And . . . ACTION

About a month ago, Preston got a call from a friend who works with the county tourism board. There was a company coming to shoot a commercial and needed 50 head of horses. She directed the company to JM Grover Enterprises, saying that we were probably the only people around who could round up that many horses.

Preston worked hard to figure out a contract and get everything set up for the commercial. We took 57 horses in all. 44 were ours, and the rest of the horses were brought by Ivins'. Preston made all the arragements to get things rolling and he spent all day Friday at the lcoation, figuring everything out.

BJ spent the day gathering up all the horses. It pretty much took all night, since we had to gather horses from SEVERAL different locations. At 9:30 that night we loaded two trailers from the last pasture and I think by the time we pulled in and unloaded them it was well past 10. Then they cowboys spent a good two hours figuring out the logistics of getting 57 horses to the location, and keeping them at the location once we got there.

I am pretty sure Preston didn't get any sleep, because they started loading horses at 3:30. I think we pulled out of town at 4:30 to make the drive to Monument Valley.

When we got to the location, it was stilll dark. They unloaded the horses, and made a temporary pen out of a ledge and the trucks/trailers. It took 7 trucks/trailers to get all the horses down there, but they came in handy to pen the horses in.

Ater a minute the horses weren't loving their "pen". A few climbed the bank, but the riders got them back in. This horse got out just as the sun was starting to peak up.

This one is of BJ "standing guard" until the commercial crew was ready to start rolling. The sun still wasn't up yet, but it sure made for a nice backdrop.

But holy cow - when the sun DID come up . . . .well . . . .see for yourself.

This one is of Erik. They had taken the horses down to the "shoot" and were keeping the horses rounded up until they were told to run them. I can see why they wanted to start shooting at 7:20. It was gorgeous.

Getting ready for the first run.

Can you say "DUSTY"

After a few runs, the horses needed a break. Crazy the difference in the light when you are looking right at the sunrise.

Crew member double-checking lighting and settings. The crew was SUPER nice, and let us ask lots of questions.

Going for another run.

The horses and riders weren't the only ones that had to get geared up for each shot.

Some of the crew members thought some of the horses would like a treat. They cut up a bunch of apples and brought them over to feed to the horses.

Take TWO

I have to admit, I was fascinated by the equipment and technology. Especially the dolly camera that moved automatically along a pre-set track. If only it had the ability to ascertain how fast/slow the horses would be going. One of the biggest problems was for them to match the speed of the dolley with the speed of the horses because the horses ran at a different speed each time.

The horse were getting SOOOOO tired! They were running through about six inches of sand . . they were pooped. I am pretty sure ALL of the horses (and some of the riders) felt like this . . . .

After a much needed rest, they started back up. Just a couple more times . . . . .

Finally they had enough shots of the horse herd. After those horses were put away, they wanted to do some shots with just the cowboys. The cowboys would run the shot. . .again, and again, and again.

The horses were getting so hot and sweaty . . . sad for the horses, but it sure made the sun hit their coat just right!! Love the shine! (and the picture, and the horse, and . . .of course, the cowboy.)

Getting more instructions for what would be the last two shots, from the director, Eric.

The riders waiting to hear their cue "GO PRESTON GO"!! I think at this point, the riders were getting a little sick of hearing those words!

Taking off - hopefully for the last run of the day.

Waiting to see if the last "take" was good enough . After a playback, we heard the famous line "THAT'S A WRAP!", along with a lot of applause, and several "BRILLIANT!" comments! (LOVED their British accents).

I don't know if the crew was tired of us "spectators" taking pictures, but I was a total dork and asked one of the main guys if we could get pictures with the cameras and crew after the shooting was all done. They were very cordial!! (Of course my picture turned out HORRIBLE . . .dang)

While I was more interested in getting a picture with the cameras and equipment (I thought it was cool . . . .). The commercial crew was more interested in having a picture with some scenery. Imagine that.

I know the cowboys were tired of us taking pictures, but they were nice enough to let us take a shot of just them. FYI - Shawn, Tyler, BJ, Erik, Justin, David, Preston

Then some of the crew took a turn riding! Esther (in pink) and Sharon had fun. Sharon told us she used to ride when she was younger, "But not like you guys do . . . .I rode with a helmet, knickers, and proper boots. We wouldn't have dreamed of twirling a lariet."

The crew was super nice and let us watch the clips in 3D . . .(the company has 3d channels in their programming, so the commercial also had to be filmed in 3D). The technology was CRAZY!! The kids enjoyed watching it. Love the glasses!!
















We ate lunch and visited with the crew. The food was delicious . . . .ribs and steak. Yummy!

Then we loaded up and headed home. What a day!

Commercial Shoot

So . . . .thanks to Preston, and BSkyB, our cowboys will be featured in a commercial in England in Janaury. We spent the day in Monument Valley while the guys and 50 head of ours and Ivins' horses were filmed. The experience was once-in-a-lifetime. The people were great, and the scenery was BEAUTIFUL!!! Here is preview of some of the adventure. I will post more later. They let us take our own pictures of the event. Here are my favorite un-edited shots (although they dont' really show the action.)