Oh dear, your shots make mine look positively boring, Gareth !!!
I'll put some up for some comments ... when I get a moment !

Just to give you an idea ..... but I'm still learning







Dressage in the rain !!!






But you can get some nice close ups on heads, bridles, leather bits and pieces (I love boots and spurs )

I've learnt an awful lot since those were taken You can see all the things you shouldn't do !!!!
I'll post a couple of more recent ones where I've nearly got it right

I've done a fair amount of equestrian photography this year with the K3 and found the 70-200 ideal. There were one or two occasions when my 18-55 would have come in handy, but unless you get up really close to the horses, the 70-200 works very well.
I doubt you'll need a flash gun - the 70-200 is brilliant on a dull day.
I generally use 1/1000 f 5.8 and auto ISO though I limit it on a sunny day to 800. A slower shutter speed can result in blurry legs.

You haven't said what sort of things the horses will be doing, but I was given a couple of useful tips by a pro :
a. Jumping. Try to be at about 45 degrees or straight ahead of the jumper, and get a shot as it takes off and when it lands - say 3 continuous shots. Shots from the side can get messed up by jump stands, poles, flags etc. Horses look great when they're in the air, and just before they hit the ground when their legs are extended. Close ups of horse's head and rider's face can be revealing !

b. Trotting. Try to catch the horse when its legs are extended. Click when the front leg furthest away from you is extended and as straight as possible.

c. Cantering. The motion of the horse's back end is bum up, bum down, bum up, bum down. Try to capture it when the bum is down and the front half of the horse is higher than the back end. It's apparently what riders like to see !!

I try to avoid continuous shooting, preferring to get the right moment. It takes practice and I don't get it right every time ! But continuous shooting can be a more sure way of getting the right shot !

Hope this helps - and have a great day !

Great shot - I didn't have a problem with the sharpened version. Nice detail !

Thank you, Gareth. The last one is probably my favourite as I got exactly what I wanted : sharp on the person with fuzzy detail behind of the competition.

These photos were taken at a competition at our local riding club so I was allowed to go on the terrain.

The lens arrived the day before the competition, so I didn't get a chance to practise beforehand. The conditions were variable, going from bright sun to dull and overcast - even rain. There were one or two in-camera adjustments I could have made, and of course there's a long way to go with composition - it's easy to zoom in too close and not give the horse any room !
But I was happy at the end of the day. The speed of the AF was fantastic and the brightness and shallow DOF were remarkable.
These are JPEG, straight out of the camera apart from cropping and a levels tweak in a couple.

Very true ! Fabulous set and good variety.
I love the 55-300 - a very versatile lens and it's pretty good for macro shots too. The only negative for me is it doesn't seem to like low light action shots. But as you say, for the price it's an absolute gem.

Thank you, Dariusz ! It's surprising what you can catch on camera - what particularly surprised me was how the horses land so heavily, particularly on a downhill jump, that they are actually landing on their 'heels' as well as their hooves. It must put one heck of a strain on them. I was also surprised to see just how many horses closed their eyes, particularly when going through water.

The last one was one I deliberately cropped fairly closely to see how sharp the image stayed. This was nearly 50%.

I took this at a local cross country event - first real chance to do action shots. The light was very changeable all day - it went quickly from very bright to very overcast. I was keen to try out action shots for sharpness and I think the jumping shot were probably a bit over-exposed. (I couldn't get everything right !!!)
These are all virtually straight from the camera, with just a tweek of the levels. There came a point later in the afternoon where I had to stop due to low light.

Earlier tests showed the DA 55-300 doesn't like low light and speed - the shots were far too grainy at anything over 800 ISO. So for the early morning shots (dressage) I used the Vivitar 100mm macro which naturally coped far better in low light.

I used Tav with a wide open aperture. The speed of response to AF was excellent.

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