Jenifer Jordan - Horses & Homes

Horses & Homes

Written and photographed by Jenifer Jordan

Horses & Homes

Digital Edition v1.0

Text and photographs 2009 Jenifer Jordan

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any means whatsoever without written permission from the publisher, except brief portions quoted for purpose of review.

Gibbs Smith, Publisher

PO Box 667

Layton, UT 84041

Orders: 1.800.835.4993

www.gibbs-smith.com

ISBN: 978-1-4236-1254-4

To my father, Harry, who shared with me his love of horses.

Foreword

When I first met Jenifer Jordan almost twenty years ago, she was photographing my home for a national magazine. She was at ease behind the camera, went about her business in a very professional manner, and produced beautiful photographs. I was sold on her talent immediately.

Many photo shoots and several homes later, we discussed collaborating on a book. We each thought we had one book in us. Three books later and after travels to Spain, Jamaica, Washington, D.C., Virginia, and all over Oklahoma, Texas, and Florida, we have no secrets. We have had a wonderful journey together, and I am honored to count Jenifer as a very special and dear friend.

This book, Horses & Homes , is truly a passion project for Jenifer because it sprang from her own lifestyle. Her love and understanding of all things equine is revealed in every photograph. And to me that is the mark of a true animal lover and a very gifted photographer, author, and stylist. Thank you, Jenifer, for an inspiring and beautiful book!

Charles Faudree

The love of a horse shows no boundariesnot only for riders but also for anyone who can appreciate natures true beauty. To me a horse means not just unconditional love and friendship, but a calm and peace in lifelike coming home.

In my research of what to include in this book, I found an abundance of homes with an equine influence. I also found these home owners to be very generous with their homes and horses, and very helpful in introducing me to their friends whose love of horses also proved evident in their design choices. It is apparent in the homes I photographed for this book that there is a common love of horses. Though each home was different, I loved the flow and the connection that they brought to my book.

In the homes that appear in this book, the horse is an integral design element in many ways, from oil paintings and bronze sculptures to country French toile fabrics and weather vanes. The use of horses in various dcor represents different things to these home owners. The art of horses represented love in one home, pure strength, true beauty moving through life, the unconditional love, a calm and peace, and also freedom. In another home the horses brought back childhood memories, and in another the dcor represents making it and being able to live in the country. Whatever the representation, I hope Horses & Homes captures the hearts of horse lovers and non-horse lovers alike so that everyone sees natures true beauty through the horse and the calm and freedom horses represent.

My love of horses came from my father, Harry. When I was eleven he bought me my first horse, an albino half-Arabian half-Morgan named Prince. Pure white with baby-blue eyes, Prince had the most beautiful long blond mane and tail, which I was very jealous of as a little girl. I think it was then that I found the passion for horses that would last me a lifetime. Prince was my best friend, and I used to find myself lost in moments with him, spending my daysand nights, if I had anything to do with itwith him. We could ride for hours. A favorite path took us to a nearby creek to go swimming, before everything was fenced off in the Texas countryside. I would find a green pasture for him to enjoy, take off his bridle, lay with him in the grass, and relax and enjoy the peace and solace of the country. Sometimes I would camp out in his stall with him, and I often found myself in trouble with my parents for not making it home in time for dinnerback when dinners were spent together as a family. Thanks, Mom. It was truly a simpler time in my life when I first experienced the respect, the friendship, and the unconditional love of a horse.

Then life sort of happened. I got out of horses for a while, but I never lost my passion for them. In my twenties and thirties, I was obsessed with my career until one day I thought, I work too hard. I need to enjoy life more. I quickly remembered my childhood memories and the fun times I had with my dear friend, Prince. It did not take long for me to make my decision at age thirty-eight to buy a horsemy first American Saddlebred. Johnny G would fast become a special part of my life, and I once again experienced that unconditional love of a horse that I had with Prince. Getting horses back into my life gave me something. It gave me back living in the moment; it gave me back a peace of mind and an appreciation of life. It helped me escape the rat race. It brought me back home. It actually made me a better me; it certainly made me a better photographer! Thank you, Johnny G.

My Saddlebred experience then led me to my five-gaited friend, Jack, whose show name is My Secret Passion. I think I can safely say that our passion was to rack on! Jack and I shared a connection, and we both had a definite need for speed! Being in the show ring with Jack was a fun and exciting time, and we won many blues and championships together. Thanks, Jack!

Having horses in my life gave me a reason to work harderso I could play harder. Because of this, in my twenty-five-year career as an interior and architectural photographer, I am honored to include hundreds of design magazines and design books in my portfolio, and Im still going strong. Horses & Homes will be the sixth book that Ive exclusively photographed, and the first that I have been lucky enough to write.

Jenifer Jordan

Here we are! My Secret Passion (Jack), my five-gaited Saddlebred, and me in the show ring. Photo by Todd Macklin.

The hunting horse is a type of horse, not a breed. Hunting is a discipline, a traditional sport that began in Britain and Ireland over three thousand years ago as the pursuit of a wild animal in its own environment by men on horses and their hounds. These horsemen hunted fox, stag, boar, and fallow deer, to name a few. These horses, also known as hunters, were bred for their stamina and fitness to last for hours in keeping up with the hounds at an even pace until the animal was captured. Hunters also had to be able to jump a variety of obstacles like stone fences and dykes. The sport certainly began in the field, though it is impossible to look at hunters isolated only in the field. Today the hunters are not only hunting foxes with their hounds, but they are now competing in show jumping, the show ring, the steeplechase, and horse trials.