The Braid Project: Gold Beads
Puslinch, On
During the early stages of brainstorming creative braid ideas, glamorizing was always at the forefront. I had always had ideas of cover horses in gold and sparkles since I can remember and bringing those ideas to braids was a no brainer. With how classical and perfect show braids are, how could one not accent them with beautiful sparkling materials!
What first came to mind was to gave a single gold bead in each hunter braid. Thus creating a beautiful golden line, bringing elegance to the braids. I always envisioned these braids to be placed on a beautiful black horse. Allowing the gold to pop spectacularly against the dark colour. I don’t think a better horse suited this vision then Isobel Strain’s Prince. He is such a drop dead stunning boy and hands down the most well behaved!
When creating these braids I thought it would easily take myself and Emily (the amazing braider who helps my visions come to life) at max an hour to get Prince braided and the beads put in. Boy was I far from wrong. It took close to three hours to complete this look and Prince stood so patiently during the whole process. Not many horses would have such patience but thankfully I am always blessed with beautiful, perfect models for each of my projects!
With all of that said. This idea and vision came out perfectly to how I had wanted it to go. I could not have been happier with the images. A huge shoutout to Emily Steenson, who created these beautiful braids and to Isobel Strain for lending me Prince and helping place all the beads in each braid. Without the both of you this dream would have never come true. I can not thank you both enough!
Braid Project: The Beginning | Andree-Anne Brunet Photography
Some where in my imagination
As many of you know, I love a beautifully braided horse. There is just something about their perfection, beautifully lining the horses neck, accenting the crest. My eyes just get drawn in and I just have to photograph that moment. Many of you have probably seen me around the show grounds finding beautiful braids on hunters and jumpers in between photographing rounds. I’ve even been known to stop people on their way to and from the ring to capture a picture.
I think this obsession started in the spring of 2016. I was at a May Palgrave. Of course for some crazy reason it was snowing that day because Canadian springs suck! I was talking to a friend who was holding her show mount for the year, Fritz. As you can imagine he had a pristine neck of hunter braids. I just began shooting for fun but then something special happened when I got home. I loaded the photos and noticed how perfect the image was. It honestly looked like something that should be hung as a fine art piece in any equestrians home. The cloudy snowy skies in the background just made this beautiful white on white image and showcased his hunter braids beautifully. From there on out I was addicted and knew this was going to be a new obsession for me. Every year since then I have strived to capture more new and interesting perspectives of braids.
Fritz
Well, queue 2020 and the year from hell. At the beginning of the year there was talk whether or not show season was even going to happen due to the corona virus. This had me worried I wasn’t going to get my yearly fix of braid photos but I wasn’t going to let that happen, thus began my braid project. It was a project I had been wanting to start for a while but just never had the motivation to since I always got to photograph braids all summer. I guess I just need a world pandemic to make it happen haha. My braid project idea however was to take the tradition equestrian hunter and jumper braid and elevate it to a fine art, coffee table book braid image. Glamourizing the beautiful braids I love so much and breathing new life into what you could do with them. I had some crazy ideas and I needed a brilliant braider willing to help and go along with my idea.
That spring I got into contact with local braider Emily, who I knew well from photographing on the “A” circuit the past couple of years. I knew she’d be the best person to ask since she also enjoys getting super creative with her braids for her own horse and for clients horses. Thankfully when I asked, Emily was completely game to join and help with my project. She probably didn’t imagine how farfetched some of my ideas were for 2020 but she took all of them by stride and made my dreams come true! I can’t thank her enough for all the help she has given during this project and I can’t wait to start working on 2021 braid projects with her!
Stay tuned for more parts to this project as I showcase the beautiful braids we captured in 2020!
Pauline Kiczula's Brinx | Fine Art Session
Fenwick, ON
A stunning afternoon spent capturing Fine Art images of Pauline’s beautiful Brinx. I absolutely loved photographing Brinx and capturing these beautiful photos! Fine Art sessions are some of my favourite session to shoot for the only reason that you can capture the beauty of your clients horse! Enjoy these images from Pauline’s session!
Kelly King's Farina | Fine Art Session
Fenwick, ON
A beautiful Fine Art session of Kelly King’s gorgeous dressage mare Farina at Green Oaks Farm. Farina was an absolute star, nailing each pose I throw at her and even being perfect for the creative images as well. Enjoy these stunning images of Farina!
Alexa Nykilchuk's Larry | Fine Art Session
Guelph, ON
A few compiled images from Alexa’s Fine Art session with her gorgeous gelding Larry. Larry took the whole session by stride, being absolutely entranced by the neighing coming from my phone. He also could not stop looking at himself in the mirror, honestly adoring his reflection!
