About Me
HI, I'M TARA!
HORSE GIRL FIRST. PHOTOGRAPHER SECOND.
I was riding horses before I could walk.
I grew up in the western world—barrels, poles, goat tying, all the things—before falling headfirst into three-day eventing and jumping. And honestly? Eventing became my crack.
Horses have been woven into nearly every part of my life. I've ridden, competed, managed boarding facilities, trained horses, and developed a special love for retraining OTTBs and giving them a chance at a completely different life.
I've been thrown, broken, stitched back together, and proudly joined the equestrian hardware crew somewhere along the way.
Through every version of my life, one thing has stayed the same:
I am, and always will be, a horse girl.
THEN THERE'S CASH.
Cash is that horse for me.
I owned him when he was young and lost him in 2020 under circumstances that absolutely broke my heart. For years, he was the horse I never stopped thinking about.
Then somehow, in 2022, life brought him back to me.
CASHS DIRTY DANCE AKA CASH
I thought we'd finally get to finish the story I had always imagined for us—but horses have a funny way of rewriting our plans.
Today, Cash is fully retired because of an inoperable bone chip. We don't compete anymore. There are no ribbons we're chasing or comeback we're working toward.
Now, we just enjoy each other.
Too many cookies. Scratches in all his favorite places. Quiet time together. And honestly, I'm just grateful I get to have him beside me.
Cash taught me something that completely changed the way I look at photography:
I WANT TO REMEMBER EVERY DETAIL OF THEM.
Not just what they looked like—but them.
The softness around their nose. The markings you could trace with your eyes closed. The way their mane falls. Their expressions. Their quirks. The way they look at you. The way it feels to stand beside them.
Because someday, those little details become the things you would give anything to experience one more time.
WHY I PICK UP THE CAMERA
I picked up my first DSLR in 2015 and started photographing the world I already loved—my horses, barn friends, boarders, and the everyday moments happening around me.
Eventually, that little obsession became Tara Kaine Photography.
I've photographed incredible athletes and beautiful moments in show rings across the country, and horse-show photography will always be part of TKP.
But over the years, my heart has found its way back to something much more personal.
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN YOU AND YOUR HORSE.
The nose kisses. The dirty boots. The quiet moments in the barn. The way they recognize your footsteps. The ridiculous personality only you truly understand.
The things that don't earn ribbons but somehow end up meaning the most.
That's where my heart is now.
Through Horse + Rider portraiture, Fine Art, and equine storytelling, I want to create photographs that don't just show you what your horse looked like.
I WANT THEM TO REMIND YOU EXACTLY HOW LOVING THEM FELT.
BEHIND THE CAMERA
When I'm not photographing horses or spoiling Cash, you'll usually find me with my husband, Kody, our daughter, Braelynn, and our Aussie Heeler, Scout—better known around here as The Lion Man.
They're the people behind the scenes of this crazy dream and the ones who have supported TKP through every season of what it's become.
And somehow, I get to make a living combining the two things at the center of so much of my life:
Horses and the people who love them.
IF THIS SOUNDS LIKE YOU...
If you have thousands of pictures of your horse on your phone...
If you've driven to the barn just because you needed to see them...
If you've buried your face in their neck after a hard day and instantly felt a little better...
You're my kind of person.
You don't need a special occasion. Your horse doesn't need to be perfectly behaved. You don't need to wait until you've reached the next goal or earned the next ribbon.
The relationship you have right now is reason enough.
Let's create something that makes sure you never forget a single detail.
BECAUSE THEY'RE NEVER JUST A HORSE.
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."
—John 3:16 ESV