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| Has anyone ever had a photographer's flash bother their horse during a run?
I went to a bigger barrel race which was indoors and they were snapping pictures throughout the run (not just on the 2nd barrel). They had flashes set up on poles on the side of the arena. On all of my runs my horse ran to the first fine but then became unfocused, quit running and just felt like he was all over the place. When looking at the pictures after, he actually has his eyes closed in some of them...
Am I crazy for thinking the flashes may have bothered him? |
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 A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
 
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | LAC - 2016-06-21 1:59 PM Has anyone ever had a photographer's flash bother their horse during a run? I went to a bigger barrel race which was indoors and they were snapping pictures throughout the run (not just on the 2nd barrel). They had flashes set up on poles on the side of the arena. On all of my runs my horse ran to the first fine but then became unfocused, quit running and just felt like he was all over the place. When looking at the pictures after, he actually has his eyes closed in some of them... Am I crazy for thinking the flashes may have bothered him?
At the next race you can ask the photographer to not take pictures, all you do is give them your name and number. And yes the flash can bother your horse. |
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Expert
Posts: 1477
Location: In the land of peanuts and cotton | I had one that would jump when it flashed when she was real young but she quit after just a few times. I would think the eyes being closed is just timing. You horse was probably just blinking or I guess the flash could have made him blink like it can a human. |
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  Angel in a Sorrel Coat
Posts: 16030
Location: In a happy place | I never had one that the flash bothered and I rode a lot of colts. But I do think that it can happen. Just ask the photographer to not take your picture. After a while you might try it again just to see though. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 878
Location: "...way down south in the Everglades..." | As a kid, I had one pony that the flash bothered. He wasn't a barrel pony, but regardless, at the big indoors it was an issue. Ironically he ended up going moon blind years and years later. I still wonder if his actual eye sight correlated to him being so sensitive to the flash. He also had a phobia of shadows.
Not trying to say your horse has anything wrong with his eye sight, but just an interesting observation from my own situation. If he's young and hasn't been hauled to big shows much it may just be a variety of things.
And on a side note, my one barrel mare spooked at the red laser beam for barrel setting the first couple times we ran in an arena like that. But she still to this day spooks at about everything. I don't think she sees well either.
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 340
| I had a little mare I ran as a teen who would jump 10ft every time the flash went off in the indoor pens. Just asked them not to take a picture! |
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 Expert
Posts: 1526
Location: Texas | It's not the flash |
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 A very grounded girl
Posts: 5052
Location: Moving soon..... | I have a friend that went to a barrel race and specifically requested that the photographer not take any pictures of her. The photographer took them anyway. Her young horse had a terrible barrel (spooked each run) where the photographer was and when she approached them, she was told that she could not look at any of her pictures. You would think that since they took the pictures they would at least let her look at them. No reason to take pictures when asked not to.
I have been to big races where the flash is not close to the barrel. Just don't understand anyone being like that. |
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