Some here may be familiar with my semi-traditional Maclay Regionals report for Region 8. This year is a bit different as I’m taking a year-long photo project class that I’ve based on the people who are the unsung heroes of the horse show. Thus, I spent a lot of time photographing what was happening at the back gate and less time watching. One might say that my focus was different this year. Here’s a video of the photos, some of which fit my project and some less so. Some of the subjects will be readily recognizable, especially to West Coast people; some less so. Video is just over two minutes just so you know what you’re in for.
Link to YouTube Video of Behind the Scenes Maclay Photos
Brief Report
The course looked fun and challenging but not overwhelming. Lots of bending lines and some interesting-looking fences (some apparently contributed by Whitethorne). There were just over thirty riders in the class. The strangest thing was that they only hacked twelve riders. There was considerable confusion over this as they first announced they’d hack 12, then it was briefly changed to 26 before settling on 12. The flat was pretty basic. There was no workoff.
You can hop over to the Maclay Finals Qualification thread for a discussion of the new qualifying criteria for this year and next.
Finally, if anyone is curious about the year-long project, titled “A Leg Up,” here’s a link to a video I did based on the photos in consideration as of last month. It has to be culled down to something like twelve photos for the final presentation in November.
), but I enjoyed the Behind the Scenes. Brought back memories 
