Filming and Photography

Filming and Photography

Film makers and photographers sometimes want horses for their work. Having sensible calm horses helps everyone very much since the human stars are often inexperienced with horses. We have had a lot of fun helping people with their projects.

The History Channel

Filming takes a lot of patience for horses too

Bunduq and Nazeer helped to film a History Channel program on the pyramids

Some of our horses are even television stars now. During the summer of 2005 I was contacted by a crew filming the History Channel program, "Digging For The Truth", to see if I could find them a bomb-proof horse for their star Josh Bernstein. Although Josh had assured them that he could ride, the producers really couldn't risk a riding accident in the middle of a filming schedule. No problem. We put Bunduq in fancy dress for Josh and arranged Nazeer with my neighbour Morad for Josh's Egyptian guide, and then we spent an interesting couple of days in the desert near Giza, Abu Sir, and Sakkara filming the riding sequences. Bunduq and Nazeer performed up to expectations, everyone had a great time, and the riding sequences of "Who Built The Pyramids", while short, are lovely.

Josh wrote in his journal for the show:

Riding to Saqqara: "I am going to investigate the Saqqara pyramid. Archeologists say it's the world's first pyramid, so it may offer me some additional clues into this whole construction process. To get there, I once again opt for a more adventurous mode of transport and I'm grateful to meet Morad and his two horses."

"My horse is named Bundu: "Arabic for Hazelnut, I'm told, and what a horse! Morad and I go for a great ride across the plateau and Bundu's loving it! MUCH more comfortable then a camel. I used to ride horses as a teenager in Wyoming, but racing across the desert's of Egypt is a totally different experience. Yee hah! I really didn't want to stop..."

Click here for the full journal entry on the show.

Josh on Bunduq (l) and Morad on Nazeer (r)

A chance for a quiet chat between takes

Filming is interesting work and not as easy as it may seem. There were portions of furious activity, especially the galloping through the desert sequences, interspersed with fairly extended portions of waiting around for the next shot to be set up, as well as having to redo the same action sequences over for shots from various angles. All of this required tremendous patience on the part of the horses who had to repeat work time and time again, and then be ready to stand quietly between filming periods. While it was quite clear to us who knew them well that they were rather puzzled by the requirements of the two days, they were infinitely patient and good natured about the whole exercise.

Still Photography

Large well-muscled men in small bathing suits are not our usual clients, but that's ok

At the end of this last summer of 2006, I received a phone call from the friend of someone who had gone riding with me. He was looking for some safe, sane, and pretty horses for a photographer who had come to Egypt from New York to do some shoots near pyramids. We arranged a date and imagine my surprise when I discovered the models for the photography. Ulrich Oehmen runs some websites for bodybuilders and was here to photograph a number of Egyptian bodybuilders who had just arrived back from competition in Prague. We had three days of shooting in all near the pyramids of Abu Sir, usually in the late afternoon when the light is just coming off the plateau to the west and gives the best effects.

This kind of modeling is all Greek to me

Some people are just more comfortable on horses than others

Still photography is probably harder on the horses than filming for video. Simply standing quietly while humans do odd things on one's back doesn't really make much sense, but Nazeer, Bunduq, and Lily proved themselves more than equal to the challenge. But then Bunduq's favourite gait is often "stop".

And others are fast learners....

World Travel Award