At 2 am on a Friday, photographer Radhesh Rajappan received a phone call at his home in Dubai. The veterinarian, Dr Sultan Mohammed, who works at the Ghantoot Racing & Polo Club, said, “Come quickly. The mare is about to give birth.”
Radhesh jumped out of the bed and rushed. But by the time he reached the club—58 km away—the mare, Selha, had given birth. The doctor said, “Please don’t shoot now. The foal will feel very nervous.”
When Radhesh tried to enter the stable, even Selha neighed disapproval. So he waited outside, and saw the wondrous sight of the foal running around the mare, stopping to suckle, and running again. Finally, at 3.30 pm, when Selha felt comfortable, Radhesh stepped in to photograph them. And he got the prized picture of Selha nuzzling the foal, as it stood next to her.
This photo was part of the ‘Land and Life’ photography exhibition held at Durbar Hall, Kochi, recently.
Radhesh, who grew up in Kochi, used to go for horse rides at the Bolgatty Palace—a tourist site. “I was fascinated by the horses,” says the 38-year-old.
In another photo, there is a horse, with sleek chestnut hair, nibbling in a grass field. Thanks to the early morning sunlight, its skin is glowing. “The horse’s mother, Music, is so beautiful that people call it Aishwarya Rai of horses. Now, observers are saying that the child will be as beautiful as the mother,” he says.
The IT professional always had an interest in photography. But it was only in 2013, when he joined a photography club called Shutterbug in Dubai that his interest deepened. One day, the group had gone to a farm—50 km from Dubai—to take photos of birds.
While returning, he and a friend took a secluded road for a drive. “And it led us to the Royal Equestrian Centre. We decided to check it out,” says Radhesh. He clicked a lot of pictures also. “When Shutterbug club founder Mohammed Arfan Asif saw them, he told me that horses should be my lifelong subject. And I decided to focus on them.”
And soon, Radhesh realised that to get good photos of horses, you need to earn their trust. For that, on his weekly Friday holiday, Radhesh spends more than 10 hours in stables. “After a few hours, I place some oats in my palm,” says Radhesh. “Then I wait till the horses come and eat it from my palm. Some will come within an hour, while others might take as long as a week. But the moment they eat from your palm, a friendship develops.”
Radhesh has now learnt to closely observe their eyes. “It is safest to take pictures when they look relaxed,” he says. And all along, he has been guided by Lorenzo, a third-generation trainer from Argentina.
“Lorenzo began working in stables when he was five. If he does not go to the stable every day, he feels unwell,” says Radhesh.
And same is the case with Radhesh, who has found his life’s passion in photographing horses. “They have changed me as a person,” he says. “Earlier, I used to be aggressive, but nowadays I have calmed down and become an accepting person. When you interact with horses, you feel a renewed energy inside. They are God’s wonderful creatures.”