‘There’s Something About Morgans’: A Mare & Foal Photo Essay by Tracey Buyce

Tracey Buyce embarked on a photo shoot this spring for The Morgan Horse publication and visited four breeding farms on the East Coast: she shares her experience and her images.

All images by Tracey Buyce.

The premise of this shoot was a collaboration with The Morgan Horse publication that included four Morgan horse breeding farms on the East Coast, specifically to highlight the foals and their dams. I’m grateful to The Morgan Horse for providing access to these farms for me — this was an incredible opportunity to spend some really special moments on these farms.

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Each farm was very professional in keeping me safe as a photographer: I shot some of these images with a telephoto lens. I was right there in the pastures with these mothers and babies. I also shot with a 35 mm lens, which allowed me to truly interact with the horses and capture their personality and feeling- up close and personal!

Photographing these foals was unique: safety is really key, for both myself and for the horses. A big part of it is the energy you bring in as a photographer; the foals will feed off of that and react accordingly. It was important for me to remember that even though they were all leggy and cute the foals, and their mothers, were still horses, and could bite and kick and move very quickly. Generally though, the moms seemed to love it — they saw me as a babysitter to entertain their babies for a day! I found if I was very patient, the foals would eventually come right up to me. I sat still and just let the interactions happen.

The Morgan breed personality is very evident even in the foals: they’re naturally outgoing and inquisitive. The Morgan breed has been described as  “people pleasers” — they want to be with people, they’re interested in what we’re doing. There’s just something about Morgans — they have such a personality.

My own horse Moose is a Morgan — the breed found me; I didn’t necessarily seek out a Morgan horse but I fell in love with Moose and everything about him. Moose has such a personality to him; he has no ambition to do anything wild and crazy in his life — he was made to be a western horse. He’s such a great match for me and I can’t imagine loving any other breed.

You can view more of Tracey Buyce’s equine and equestrian photography and purchase prints by visiting her website. Follow Tracey on social media by visiting her Facebook and Instagram: @tracey_buyce_horses and @tracey_buyce_photography.