The Gifted Equine: a horse rescue's story

Social Media is not my favorite, but from time to time, it allows me to meet wonderful people. Queue in The Gifted Equine: a horse rescue started by Haley, a horse lover based in Ohio, and now joined by Savanah based in Texas.

I saw one of their posts, asking for donations to help feed some rescues and I knew I wanted to find a way to help. So I reached out to offer a way to support them and met up with them in Fort Worth to photograph some rescues and learn more about their foundation.

I met Beau and Red on Savanah’s property, where they stay in quarantine for a minimum of 14 days, before hopefully being re-homed, and they were the sweetest despite still being in not so great shape. I also learned more about the heartbreak that these girls go thru during each auction, because they cannot save all the horses and how the stress of vet bills pilling up isn't always easy to deal with either. Feeding them is not cheap either, and most horses at the auctions are skin on bones and it takes weeks to get them back to a healthy weight.

So perhaps, it seems glamorous to have a non profit and yes it is rewarding, but it is also very hard and stressful. So if you have extra cash and love horses, please support this non profit and help them help horses and save them from slaughter. "Horses bound for slaughter may include pregnant mares, foals (baby horses) and horses who are injured or blind and the holding conditions in these environments are inhumane."

To learn more about the Gifted Equine's mission and how to help them save horses, follow this link: https://www.thegiftedequine.com and feel free to share this blog post with friends and family, the horses and foundation can use all the help they can get.

You can also follow them on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thegiftedequine/

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POSIE and her COOL Parents

Meeting a photographer can be intimidating for clients, just like meeting new clients can be intimidating for photographers, and this is why I like using a questionnaire for my clients to complete before a shoot, kind of a way to get to know each other a little more, and make sure I understand their vision for the photos.

When I sent the questionnaire to this sweet couple for their family photos, it was evident that location and accessories were not the priority, Stephanie cared about capturing love. That's all!

So even though there are a lot of state parks in Texas that have incredible scenery and fun hiking, and Stepanie and her hubby love hiking, that wasn't exactly the point of this shoot. It was just about being outdoors and capturing their growing family. So instead of driving 4 hours away, we met at this beautiful preserve in Garland 20 min from their house and had a super chill afternoon, laughing and taking photos. Photos below were the warm up to the cute fancy outfits Stephanie handpicked.

And VOILA the fancy outfits. Yes you can be stylish outdoors!! And you don't have to wear neutral colors if you don't want to :) I do send a free guide out, if a client wants direction when it comes to what to wear and how to style a photo session, but that's all it is, a guide, not directions to follow. If bold colors is what you like to wear, BRING IT ON !!

Then for their "casual outfit", the whole family still looked super cute and stylish. I was half expecting jeans or leggings, but instead it was a tutu, a pretty dress, and cool sunglasses and I was all for it!! Wear what you want to wear. Don't feel the need to follow trends or Pinterest!

Thanks again for trusting me Ullah Family!! Cannot wait to road trip for the next shoot!!!

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PRETTY ELENA TURNS 1

The first time I photographed this adorable little girl she was still in the womb, carried by her sweet surrogate, yet she already had a better wardrobe than mine.

A year later, nothing changed at all :) besides her looking extra ADORABLE, she still has a better wardrobe. That's one of the advantage of having two stylish dads.

All three braved the crazy 100 degree weather to celebrate Elena's first birthday and cake smash, and they looked fabulous doing it. You cannot even see the sweat dripping, but we definitely had the AC blasting in our cars as soon as the session was done!! Totally worth it though, don't you think? Check out her crown and her vintage car :)

This was her first outfit, a beautiful custom dress by Olive & Elvie.

This was outfit number 2, SO PRECIOUS!

And finally the cake smash!

Thanks again for trusting me Erik and Corey to capture this milestone, and thanks Elena for cooperating so well throughout the heat.

Remember to always pack your child's favorite snack for photos. Animal Crackers is what got us the most smiles for this session:) And a fun toy to ride or play with. The vintage car got us a lot of smiles too!

What is your favorite snack?

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