It’s 9 AM on a Saturday, most are still asleep, but not sophomore Molly Braun. Braun spends her weekends out at the barn with her horses and taking pictures.
“We leave at 8:00 then go home at 2:00 then we go back to the barn at 8:00 PM and get home by about 11:00,” Braun said.
Horseback riding and photography seem to be two completely different past-times but the two are actually quite intertwined for Braun. Most pictures that are taken on her Canon T3i are taken at the barn of her horses.
“Well most of the photos I take are at the barn, a lot of horses I’ve worked with in the past I have pictures of because I love looking back on the memories of them,” Braun said.
Braun’s grandma rode horses for 45 years and although she doesn’t anymore for the past eight years her cousins have picked up on it too. Braun has been around horses her whole life but started riding consistently four years ago and stated that the mental block of her cousins having more experience and the pressure to be as good as them is a big challenge for her.
“This is going to sound kind of dumb but the first time I ever fell off of a horse was probably the most fun moment because me and my cousins were galloping down this field and my horse fell in a hole and I went with him,” Braun said.
Braun talked about how she loved the process of forming a bond with her horses because of how caring they are despite their size, it’s a big body with a bigger heart. Braun says she often just sits on the ground of the stall and pets them and gives them fruit.
“When it comes to riding horses it’s like a 50/50 balance, they’re doing work and you’re doing work and when you put in an even amount of work you both learn to love each other,” Braun said.
When it comes to the financial aspects of riding it’s not cheap. It’s a common phrase that if you don’t have money you can’t advance in riding. This is said because the equipment is very expensive and if you want to become better, you need the right equipment.
“I would say that a lot of people say that [horseback riding] is easy but it’s really hard. You just have to make it look easy, that’s the main goal but it’s definitely not an easy sport, I’ll say that,” Braun said.
Photography has never been a serious passion for Braun, but it’s a fun hobby that she enjoys and she started taking photographs because her mom had a friend that was a photographer and her parents and siblings did a family photo shoot– ever since she’s been taking pictures.
“My favorite thing is capturing moments so I could look at anything and be like, ‘Well if I did this it would be cool,’ and then I just take a million pictures and see which ones I like best,” Braun said.
While it’s mostly just for fun, she used to want to be a photographer when she grew up but then she started riding horses and competing in Saddle Seat shows and it’s taken up the majority of her time so it will likely stay a hobby. Braun posts photo dumps on Instagram and shows her family and friends her work but never shares it professionally and takes criticism from people that know what they’re talking about.
Braun described the feeling of capturing a moment perfectly as one of the most rewarding feelings because about 80% of the time her pictures don’t look how she’d like them to so when she gets that moment perfectly it’s truly something amazing.
“I used to spend my weekends hanging out with friends and things like that but now I spend them all at the barn and taking pictures of my horses,” Braun said.
