Bishop Burton 2013 - Monty Roberts Tour

 

Bishop Burton

This is a venue that has transformed over the years I've been filming Monty here. The original arena stands next door to the lovely one we use these days. The old building was actually worse than Hadlow by a mile. Very few lights, a black surface, and it really was bad. But, Bishop Burton invested in their venue, and have a great filming location now. High, powerful lights give an even spread of light across a bright, airy venue. You can tell I like this place! The foods good too!

 

As always there was a good selection of horses that Monty had to choose from. It is always a little tough for Monty, as he is torn between what makes a good demo horse, and making sure there is a roadmap and help for the owners and their horses. For those who don't know what goes on, I'll give you a little insight. After we arrive, set-up the round pen, shopping, filming scaffold, extra seating, and anything else that is needed. Monty sits outside the round pen and watches the horses being checked over. Two things happen here that are very important. Monty talks with the owner to get background information about the problem, and the horse is put in the round pen to assess the severity of the issue and that they are sound for the demonstration. After looking at all the horses, he then has to decide which ones will be in the show, and which ones won't. It's worth knowing though that in this case, where maybe a horse doesn't get into the show, they will work with the owner, and horse before they leave if the problem is serious enough. Always advice is available, and freely given!!

Here is Jake, Monty's tour rider, checking a horse that is spooky. A plastic bag is shown to the horse to gauge the severity of the issue, and then it leaves the round pen. At this time, it's fair to say that Monty has not touched the horse, and is only discussing the issues with the owner.

Once the show starts then it's all hands to the pump. I'm up my scaffold filming, and for the last couple of tours I've been recording to tape and also directly to the Mac. This provides a great back-up, as on occasion a tape may fail and then that portion of the show is lost!! More than my life is worth for that to happen! Through out the evening I'll be changing tapes, and resetting elements for filming. Monitoring the audio that comes from the sound desk, and looking at the audience for a good reaction. As I mentioned on the previous blog I have a Go Pro on the round pen, for nice wide angle shots. The great thing with this is that I can remotely control it from my iPhone, so it isn't a case of leaving it running. This does increase my after show work though, as all the footage needs to be correctly grouped, labelled and checked. Sleep?…Mehh!

Speaking of technology, even the lovely Kelly Marks is now blogging on tour, and I managed to capture the blogger, snapping….

Enough for now. I'm off to Gleneagles for the Scottish demo and the best Bed & Breakfast in Scotland!