Besides Ocala, Aiken is the next best winter eventing mecca. Soft footing, decent weather, and plenty of horse show activity to introduce young horses or leg up old mounts.

Luckily, I’m hitting horse shopping on the last swing of the winter season, right before all those otherwise snowbirds head back north with their ponies in tow. With this in mind, I made it a priority to get down there while the density of potential horses was still to my advantage.

The drive from Raleigh to Aiken is roughly 5 hours, so I’m making this trip worthwhile. Unlike my Kentucky trip, I won’t be seeing do many horses, but peppering photoshoots in and amongst some strong candidates to offset the cost of hotel and gas.

I’ve lined up 5 contenders to sit on, ranging from 5 to 11 years old and a variety of experience, though all are definitely eventing-inclined. I’m also doing 5 different black background shoots before and after the horsey mania.

Watch instagram for occasional updates, otherwise I will share how it went with you all next week!