Sydney (Horse Shoot) | Southern Illinois Photographer

I spent Saturday afternoon with my gorgeous cousin (and favorite red head), Sydney.  Syd and I have been planning a stylized shoot (coming soon!), but before that she wanted to know if I'd take a few of her with our grandpa's horse, Beaver.  As many of you know, Grandpa just reciently passed.  It was a shock to us all, and we all miss him dearly.  Grandpa loved horses and was an avid rider.  He ran thoroughbred race horses for years and enjoyed riding horses in his spare time.  Sydney definitely inherited this from him!  She is our "horse whisperer" - that's for sure!  She and Grandpa road many miles together as she was growing up, and because of that they were very close.  Ever since we heard the news of his passing, Sydney has spent a lot of her free time in his barn with these beautiful animals.  She said she loves the smell of the barn!  I always loved the smell of Grandpa's barn - the sweetness of the horse feed, the smell of leather, and, for her especially, the smell of the horses themselves.    I'm not sure exactly how this works, but I'm sure our grandpa is smiling down on her watching her care for this horse.  He would be so proud!  Here are some highlights from her session... :)