One of the topics I'm fairly qualified to write about is equine photography. Not from any technical aspect, but from the behind the scenes point of view. At the Region 15 Championship show in Lexington, VA, I got lucky and scored several pictures of Jeff and Mary Janson (official show photographers at Region 15) during the actual awards presentation. The Champion in the Half Arabian Western Pleasure AAOTR 40+ over class was Ray Price riding Rock-N-Reflection RL!
Above, Jeff and Mary Janson taking the win photo for Rock-N-Reflection RL,
Region 15 Championship 2017
View of the team work for the victory lap, Jeff and Mary and Ray Price and Rocky!
And the final product! A perfectly timed victory lap!
As it happens, Rocky is no stranger to having his win photo taken by Jeff! Rocky and Ray had their show ring debut in 2012 at the East Coast Championship show and it went like this.
In 2012, the final ribbon for Rocky's first year of showing? A National Top Ten!
But, the story of Ray and Rocky is a story of success not only because of their show ring wins, but because Ray is an example of a "Breeder-Owner-Exhibitor" success story as well. And a story of "small breeder" to boot! Ray and Lynn Price breed 2 to 5 foals a year. That RL at the end of Rocky's name stands for Rock Ledge Arabians, the farm owned by Ray and Lynn. Located in the Pocono Mountains of PA, Ray or Lynn Price are listed as the breeders of 51 foals, with the first foal bearing the Rock Ledge "RL" being Albert Ajemian foaled in 1993. Rocky's sire , Reflection RL, was also bred by the Price's. In addition to being a western pleasure champion himself, Reflection sired some very nice horses for Rock Ledge. In particular, the cross to the Quarter Horse mare Rockin Pep Hancock appears to be what breeders love to find! A combination of DNA that is producing consistently wonderful performance horses. All of these add up to Rock Ledge Arabians being listed among the Top 25 breeders of Western pleasure horses. Rocky actually has 2 full siblings, Rock-N-Roan RL and Rockette RL, and 3 half siblings, Rockin-At Midnight RL and Rock N Awe (by Midnight Magnum) and a 2016 gelding by KM Bugatti!
What's next for Ray? Well there are some pretty fancy babies at Rock Ledge right now. And some are for sale! Ray and Lynn welcome hearing from anyone that might be interested in adding a Rock Ledge bred horse to their family! For more information contact Rock Ledge manager Terry Steckel at 570-242-0076 or Ray at 570-350-0260.