations of trading speed for ISO to evaluate.  
The first round of looking at the images went well.  Nothing out of focus.  Some of the subjects are a bit fuzzy, but those are low speed shots.  All in the name of learning something new today.
In the end, I was shooting 1/500 sec with ISO at 12.5k.  That's not a typo.  I think the highest previous ISO was 11.4k for an indoor train shot.  Doable.  That's good, 'cause I have more at this level and higher.
But this was 'fast' action.  Would that make a difference?  Yea, a full frame would be nice, but I have what I have.
And that is what this post is about.  Can I save an image with that high of an ISO?
This was a fun picture.  The most interesting part of the day, for me, was the Cloverleaf event, maybe better/also known as Barrel Racing.  I think I have some wonderful shots.
Many of these kids are very good.  Many others will pay their dues and get to be good.  As you could tell, this wasn't their first rodeo.  (Yes, I said that.)
This rider was in the process of being assessed a five second penalty for knocking over one of the barrels.  Only in the process of.  Then, this rider had the presence of mind to stabilize the barrel while riding.  The cynic in me says this was not the first time that the horse and rider had come into contact with a barrel.  But it is what it is, and they saved a five second penalty.  Awesome.  

Helping Hand

NIKON D500 Ver.1.15/18.0-200.0 mm f/3.5-5.6

90 mm, 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 10000

EV +2, MANUAL Mode, Size DX

I'm not sure this would print all that well.  On a small screen and the monitors it shows up well.  On the monitor the shot is soft because of the noise removal.  The good news I have lots of shots to work on noise removal and develop a technique to manage it.  Winter is coming, and I have something to work on.

Jump Up Close

And now for something a little different.  All of the horse eventing images so far have lots of added scenery in the image.  I wanted to try to get a bit closer to the horse, while still having the understanding there was a jump involved.
I came across this one and what caught me was the mane flying free.  Once I saw this, I went back through the other images only to find many of the horses had shorter manes than I have hair.  And those with longer manes were not jumping.  Is there a correlation?  Maybe?
The only problem in this image was this wasn't a close up to begin with and would require a pretty good crop.  But you have to try.
I did some enlargement work through On One prior to the crop.  It's not a foolproof process, but I think it helps a little.  
This was shot at f/5.6, later in the day.  There was some shadow fixin' that was required.
The horse is pretty much all white.  I hate to say unfortunately, because it is a beautiful creature.  So it is not unfortunate, but all that means is you have to look harder for definition.  It is there.  But the flying features are there.  Ears froward.  Mane in zero gravity.  Both the rider and the horse looking for terra firma.

I think it framed out well.  Looks good on the monitors.  But note to self that I'll soon forget, don't be afraid to get in tight.

The paint version turned out really well.  The white of the horse works here.

Flat Jump

OK, the title is a bit odd.  I often struggle with titles.  Seems like a simple thing, but how do you come come up with multiple names for essentially the same action?  I have Jump in the Sun, because for some reason the sunlight caught my name.  There's pressure here.
In this image, the illusion to me is the jump is more for distance than height.  The rider and the horse seem to be on the same page.  This isn't their first jump.
This jump also has the flower pot accessory, how cool is that?
Photographically speaking, this jump has a flower pot accessory.  How cool is that?  That shade of red doesn't appear anywhere else that I can remember.  This shot was in the almost overhead sun.  It was baking the green grass and the jump wood.  It was set for a -1 EV, and all that did was increase whatever shadow there was on the subjects.  Nice challenge.
This image needed more than the usual amount of help.  The grass was barely green.  The jump was washed out.  And the shadows needed a little boost.

I've gone from spot metering to center weighted for these shots.  Tough to tell if it is really helping or not.  Seems like it should.  I'm happy with the lighting in the camera, or at least I have a good idea of what it's going to do.  I've found on sunny days, all my Nikons respond well to a -1 EV setting.  For most of my sheltered life, that would work.  But with this horse event, there are more shadows than what I'm used to seeing.  The JPG conversions in the camera handle them OK, but with RAW processing, I think I can do better.

The real winner, to me, in this is the grass.  The green is there.  The jump isn't blown out, there is some good definition in the wood.  The subject works for me too.

Big Jump Landing

In my somewhat humble, but ignorant, opinion about horse jumps, this jump was one of more difficult jumps on the course.  The jump is about three feet high, to the untrained eye, and has a slope down landing.  Could have been the best shots of the day, but rookie camera dude mistakes made the image what it is.
I heard from one of the riders that they were going to take this jump.  Problem for me was I had the wrong camera/lens on me at the time.  The lens was too long.  I had to position myself too far away from the jump and not be in the landing area.  And I ended up behind some low hanging branches.  Not only did this image require a lot of tree branch removal editing, but for the second rider one of the branches caught the AF - and....  It didn't end well.  But the branch looked good.
Lucky for me, I'm used to missing the money shot.  I'll recover.

By this time in the day, I had opened my aperture to f/5.   That created a pretty high speed.  I was far enough away the DOF didn't kill the image.

Yea, that branch.  Other than that, I really like this.  If this was me on a quad, I'd be over the handle bars.  The rider and horse are good.

Horse over the Water Jump

Part of the Horse Event cross country course involves the horse and rider transiting through a shallow water obstacle about 30 yards in length.  The depth is only a few inches and there is a solid bottom.  It looks to be about then yards wide.  There are shallow and steep entrances/exits.  And there is a fairly high jump in the middle should one want to take it.
I hung around the water obstacle for a number of photographs.  Just about every participant for the day went through it a few times.  Get the horses ready for the cross country season.  For the most part, this exercise was uneventful.  Except.  One rider wanted to take her horse in the water from the steeper step.  And the horse wanted no part of that.  Instead the horse stretched its neck down below its feet to drink the water.  Almost pulled the rider right over.  Would have been funny, but not flattering.  No pictures.
I have a number of images of horses moving through the water at a quick pace.  I like how the water is disturbed and somewhat flying around.  Splashing.
While I was there, there were two riders who took the jump.  This is one of them.
There is water flying everywhere.  The only eye trick that gets to me is something I can't fix.  The horse has shin guards that are black with a blue accent.  Just looks odd (to me) in the image where it is.  The sun is right, there are greens and blues.  Did I say I liked the way the water was splashed?

I started the day shooting at a higher aperture, f/6.4.  later in the day I opened up to f/5 to see if bokeh was going to be an issue at a later date.  The evergreen trees just at the end of the water are OK.  To me, this is acceptable DOF.  The more open I can be, the better.  The speed a a bit high, but I wasn't going for any motion effect.  ISO 450 is right in the acceptable range.

This was a pretty simple edit.  The environment was good.  Lots of good light to work with.  Or not work with 'cause it was there.  No light compensations.  One of the few times it hit it just right.

Horse Jump in the Sun

I spent most of today culling down the number of images from yesterday's adventure from just over 500 to about 110.  Something I can work with.  Since my philosophy is 'spray and pray', I have multiple shots around each image that I saved.  I'm looking for the best image in the sequence.  Not everyone agrees with that strategy, but it is my time to 'waste'.
What I found is I like the fairly head on jump shots, or at least fairly close to head on.  This is my first time doing this, so don't tell me I'm missing most of the jump, that is the back half of the horse.  I'll figure that out on my own.
Most of the saved images are of horses and riders in the initial sequence of the jump.  And a lot look alike.  There is also somewhat of a challenge of positioning.  Can't always be where I want to be.  Again, my first time.  Go easy.
This image is one of the very few shots where I am perpendicular to the jump.  On reflection, I won't shy away from these, I like it.
The challenge of the this shot was the top of the jump was reflecting the sunlight.  I shot with 0EV, and am lucky to get away with it.  There is a little definition, so the surface is a little blown.  Also the jump behind the subject it too light - and distracts from the subject.  Other than that, the image takes care of itself.  There are some nice greens, natural.  And the dull oranges of fallen leaves.

One of the problems with shooting in manual mode is when you move from shadows to sunlight and don't make the corrections necessary, you can wind up with some interesting numbers.  Like a speed of 1/3200 second.  And ISO 1250.  probably could have dialed in some more realistic numbers.  Ha.
This is the camera JPG:

The surface of the jumps move the eye away from the horse and rider.  The dark of the horse's neck also plays games with me, so I'l like to lighten that up just a bit.
And this is what I came up with.

With those two changes, my eyes stay on the horse and rider, doing the jump thing.
And the paint effect:

So far, the paint effect is pretty good on these.