Sunday, October 25, 2009

Breaking in a thoroughbred

At the time I photographed this young thoroughbred being broken in (probably 1955), I was flying cargo planes to Australia for Freddie Laker. We used to have a stop-over in Karachi on the way. In London I exercised polo ponies in Richmond Park three mornings a week and I missed my rides when I was away on the two week round trip to Australia.

I asked at the hotel if there were any stables nearby and they said I should try the racing stables. I was not at all sure I could handle a race horse but they gave me one of their nice gentle retired animals. I still scared myself galloping across the desert.


I was lucky enough to be there one morning when this young horse was of being broken in. He had not yet had a saddle put on him. It was one of the first photographs I took with my Rolleiflex 2.8E

2 comments:

  1. Dmitri, this is absolutely gorgeous. Such an incredible sense of tension- it seems as if man and horse are both about to take flight and join the birds above them. I hope you don't mind, I made it my desktop background.
    Best,
    Caitlin

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  2. I don't know much about photography, but sometimes I see a photo, such as this one, and just know that the composition is perfect.

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