The FEI has of the 12th of May sent out an email to accredited media who have received their accreditation from the FEI/IOC. A checklist for accredited media has been put together in joint collaboration with the FEI and the IAEJ Tokyo 2020 working group.  If you are accredited through your NOC, a national Olympic Committee, you may not have received this email. We share this information for the benefit of anyone with accreditation planning or considering going to Tokyo 2020.

Message from FEI Communications

Dear Member of the Media,

Following publication of the Tokyo Playbook Press Version 2 and the briefing held last Friday with the IOC and Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee Press Operations team, this is a reminder for Media intending to cover the rescheduled Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games (23 July to 8 August 2021) that there are a number of deadlines which MUST be observed to ensure your smooth arrival and stay in Tokyo. 

As one key deadline has already passed this week, we would like to remind you of all the essential information, important dates, personal responsibilities and requirements outlined in the attached document, to help you prepare for your departure.

These Games will be very different to their predecessors due to the Covid-19 countermeasures that have been put in place to ensure a safe and successful Olympics and Paralympics this summer. This means that there are a lot of requirements and resulting deadlines that have never previously existed, and accredited media planning to cover the Games onsite in Tokyo will need to comply with these vital conditions or there is a risk that access to Japan will be denied.

If however, you have now decided that you no longer wish to travel to Tokyo and would prefer to work remotely, please remember to advise the Tokyo Press Operations Team directly and secure your remote access to MyInfo.

Best regards
FEI Communications

 

Important dates for Tokyo 2020 accredited media 

READ the Playbook Press Version 2 carefully – Tokyo 2020 Press Operations extranet (NB: only registered users have access).

Playbook V2:one important change since publication: no three-day quarantine post-arrival is required.

Preparations during May

• If you have not booked your accommodation through the official accommodation management system (AMS) – urgently respond to the questionnaire from Tokyo 2020. The deadline was 10 May, but forms are still open. You need to register here AND respond to the questionnaire.
• By mid-May Tokyo 2020 will contact everyone that does not have official accommodation about a relocation. There will be no approval by the Japanese Government of unofficial accommodation. Tokyo 2020 will help you find accommodation if there is a requirement for you to move.
• Each organisation (freelancers/independent media you are your organisation) needs to appoint a Covid Liaison Officer or CLO (please read the CLO job description). Appointing a CLO (or declaring self-CLO) must be done by 14 May (12:00 noon JST). Tokyo 2020 will send a CLO user application form for ICON registration to the appointed CLO. Tokyo 2020 ICON Management Authority is the platform you will use to upload your activity plan. This must be done four weeks prior to travel.
• Appointed CLOs will receive online training.

Preparations during May/June

• Submit your flight information into the ADS (Arrival & Departure Information System). You received an email at the beginning of May to register for the ADS.
• Fill out your activity plan for your stay in Japan. The Tokyo 2020 ICON Management Authority will be available after 31 May. You or your CLO will enter the information into the ICON system. The activity plan must include your accommodation, where you plan to go (MPC, Baji Koen/Sea Forest venue, Olympic Village, Opening Ceremony etc)
• If you arrive in Japan between 15 and 21 July, the latest date for submitting your activity plan is 24 June. If you enter Japan between 22 and 28 July, your activity plan must be submitted by 1 July.
• Download the health monitoring app (OCHA) and the track and trace app (COCOA).

Before your departure

• Fill out your close contact survey for two weeks prior to departure, take your temperature daily, and fill in details on the OCHA app.
• Two Covid-19 tests, taken on separate days, within 96 hours of your departure for Japan, one of them 72 hours prior to departure. Consult the Playbook v2 for valid tests. The certificate is very detailed and needs to be signed by a doctor. It may be wise to ask your National Olympic Committee for help on this.
• Download the certificate in English/Japanese and bring this to your doctor.
• You will not be allowed into Japan without your validated activity plan, which has been signed off by your CLO, Tokyo 2020, and the Japanese Government.

 

 

Previous articles 

 

 

On May 7th the Tokyo 2020 held a Stakeholder Briefing on Playbook for the Press via web conference system Bluejeans. Several presentations were given and a session with questions & answers concluded the 90-minute long briefing.

Although several items were addressed that came up as question marks in the 2nd edition of Playbook for the press, many issues remain to be resolved. During next week we will publish our conclusions and what other information we have gathered with you, stay tuned.

There are a number of deadlines coming up in the coming weeks for functions such as CLO – Covid Liason Officer and accommodation. The IAEJ has had a working group, Jan Tönjes, Jon Stroud, and Kim C Lundin, working on trying to get more clarification around all things concerning the Tokyo 2020 Games. The working group has had discussions with the FEI and other stakeholders.

To have the most correct information on how to best be able to support our IAEJ community up till game time in July and August we need help from all of you.

Please respond to our short web survey, it is estimated to take 3 minutes of your life, please spend it on providing us with the information we need to put our best feet forward towards the Olympic games.

Web Survey 

Please respond before Thursday 13th at 23:00 CET, it is much appreciated if you reply even sooner.

Thank you for your time and effort.

 

 

 

 

 

Dear members,

The clock is ticking, the countdown to Tokyo is running. However, with less than 100 days to go before the Tokyo 2021 Olympics start, there is still no clear information under which regulations the work for the media will take place.

As those of you who hold an accreditation for Tokyo 2021 know there will be a second Playbook coming out before the end of April. This will summarize the guidelines under which we can work in Japan. What we know so far is that, due to the global Covid-19 pandemic, these Games will be different. Absolutely different.

In order to find out what we can do to try and ensure that all equestrian media have the best working conditions possible, we discussed in an IAEJ board meeting that we create an Olympic Media Working Group. Since then Kim Lundin, Jon Stroud and Jan Toenjes have had talks with several stakeholders, attended web conferences and had several constructive meetings with the FEI, which is in direct discussions with both the IOC and the Tokyo Organising Committee.

So far we cannot precisely say what our workdays will look like in Tokyo. But what we know for sure is that there is a daily booking system for all venues (not just Equestrian) and that the potential for someone being refused access to a venue is high due to the reduction in capacity (potentially as much as 50%) for all media areas – Venue Media Centres, Photo Positions and Tribune Seating, but not the Main Press Centre (MPC).

The current situation – and hopefully there will be greater clarification in the next edition of the Playbook – means that access to a venue is only granted on a daily basis, and this applies for all sports, all venues and all media.

There will be high pressure days when there is a greater demand for access to the equestrian venue, particularly the medal days, and there is a requirement for the photo and news agencies to have access, which means that there is a reduction of available spaces.

There are a couple of other matters the working group is currently discussing with several stakeholders involved in the Games. Among these topics are individual transportation concepts (car/van hire, bicycles) to facilitate on-time access to training sessions and course inspections.

Good working conditions with access to the venues on days with activity, be it competition or training, arena familiarisation or horse inspections, is what we are fighting for, together with the FEI.

What we do know is that our sport has very high numbers of specialist E-accreditations (both photographers and written media). The criteria that will be used to decide who will be granted venue access and who – potentially – will not is still unclear. Nor is it established who will be making those decisions.

All of you who are accredited for Tokyo will have received from the Tokyo Organisers the list of meeting points and also an accommodation questionnaire. If you are accommodated somewhere that is not near either the MPC or one of the meeting points, you will need to find alternative accommodation with the help of the Tokyo Organisers or, potentially, reconsider whether or not to travel as there will be many challenges to overcome, not just venue access.

The Covid-19 countermeasures that have to be in place for the safety of everyone in Japan are complicated, but absolutely crucial for the Games to go ahead.

We will continue our talks on your behalf and will of course keep you updated, but rest assured we – together with the FEI – are fighting for the best outcome in the current very uncertain circumstances.

We will keep you updated, take care.

On behalf of the IAEJ Board

Jan Tönjes, Jon Stroud and Kim Lundin

We would like to take the opportunity to present our members for the IAEJ community of journalists and photographers during these trying times of a global pandemic. Next to go is one of our journalist members from the U.S : L.A. Sokolowski

Questions & Answers

Q:    Where exactly are you based?
A:    Just south of Saratoga Springs, home of ‘horses, health & history’ and America’s oldest operating sporting venue (racetrack), in Albany, the capitol of New York State and relatively equidistant from Manhattan, Montreal, Boston or, thanks to an international airport, Heathrow, Orly and Schiphol. I am a native New Yorker.

Q:    Do you live with any partners, family and/or pets?
A:   My partner Charles, who is embracing my transforming him into a riding/driving horseman, our rescue cat, Pandora, and beta fish, Camille and Garbo.

Q:    Do you work independently or are you affiliated with a particular organization?
A:    Yes and yes. I am an independent contractor who has several terrific longstanding relationships with editors and companies.

Q:    How long have you been an equestrian journalist?
A:    Honestly, I’ve had a published byline for 50 years. At nine I was secretary for my 4-H horse club (yes, my first horse was a palomino named Trigger) and my father suggested, since my notes became the next meeting’s report anyway, why not add an engaging opening line, close it with an interesting fact or lesson about horses and horsemanship, and take it to the editor at our Greene County News and see if there was interest? My horse club news and trivia became a regular contribution. That was 1970 and getting an unpaid byline is still easy. It’s the paid ones that are trickier albeit far more helpful at keeping a career.

Q:    What was your path to becoming an equestrian journalist?
A: By fifth grade I was using a reel-to-reel tape recorder to interview horse models and stuffed animals for my own show and coerced two horse-crazy friends on my bus to create stories and ‘photos’ for a monthly horse magazine, on lined notepaper and bound with the gaudiest rainbow yarn imaginable. My nascent publishing enthusiasm and attraction for deadlines lasted much longer than theirs. Fast forward to degrees in Journalism (SUNY Albany) and Equine Business Management (Johnson & Wales), then public relations writing for USET, Stadium Jumping, 1996 Olympic Media services with Max Ammann, a dash of grant writing and fundraising for the zoological industry, a dotcom ride with Equisearch.com as content director, and ghostwriting for J. Michael Plumb and (later) Chester Weber. My peers seem to think I’m reasonably capable of my craft and I accepted an AHP Spirit Award in 2017 for my contributions to the industry, last year I was first (with New York Horse) in feature writing and general excellence at the 50^th AHP Conference & Awards, and have been nominated for my second Syracuse Press Club sports writing award. You know what they say about people who work for themselves. We get to choose our own hours: All 24/7 of them. Since entering this industry in 1992 my path has never been idle.

Q:    What sports and types of competition do you cover, or other types of equestrian-related assignments?
A:    Stepping into the horse industry at the level I did with the Team, I became conversant with all the USET/FEI disciplines. Fortunately, my horsemanship had always adopted the creed you ride the horse, not the saddle, so I had experience in a little of everything, from dressage to over fences, riding reiners or ex-track horses. I picked up a little driving after making some friends at the 1992 World Pairs at Gladstone. Over the last 10-15 years I’ve seen an editorial shift to focus on lifestyle and when appropriate, I swap my leads accordingly, including serving on the organizing committee for the Equus International Film Festival in Montana.

Q:    What new skills did you pick up during quarantine? How has the Covid-19 pandemic affected your life?
A:    My impression has been that the rest of the world is seeing what freelance life has pretty much felt like for years. I’ve been submitting work electronically from a home office since the 1990s, although I find since quarantine that people seem more willing to talk, whether it’s via phone or Zoom. A hunger for contact has been making access, ergo my job, easier. My pandemic experience has been more about refreshing or renewing old skills, particularly riding. I am blessed to know someone with a privately owned horse who needs all the work he can get and has hundreds of acres of trails. So I am six feet up in the saddle, socially distanced, and riding more in the last year than the past 30. And when I’m not riding, I’m longing or schooling Charles, which is a real treat to share what I love and nurture the same enthusiasm in another adult amateur.

Q:    What’s your all-time favourite moment in equestrian sport?
A:    All the best ones are off the record of course! But updating the late radio personality Paul Harvey on how an ex-track horse (formerly raced as Stand By For News) fared in the jumpers at Madison Square Garden. Paul Harvey the horse was amateur champion two years in a row, and two years in a row, Paul Harvey the radio celeb shared every detail I shared with him about the horse and its classes on his show the next day. And that, as he would say is, “the rest of the story!”

Q:    Talk about your most memorable adventure while covering equestrian sport.
A:  Swapping shirts with Klaus Balkenhol amid the final flurry of trading souvenirs at the conclusion of the Atlanta Olympics. He was keen to have my teal-green Media polo shirt and I got his Deutschland team dressage t-shirt. I still have it, coffee stains and all.

Q:    What is your favourite competition venue and why?
A:    I truly pine for the late, great National Horse Show at Madison Square Garden, in the heart of Manhattan and always right around Halloween. That was such a great confluence of visuals and atmosphere. I recall closing the pressroom (well after midnight), and taking the AP reporters, etc., for drinks and a drag show at Lucky Cheng’s to unwind.

Q:    What is the last book / latest streamed series / favourite podcast you read / watched /enjoyed?
A:    Book: My niece in London recommended Where the Crawdads Sing. I’m not usually a fiction reader. Prior to that I was reading William Kennedy’s Oh, Albany! For streaming series, just finished Kim’s Convenience (Time magazine recommended if you enjoyed Schitt’s Creek, which I did) and the darkly amusing Flack, set in the PR world. My guiltiest pleasure was a South Korean romantic drama series, Mr. Sunshine. My favorite podcasts are any that invite my clients on as guests.

Q:    Who inspires you?
A: I just took a look at horsewomen trailblazers for a Horse Illustrated piece, many of the names coming from my own rolodex (is that still a thing?) and I was reminded how humbled and inspired I am to enjoy the candor and wisdom of such rare individuals as Dr. Temple Grandin, Linda Tellington-Jones, Anne Kursinski, Bernice Endes, Debbie Loucks, Jean Abernathy, Lynn Palm, Patricia Kelly, Patti Colbert, Stacy Westfall, Laura Hillenbrand and the late Jane Savoie.

Q:    How do you spend your time when you’re not working?
A:    Last summer Charles and I rolled up our sleeves and helped our horse’s owner disassemble her 40’ x 20’ carriage shed that had been destroyed in a storm. It involved the three of us tearing down and rebuilding the entire structure from the ground up, using only existing or found repurposed and recycled materials. (A riding accident, years earlier, put her on disability and a restricted income, so those were our parameters).  Oh, and the facility has no electricity. So our only tools were a cordless handheld drill, a Husqvarna chainsaw (no doubt invoking Paul Harvey’s spirit), three hammers, two shovels and a pick axe; even a partridge in a pear tree would have been put to work. It took three months for the three of us to reconstruct the building, installing three sets of double doors, a dozen windows, and leak-proofed metal roof. ‘Other work’ is easy in comparison to that old fashioned exchange of sweat equity to ride but it kept our bodies (and heads) in healthy places.

Q:    What is some of your work that you’re proudest of?

A: I’ve always been proud of how I was thanked by major non-horse press covering the ’96 Olympic equestrians for making their job easier and presenting more three-dimensionality to the horse and rider information than they could remember since the Los Angeles Games. If I helped bridge their readership divide and attract new fans to our sport, that’s everything I can ask for. As a writer, I’m proud (when Modern Arabian was publishing) of how my profile of Angel Heart Farm’s work with pediatric cancer patients increased donations and grant opportunities for them. I’m also proud of telling the story of hunter/jumper trainer Jennifer Dahlman Gurney, who follows in the boot steps of her stepfather Harry deLeyer in giving a new generation of Snowman, i.e. former racehorses, new careers (https://issuu.com/newyorkhorse/docs/15fanyhorseissuu), and earned my first Syracuse Press Club award. I’m always proudest of what’s coming out next. I like to see this as an ever-evolving craft.

 

 

 

Photo credits: Charles Joseph Berry

We would like to take the opportunity to present our members for the IAEJ community of journalists and photographers during these trying times of a global pandemic. Next to go is one of our journalist members from the U.S : Pamela Burton

Questions & Answers

Q:     Where exactly are you based?
A:     I am now based outside of Phoenix, Arizona, USA.

Q:     Do you live with any partners, family and/or pets?
A:     I happily live and travel with my husband of over 33 years. Unhappily I don’t have a horse at the moment.

Q:     Do you work independently or are you affiliated with a particular news organization?
A:     After writing for many national and international equestrian events, newspapers and magazines, in 2006 I began my own online publication with the brand name, https://www.Horsereporter.com.

Q:     How long have you been an equestrian journalist?
A:     Part time since 1996, then full time after 2007.

Q:     What was your path to becoming an equestrian journalist?
A:     First, the love of horses was a natural façon d’entrée. I began riding at a wonderful farm in Maryland at Pony Club level when I was about 8 years old. After that, I was almost never without a horse to ride in some discipline, which included jumping, dressage and endurance and a bit of International adventure in the form of a few equestrian randonnés in France and South Africa.
I worked for several hard news radio stations but did not enjoy the blood and guts of it.  When the US Endurance team was invited to participate in the 1998, 160 km International World’s Most Preferred Endurance Championship at Seih Al Salam in Dubai, an area I had only read about, I paid my own way to attend.
There were thousands of sports press that had been invited from all over the world, and not one tenth of them understood much about the sport of endurance, and the race organizers did not know much more.
Endurance in the desert at this level was new, and the race organizers had been given a huge task to do in a short time. The venue was not fully completed, there were no roads through the sand to the still-being-prepared desert track, and drivers and crew
spent many interesting moments digging out and sluicing sand from under their tires as they tried to negotiate the soft dunes.  We all learned together.  Valerie Kanavy led the US team to a win, and I went home with a story.
I began receiving invitations to cover FEI endurance events and returned often to Dubai and then to Abu Dhabi. Over time, I learned to appreciate the many great international equestrians that supported these programs. I was then introduced to Arabian horse racing in an area that had some fabulous breeding and was in rapid expansion mode.
My husband, a marina development expert, was hired by the Abu Dhabi government to give some shape to the many marina projects being developed in AD, one of which was Yas Island Marina. We enjoyed living in Abu Dhabi and had some great adventures learning the intrigues of working as expats amid totally different expectations, and in the process, making many life-long friends.

Q:     What sports and types of competition do you cover?
A:     Everything that I’ve been asked to do and more – from articles on Western horses to the entire spectrum of disciplines. A thrill was covering the World Equestrian Games 2010 in Lexington, Kentucky.  For now, I am mainly focused on athletic and Sport-horse International Arabian events.

Q:     What new skills did you pick up during quarantine? How has the Covid-19 pandemic effected your life?
A:     That’s a very good question. I think this hiatus in travel has given us all a chance to take a breath, tune up our talents and develop new skills. I have taken and continue to take Zoom classes on many subjects, some produced through online college courses. I am now fine-tuning new photographic techniques and technologies such as making videos, perfecting photo editing skills and design work.

Q:     What’s your all-time favourite moment in equestrian sport?
A:     There are many, but one that was more than a moment that easily come to mind is following the US Endurance team to cover the World Endurance Championship at Terengganu, Malaysia, in Southeast Asia in 2008.

Terengganu is reached from the capital of Kuala Lumpur on the western side of the country via a short hop by air over the forests and jungle to the South China Sea.
It was 7 November, and it was monsoon season. The heat and humidity were both in the 90’s when a stellar contingent of International riders, along with the King of Malaysia, Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin, an avid endurance rider, headed out to an all-night 160 km competition starting at 5:30 pm.
A storm cell brought torrential rain about four hours into the ride, making ponds out of parts of the trail and the vet gates, accompanied by a great display of low and thunderous lighting that lit up the trails and fried electric cables and communications.
Lightning struck a tree just as Jan Worthington, riding the aptly named Golden Lightning, and Meg Sleeper on Syrocco Reveille of the US team came through nearby water on the trail. The water transmitted the shock from the strike and both horses leapt into the air and fell, rolling over and over, dumping riders and gear. Luckily, both horses and riders were uninjured, although all were shocked and dazed. Riders and horses made it back okay into the vet check, the only fatality being a pair of eye glasses. More of that story here.

Q:     Talk about your most memorable adventure while covering equestrian sport.
A:     I would have to say that working for the press organizer for the entire World Equestrian Games in 2010 in Kentucky was a stand-out experience. There were many dignitaries of the equestrian world present, the very best riders competing in each sport, and also bit of Royalty. It was thrilling to be able to see some of each discipline’s action up close behind a camera and to meet some of the press that I knew from their bylines. Then there was the closing, attended by the GOAT – Greatest Of All Time boxer, Mohammed Ali.

Q:     What is your favourite competition venue and why?
A:     I think I must say, “I love the one I’m with,” however, for the last few years I have enjoyed covering some of the top horse races in the world. There is so much enthusiasm belted into the few minutes of each race, and the energy from the crowd, the participants, and the horses is exhilarating. The last big race I covered was the February 2020, two-day Saudi Cup in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Q:     What is the last book / latest streamed series / favourite podcast you read/ watched /enjoyed?
A:     I am an avid reader, and one of the books I have recently enjoyed, Sea Stories, My Life in Special Operations by Ret. Admiral William H McRaven.

Q:     Who inspires you?
A:     First, I admire my parents for showing their children the love of travel and an adventurous and non-judgmental curiosity of the world. I am intrigued and inspired by authors such as Dorothy Parker for her dark humor, Hunter S. Thompson for his eloquent cynicism and mind-bending journalism style, and photographer Annie Leibovitz for her artistic view of life.

Q:     How do you spend your time when you’re not working?
A:     Riding horses is my favorite thing to do. I also love to cook, especially using many of the wonderful spices I’ve learned to use from my travels.

Q:     What is some of your work of which you’re the proudest of? 
A:     Most recently covering the first Saudi Cup 2020. It was my first visit to Saudi Arabia and I again met and mingled with some of the top racing and press people in the business.

Meet Pamela Burton through her work

Article: Tallaab Al Khalediah Shows Heels to Field in Obaiya Arabian Cup:
https://www.horsereporter.com/tallaab-al-khalediah-shows-heels-to-field-in-obaiya-arabian-cup/
Photo link: https://psaintjohn.smugmug.com/2020-Horse-Racing/Saudi-Cup-2020/i-TXJk97q

Ali Al Amri – Horse Whisperer – Shawati magazine, Abu Dhabi Tourism
https://www.horsereporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Al-Ameri.pdf

Webpage: https://www.horsereporter.com
Photo Gallery: https://psaintjohn.smugmug.com/

See you on the rail. Pamela

We would like to take the opportunity to present our members for the IAEJ community of journalists and photographers during these trying times of a global pandemic. Next to go is one of our photographer members from Italy: Massimo Argenziano

 

Questions & Answers

Q:    Where exactly are you based?
A:    My house is in Rocca di Papa, really close to Pratoni del Vivaro, my office is in Rome, close to basilica of San Peter.

Q:    Do you live with any partners, family and/or pets?
A:    I live together with my wife, my younger daughter and our two dogs.

Q:    Do you work independently or are you affiliated with a particular organization?
A:    I work independently. I collaborate with FEI and FISE as freelance. I also work with different Italian and foreign equestrian magazines.

Q:    How long have you been an equestrian photographer?
A:    I have focused my attention on the equestrian world since 12 years now. I made this choice not so long ago, and I took it seriously as I have big goals to reach.

Q:    What was your path to becoming an equestrian photographer?
A:    I have worked as a photographer since I was 14. I started quite early not moved by a particular passion but basically because my parents had a photographic company and my dad especially was a remarkable photographer in the 70-90th. For this reason, I had the chance to work alongside important photographers in the fashion world, reporting and publicity and I have been lucky having the chance to learn from all of them.
Almost 12 years ago I decided to combine my profession to my lifelong passions: horses, sport and travelling.
Horses have always been part on my life. Me and my wife we were both riding when younger, my grandfather was a military farrier and in the end my daughter made it her profession focusing her attention in eventing. She lived for several years in England and in Germany, and she competed since she was 15. Going with her at the shows gave me the chance to get closer and closer to this amazing world.
To improve my equestrian shooting I took part in several clinics or stages as a spectator. It happens quite often that I train in smaller national competitions.
I also worked in national and international competitions, world games, European championships, media and equestrian equipment companies.

Q:    What sports and types of competition do you cover? Other types of equestrian related assignments?
A:    I focus especially on eventing, show jumping, dressage, rider portraits, advertising photos, horse shows and more in general everything that concerns horses and the equestrian world.

Q:    What new skills did you pick up during quarantine? How has the Covid-19 pandemic effected your life?
A:    During the lockdown I reorganized my archive and renewed my website. I have been commissioned by an important newspaper to take a photo shooting of Rome while empty from people and tourists. I am anyway quite sorry for this 2020 as all my plans went away due to the loss of all the contracts I took on at the beginning of the year, my photo archive for 2020 is almost empty. But luckily at the end of the season we had two important competitions close to Rome which gave me the chance to shoot international professional riders.

Q:    What’s your all-time favourite moment in equestrian sport?
A:    I love my job in total as it is always so exciting, I meet so many persons and have the chance to get to know personally even the big champions. Some of my favorite memories are definitely shooting Queen Elisabeth in Blair Castle, the very last Totilas competition, being in Badminton and the final prize ceremony at the WEG in Caen where also my daughter was present together with her boss Dirk Schrade who was receiving the gold medal in the German team.

Q:    Talk about your most memorable adventure while covering equestrian sport.
A:    One of my favorite adventures was back in 2014 when I did a 50-day road trip, stopping by to shoot at pony and junior European championships, international competitions and WEG in Normandy. I took the chance to visit many places between Germany, England and France. That is what I missed this year more than anything else.

Q:    What is your favourite competition venue and why?
A:    I do love working in Aachen. It is a real show where you can find the best riders of the three disciplines. Sometimes it can be frantic and chaotic but the organisation is amazing and it helps working in the best way. I have also the chance to meet many friends and colleagues and advice with them.

Q:    What is the last book / latest streamed series / favourite podcast you read / watched /enjoyed?
A:    My last book is “Second Chance”, Mark Todd autobiography. It is a great and inspiring book that also gave me the chance to improve my English vocabulary.

Q:    Who inspires you?
A:    I have respect for my friend Jacques Toffi who I always meet with pleasure he is a PHOTOGRAPHER. Then there are Bob Langrish and Kit Houghton, they are masters.

Q:    How do you spend your time when you’re not working?
A:    I don’t really have free time, but if it happens – always with horses.

Q:    What is the philosophy behind your work as a photographer?
A:    I like to be very professional to the clients and at the same time deeply respectful to equestrian world, horses and riders. I am proud of having never published in my life pictures of riders or horses falls or any other shoot that could in anyway damage their image. I know how much effort and hard work there is behind every rider and their horses and I personally think photographers should be respectful in this way

Meet Massimo Argenziano through his work

All photos by Website: www.massimoargenziano.it

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We would like to take the opportunity to present our members for the IAEJ community of journalists and photographers during these trying times of a global pandemic. Next to go is one of our journalist members from the UK: Lulu Kyriacou

Questions & Answers

Q:     Where exactly are you based?
A:     I have lived in Newmarket, for the last ten years or so. It is a small town about an hour from London and famously the home of horse racing. There are at least five thousand horses here in training plus stud farms.  If you don’t like horses, it is probably best to live elsewhere!!

Q:     Do you live with any partners, family and/or pets?
A:    No, I live on my own, which, when I am doing a lot of journalism, is an advantage, as I can change plans quickly.

Q:     Do you work independently or are you affiliated with a particular news organization? 
A:    I have been a freelancer, pretty much since I started  although I have had a couple of long term contracts.

Q:     How long have you been an equestrian journalist?
A:    Since 2003 mostly part time.

Q:     What was your path to becoming an equestrian journalist?
A:    I grew up in a Brixton (poor area in London) basement flat, with six of us sharing two rooms and no bathroom without a horse in sight, so how I became horse mad, I do not know!

I was very good at writing at school but I had no proper training except when I worked for my sister for a bit, she is a very high powered PR.  I had always worked with horses despite being born and raised in Brixton in London and I was a freelance groom working mainly in eventing, but I was also a Listed dressage judge at the time, and a qualified instructor who had  also competed a lot at one point but a bad accident  (traffic not horses) stopped me seriously riding myself.  It was while I was recovering from that, I helped my sister in her office. Not a horse in sight but she knows about the media, it was a crash course in learning about press and PR.

So, one day I was reading a little known (at the time) website,  and they had featured a horse I liked so I emailed them to say how much I had liked it. The editor, Hilary Manners, emailed me back and we got talking and she, when she discovered I was about to go to Badminton with a horse, asked if I would write a piece about grooming. So I did and that went well, so i started doing some show reports and one thing led to another until I was doing more writing than grooming. Hilary asked if could do some photos as well,  so I bought a camera and sucked up to all the photo guys at shows to learn how to use it!!

Q:     What sports and types of competition do you cover?
A:    To be honest, I love horse sport, I will do anything but I was really green about international horse sport!  I have to thank a few people for taking chances on me, when I embarked on this career change.  Big kudos to Robin Marshall at Horse Talk, Pam Young  and Kathy Carter especially.

Q:     What new skills did you pick up during quarantine? How has the Covid-19 pandemic effected your life?
A:    As far as writing goes, Covid 19 has not affected much. In 2019,  after Badminton, I had come to an amiable conclusion to five years, editing the English language version of Grand Prix, mainly because I was a bit burnt out. By that point, despite writing daily content about ordinary happenings, my reputation for not being afraid to take on any story was making my life a bit difficult. Vincent and Sebastien at Grand Prix always gave me full support, but I was tired of writing about the next equestrian scandal. It was not what I had envisioned when I started.  Several of those stories involved welfare issues and I do not regret writing any of them, most of which did result in either rule changes or sanctions on those responsible, but I was getting to the point where I dreaded opening my messages in case it was either another threat or another story tip off. Some of the press offices at shows were getting difficult with me, in case I wrote something they did not care for I suppose, but one thing that Hilary Manners and Pam Young taught me was that if it happens, as a journalist, it is your duty to stick to the facts and report those.

So my plan, after Grand Prix,  was to take six months off, take a complete break  and then see if I could start again in 2020…. That, as you can imagine, did not go as I had hoped!  I have missed going to shows, massively. Many of the grooms and riders, as well as the press are real friends.

Q:     What’s your all-time favourite moment in equestrian sport?
A:    That is a really hard question!! Any British win! Those aside , when friends do well. Kevin Staut, winning at Windsor, i met him at Budapest when he was not even in the top 50 and he was so helpful answering my dumb questions  for the article i was doing at the time, we kept in touch,  so I was thrilled for him.  Kitty King being best of the Brits at Blair Europeans, Francis Whittington winning at Blenheim.

Q:     Talk about your most memorable adventure while covering equestrian sport. 
A:    Well, I have had a few.  Going to a big championship is always an adventure, so is getting stuck at airports when flights are cancelled but I think the biggest one  for me was going to Rio  for the GCT, the first time I went.  We were all staying at the The Copacabana Palace which is a legendary hotel, where all the best people stay. TAP Airlines had flown most of the riders and staff in (I was the press officer for the Tour at the time) and managed to lose a large amount of luggage. There I was, in this fabulous hotel in jeans and a t-shirt! My luggage took  three days to arrive, but I was in good company looking like a tramp!

Q:     What is your favourite competition venue and why?
A:    Another hard question! Badminton because Julian Seaman and team cannot do enough for you. Geneva for the same reason,  For sheer enthusiasm for sport, Budapest, indoor and outdoor versions. Major championships are too much like hard work!!

Q:     What is the last book / latest streamed series / favourite podcast you read / watched /enjoyed?
A:    I am going to lose any credibility I might have had, but I love Ru Pauls Drag race although I don’t watch much tv if it is not a sport. My last book was called Saving the Mona Lisa about how the treasures of the Louvre were saved during the war. Fascinating, I love the Louvre. I love going to live sport, especially football and horse racing.

Q:     Who inspires you?
A:    As far as journalists go, I would have to say Pippa Cuckson. She is not afraid to say what needs to be said.  For the rest, I admire anyone who does a job really well.

Q:     How do you spend your time when you’re not working?
A:    Right now, I  have had to go back to grooming to earn some money, so less free time, but usually I love art so you will often find me in a gallery of a museum. I am also an amateur magician, so I am often studying effects  for that. I like walking, especially round London, which is the place I most love being in.

Q:     What is some of your work of which you’re the proudest of? 
A:    I wrote an article for Horse International  about FEI sport in Eastern Europe that ended up being translated to several languages  and prompted an FEI World Cup Rule change so that was a good one, then there was this one for Horse Talk  (https://www.horsetalk.co.nz/news/2010/10/126.shtml) which really got the blood debate going and together with the work of Pippa Cuckson got more rule changes and clarifications in the pipeline. Since then, all the work I did on Grand Prix where we broke a few big stories.   As far as my press jobs go, I was very proud of what I did for the Global Champions Tour as their press officer, we really raised the profile of it in places where it did not normally go and I met some excellent journalists and photographers  through those press offices that I would not have met otherwise.

 

We would like to take the opportunity to present our members for the IAEJ community of journalists and photographers during these trying times of a global pandemic. Next to go is one of our photographer members: Ingo Waechter

Questions & Answers

Q:     Where exactly are you based?
A:     I live in north Germany, near Verden. I think many horse people know Verden as the HQ of the Hanoverian breeding.

Q:     Do you live with any partners, family and/or pets?
A:     I live together with my younger son (25).

Q:     Do you work independently or are you affiliated with a particular organization?
A:     I work independently but I think with many good contacts to different media and organizations.

Q:     How long have you been an equestrian photographer?
A:     Since eight years I work now as an equestrian photographer. I started late with this activity, becoming more and more professional.

Q:     What was your path to becoming an equestrian photographer?
A:     Becoming an equestrian photographer for me there are a few different paths that lately join to one:

Photos and cameras in general are my passion since I am 11 years old. Later in life I always did some volunteer press work (photos and writing) for clubs and organizations (e.g. volunteer fire department, riding club, runners club …).
At the age of 44 I began to start riding, learn to ride in two different riding clubs with different horses (which was good!) and together with other adults.
I start to learn riding because I wanted to support my two sons. Both where competing in pony and horse competitions. The older son is still riding and sometimes also hunting after the fox hounds.
In parallel I started of course taking photos of my sons and other riding colleagues at the riding competitions or hunting.
I improved my skills in that direction of horse sports, visiting many competitions including eventing, also on international level.
After my younger son quit riding, I took over his horse and started also riding at competitions (show jumping, dressage and cross country), but only on low level.
But to understand handling horses and to do the sports you take photos of, is a real advantage I don’t want to miss.
More and more I get in touch which horse sport media and provided my photos and getting more professional.
In the meantime I a visited a lot of national and international events, world and European Championships with requests of horse sport media and industry in my pockets.
I think my different paths support each other and I enjoy every competition and the results in the media.

Q:     What sports and types of competition do you cover? Other types of equestrian related assignments?
A:     I cover eventing, show jumping, dressage, driving, racing, vaulting and horse shows. In addition for the regional press I cover also a lot of soccer games, some handball and sometimes running. Other equestrian related activities which I also cover are auctions, foal shows, mare tests, stallion licensing, gala shows – just everything around breeding horses.

Q:     What new skills did you pick up during quarantine? How has the Covid-19 pandemic effected your life?
A:     I personally was not in quarantine. We had different kinds of lockdowns here. But I could go outside all the time and make some more landscape and nightscape photos. I improved also my skills in editing photos. I watched a lot of webinars and videos about that.
Yes, Covid-19 pandemic has changed a lot. I work definitely much more in my home office. Not much driving and traveling. Visiting only the competitions near my home.

Q:     What’s your all-time favourite moment in equestrian sport?
A:     Yes, there is a moment I will always remember. I am normally not excited when I take photos, but at the European Championships at Blair Castle in 2015 I was! Taking photos of the HRH Queen Elisabeth II at the medal celebration. “Omg, let’s hope everything went well with these photos!”: I thought to myself, standing next to my colleagues.

Q:     Talk about your most memorable adventure while covering equestrian sport.
A:     Well I think about my special journeys to France. First time in 2014 I covered two events in a row in France: Mondial du Lion and Pau. A very nice trip I met many nice and friendly people over there. Between the events I had a few days off, which I spent at the Atlantic coast. This trip I repeated more times in variations and I missed it specially this year.

Q:     What is your favourite competition venue and why?
A:     My favourite venue is of course the CHIO Aachen. There are some reasons: I like the city and the service around this remarkable event. You can cover so much and disciplines on top level of equestrian sports. And the best is, you can meet all your international colleagues and friends at this venue!

Q:     What is the last book / latest streamed series / favourite podcast you read / watched /enjoyed?
A:     My book right now is “Herzschlag Finish”. A story about horse racing, the people around and the amazing stallion “Protectionist” which won the “Melbourne Cup”, written by the equestrian journalist Kira Kaschek.

Q:     Who inspires you?
A:     I think that is of course Jacques Toffi. I like his work and always talk to him when we meet. He is, of course, a legend in our business.

Q:     How do you spend your time when you’re not working?
A:     In my free time a like to run, ride my bicycle or ride the horse of my older son. Working in the garden has always to be done, when I am at home. I just like to be in motion…

Q:     What is the philosophy behind your work as a photographer?
A:     As a photographer my reliability has priority. Reliability to deliver the photos I proposed to customers/media very fast.

Meet Ingo Waechter through his work

All photos by Website: www.iw-images.de

We would like to take the opportunity to present our members for the IAEJ community of journalists and photographers during these trying times of a global pandemic. All the way from Mexico City: Eduardo Tame

Questions & Answers

Q:   Where exactly are you based?
A:   Mexico City

Q:   Do you live with any partners, family and/or pets?
A:   No

Q:   Do you work independently or are you affiliated with a particular news organization?
A:   Mainly independently, although for certain events for a news organization.

Q:   How long have you been an equestrian journalist?
A:   Since the eighties

Q:   What was your path to becoming an equestrian journalist?
A:   I have a degree in economy and used to write for a newspaper in Guadalajara about finances and the stock market.  The owner of this media is a friend of mine and a horseman like I am, and he pushed me to write in that media for horse shows in Mexico.  Then I began to go to games and World Cup finals, and write about that as well for this media and others.  Now I have my own website.

Q:   What sports and types of competition do you cover?
A:   Mainly show jumping, occasionally eventing and dressage

Q:   What new skills did you pick up during quarantine? How has the Covid-19 pandemic effected your life?
A:   No trips.  I cancelled 8 trips I already had planned including the World Cup finals, Tokyo, a visit to China, the CSIO in Aachen and the nations cup final in Barcelona.  Of course, none of these went through

Q:   What’s your all-time favorite moment in equestrian sport?
A:   I enjoyed too much the final four at the WCH (WEG ed. note) , I am sorry they do not do it anymore.

Q:   Talk about your most memorable adventure while covering equestrian sport.
A:   Besides covering equestrian sport, I also take people to championships as spectators.  At Aachen 2006 I was very busy as I was chief of mission for Mexico, had 120 people taking care in Maastricht, transporting them every day to the horse ground in Aachen and write about the competitions.  It was the best WEG (I have been in all except 2018 as I had an accident, horse related, and was in bed (had to cater for my 100 plus aficionados from home via internet and phone.   The worst WEG in all aspects (I was also chief of mission in Kentucky) were Kentucky 2010

Q:   What is your favorite competition venue and why?
A:   Aachen without a doubt.  A close second Spruce Meadows

Q:   What is the last book / latest streamed series / favorite podcast you read / watched /enjoyed?
A:   Series The Crown.  Books the trilogy of Noah Gordon beginning with The Physician.  I was so into this book, that I even did a stop in Madrid to see the theatre version and also look for the streaming of the movie.  Of course, the book is the best, but the one at the theatre in madrid was also incredible.

Q:   Who inspires you?
A:   Jesus Christ

Q:   How do you spend your time when you’re not working?
A:   I used to ride four horses, now and after my accident two years ago I just resumed horseback riding but only one horse.  Every day though.  I got into the horse exactly on the day two years after the accident.
I also love to travel

Q:   What is some of your work of which you’re the proudest of?
A:   My articles in montando.com   Also I was press officer at the Pan-American games in Guadalajara 2011 which I enjoyed a lot.

 

We would like to take the opportunity to present our members for the IAEJ community of journalists and photographers during these trying times of a global pandemic. First photographer to go from Germany: Pauline von Hardenberg

Questions & Answers

Q:  Where exactly are you based?
A:   We live in the middle of Germany in Nörten-Hardenberg and at the foot of the Carpathian Mountains at Zabola Estate in Transylvania, Romania.

Q:  Do you live with any partners, family and/or pets?
A:   I live together with my husband and our six months old son. At both places we are surrounded by family and many horses, dogs, donkeys, ducks….

Q:  Do you work independently or are you affiliated with a particular organization?
A:   I work independently. One of my main client is the St.Georg magazine.

Q:  How long have you been an equestrian photographer?
A:   I started 8 years ago. I asked Jacques Toffi to be my mentor. We had a great time together the first years. I learned a lot from him.

Q:  What was your path to becoming an equestrian photographer?
A:   After a few years as a packaging designer, I decided to leave the office world and discover the equestrian sport with the camera. I have ridden dressage up to Grand Prix and Show Jumping up to S* myself. I really love competitions. Even more to cover the big Championchips with my camera.

Q:  What sports and types of competition do you cover? Other types of equestrian related assignments?
A:   The focus at the moment is on dressage, jumping and eventing. And of course reports for magazines about equestrian sports, horse training and horse keeping. Sometimes fashion photography for equestrian companies.

Q:  What new skills did you pick up during quarantine? How has the Covid-19 pandemic effected your life?
A:   I was somehow prepared for 2020 to have a „quiet-photo-year“. This time last year I had to cancel the World Cup Finals and the Olympic Games because I was expecting my son in June 2020. The fact that I didn‘t miss an event in the end is pretty absurd. My new skills I acquired during the quarantine period are being a mother, taking better care of my photoarchive and spending more time in one place. I can‘t remember the last time I was in one place for so long 🙂

Q:  What’s your all-time favourite moment in equestrian sport?
A:   The goosebumps moments. The moments of decision. The emotions that come then.

Q:  Talk about your most memorable adventure while covering equestrian sport.
A:   Ooh I remember Río. Rio was a big adventure. And I remember a moment there, where I screwed up everything. Before the Cross Country Day, I looked for great photo-spots on the course…I was well prepared. Michael Jung was one of the last riders in the field on that day and in Gold medal position, so I was super happy with the Photos I already took from the other riders. Then Michael Jung started and I was so excited, that I was only able to take one single sharp picture. Everything else is totally out of focus, blurred or the totally wrong moment. How embarassing to tell that to my client…But the one picture I got is now my favourite picture from Rio.

Q:  What is your favourite competition venue and why?
A:   My favourite competition is of course the show of my family: Hardenberg Burgturnier. It is a big family event and I have the feeling its more import than Christmas for all of us.

Q:  What is the last book / latest streamed series / favourite podcast you read / watched /enjoyed?
A:   I just started to read the book „In the middle are the horsemen“ by Tik Maynard

Q:  Who inspires you?
A:   Clever People 😉

Q:  How do you spend your time when you’re not working?
A:   I love to spent my time in Transylvania with my family, friends and horses. The horses are an important part of our family. We started to breed an old horse breed: The Szekler Horses. We cross them with an arab. They are not sport horses, but I fell head over heels in love with them. I enjoy it so much to ride with them in the forest in the morning. They are very robust and have a great character. And we also have 4 Thoroughbreds with which we breed Anglo-Arabs.

Meet Pauline von Hardenberg through her work

All photos by Website: https://www.paulinevonhardenberg.com