Wellington, Fla. – January 27, 2015 – It’s only been three weeks since I started my internship with Phelps Media Group, and I feel like I’ve had enough experiences for it to have been much longer! As Mason Phelps Jr. put it on our first day in the office, we’ve all started out by being bathed by fire. While my first few assignments weren’t necessarily as painful as that sounds, I definitely got a crash course in the life of a PMG employee within the first few days.
My first assignment was covering the Robert Dover Horsemastership Clinic, which ran Jan. 3-7. While I have been riding my entire life, after watching just the first day of these young dressage prodigies taking lessons, I felt more than inadequate about where I’ve gotten thus far in my life. My main job on the first day of the clinic was to take photos and generally just watch my PMG point person Mary Adelaide Brakenridge and learn.
On the first day, like any first day, I was feeling nervous and unsure what to do with myself. As the day went on I settled into the routine of taking pictures of the horses and riders. Now notice I didn’t say good pictures.
Coming into this internship I knew that I was not a skilled photographer, not having had much experience taking photos, but my first day at the clinic solidified this knowledge for me. After taking a few pictures I was getting immense satisfaction from taking a photo, looking at the preview, and not being repulsed by the image I saw.
Dressage photography, like the sport itself, is very precise; if you take the photo a second too late, it can come out with the horse looking incredibly awkward, which is really saying something if you look at the quality of these horses. After shooting photos at three days of the clinic and the show in the days following, I think my technique is improving.
After the first day of the clinic the time came for me to write my very first article for PSdressage.com. Having been an English major in college, and putting off most of my essays until the last minute, I have fine-tuned my ability to write quickly. After finishing up the day at the clinic at 2 p.m., around 8 p.m. I was starting to rethink my self-proclaimed ability to write quickly. As my stomach grumbled impatiently, I gave my article one final look over, and with a sigh of relief I thought, “I’m done!”
Now of course, the wonderful M.A. went over it with her AP style eagle eye. I was proud to have written the majority of the article all by myself. It was only later, after I posted an article to the website, that I realized how much work she put into the article. Between editing my article, the photos, and posting it to the website, I appreciate her attaching just my name to it!
Overall, my first impressions of Wellington are that it is in a league of its own. This level of riding is something that I have never been a part of, but at the same time I don’t really feel out of place. Just because these people are leagues ahead of me in the riding arena, and probably always will be, doesn’t mean that I am any less a rider than they are. My mom reminded me before she left after driving down to Florida with me that everyone puts their pants on one leg at a time. While when she said it I gave her the ‘Wow, you’re ridiculous, mom,’ eye roll, after being a part of this scene for only a week I find myself often reflecting on what she said.
I have not been given any reason by anybody I’ve talked with to doubt myself; in fact, everyone has been very gracious, kind, and willing to talk to me. I think just seeing the level of riding here is intimidating and lends itself to inferior thoughts. Overall, I have felt very welcome; not only at the show grounds, but in the office as well. I could not have asked for a nicer, more helpful or more hilarious group of people to work with.
I really appreciate the chance to be working here for the season. I have always heard of the winter season in Wellington, and it always kind of seemed like some far-off fantasy land. Now that I am here and working in the thick of things, I could not have asked for a better opportunity. I have learned so much in just the past three weeks, and I expect to learn much, much more!