When Suzanne and I started planning for this session, I told her that I really just wanted to document a day in the life of a horse owner. We honestly didn't talk too much about it, because I just wanted to capture the moments as they unfolded.
I showed up to her house that was up in the hills of Baldwin Lake, a sub-section of Big Bear. It was surrounded by juniper trees and there was an epic view of the mountains and Baldwin lake. I noticed her three gorgeous horses as I started walking up and saw Suzanne moving around in the distance. She greeted me with a warm smile and kind eyes. She was wearing a fabulous deep orange button up with white vertical stripes, dark blue bell bottoms, the cutest sage-colored brim hat and of course, her cowboy boots with a unique burgundy color on them. Her long, light brown and blonde-streaked hair was lightly curled and coincidently matched her horse, Drifter. She then introduced me to her horse babes: Drifter, Jake and Bravo.
Up until this day, I was absolutely terrified of horses... even though I have a Sagittarius moon. I was afraid of their massive size and had this unlikely fear that I would be kicked by one. But on this day, I decided to let my guard down. After reading about how horses are some of the most intuitive animals on the planet, I knew that this is something I'd be able to understand and connect with, as I am also very intuitive. I pet Drifter and Jake, who were both such sweet and gentle boys! I felt seen in that moment and it's one I will never forget.
She decided to take Drifter, her longest friend of the three, out first. Drifter had a gorgeous copper color with a golden blonde mane... I was absolutely mesmerized by him. She started to saddle him up and pointed to all the unique features on the saddle while I documented. Apparently dragon flies are rare to find on a saddle, so I made sure to get a detail shot of that while she was talking about it. Once Drifter was ready to go, she walked him out of the gate and into the beautiful field filled with sage brush and juniper trees. To the left, was the sun lowering in the sky over the beautiful Big Bear mountains. It was truly a beautiful and slightly windy evening, which made for amazing photos. She rode him up and down the trail next to her house, as I followed along and documented the connection they had. It was such a wonderful experience and I was smiling from ear to ear the entire time. The way her windblown hair matched Drifter's and the sun shining through it was just magical.
She later brought Jake out, who had been neighing with jealousy as she rode away with Drifter lol. She decided to ride him bare-backed and I thought it was insane and amazing at the same time! I loved that she used the horse fence to climb up on him. Suzanne has such grace with these boys and it's apparent how much they love and trust her. As the sun set and the Scorpio moon rose above, I wanted to be sure to get a photo of the moon overhead, since she also has a Scorpio moon, making this her monthly Lunar Return! It was the perfect time to document the intense love she has for her horses.
At the end of the session, she fed the horses, gave me eggs from her chickens, then gave me a tour of her cute house. As you'll see towards the end, she was stoked on her view from her window and I loved how excited she was about it, so I snapped a photo of that too. One of her doggos, Ronin, came out to play for a bit as well <3
I hope you enjoy this documentation of a life well-lived for Suzanne. It definitely ignited something fierce and can't wait for more days like these!
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