A few photos from Spruce Meadows

One of Calgary's true gems is the Spruce Meadows equestrian facility. Not only is it open all year round, the grounds are absolutely beautiful and so well maintained. During the larger summer competitions such as the North American and Masters, they go all out with carriage rides, mounted regiments, a marketplace, dog agility, live music and lots of food! It's a place you can take the whole family, even if they don't like horses.

Somehow I missed out on all three major events last year, and I was sorely disappointed when I couldn't make the last one, the Masters, which is always held in September. As I recall, I was horribly sick. Spruce Meadows is also a great photo taking opportunity with different riders and breeds about. My family and I caught the tail end of the Battle of the Breeds like we usually do - for some reason we can never figure out when it begins! But every visit is guaranteed to yield lots of reference photos and horse magazines!

Here are a few of the better photos - this was my first time really using the action and sports features on my camera. I think I could have stood railside all day, just trying to get down the perfect tracking. And naturally I could have done that because I love horses so :-) Please join me on Flickr if you're not already my friend there :-)

Practice ring
Originally uploaded by Calzephyr