By Jessica Hein
A lifelong horsewoman, Karly Furnas of Bowling Green, Kentucky, knows how to project poise in the show pen. But striking a pose in front of a camera with a bunch of strangers … now, that was a different story.
“I didn’t know what to expect,” Karly said of her first “real” modeling job, starring in “Working 9 to 5,” Chrome’s Fall Fashion Spotlight. “I wanted to have a good time, but I didn’t really know how it would all come together. It was a little intimidating at first because I didn’t know what the photographers wanted—I’ve never been in front of that many people. I wasn’t nervous, but I wanted to do well. Eventually, I loosened up and thought, ‘OK, I can do this!’ ”
The two-day shoot was something of a whirlwind for the 23-year-old equestrienne. The Chrome crew descended on the beautiful Selah Ranch in Pilot Point, Texas, and the four APHA member models were whisked from dressing room to storyboard scene as quickly as the staff could prepare them to keep up with the fast-paced shooting schedule.
“When I first walked out there, I was like, ‘Do we really need all of these people?’ but we really did. Everyone had a job—multiple jobs,” she said. “Sometimes you get a big group of people together and they don’t get along. Everyone really worked well together, and everyone got along really great.”
Competing since she was 7, Karly knows how to turn on her charm in the show ring. Paired with longtime partner Cool N Candid, a 2004 sorrel overo gelding by Cool Heir and out of Candid Can (QH), Karly has earned more than 4,000 Youth and Amateur points and even more in the Open division; under Karly’s hand, the gelding was even APHA’s No. 1 Open Horse in 2012. That ability to act confident—regardless of what she feels inside—was just as important in modeling, Karly discovered.“In horse showing, you have to put your game face on and assume your ‘focus’ character, but still make it seem effortless,” she said. “Modeling was the same way. It’s almost like you have to get into a character.”
The second day on set found Karly even more at ease with the camera, thanks to a little extra coaching from photographer Moses Olmos and assistant Jackie Brown. A quick 15-minute mini-session helped Karly figure out the key to a great shot was trying different poses and expressions. The result? A glamorous, high-fashion Chrome cover that has Karly looking like a star.
As the first grand-prize winner of Chrome’s inaugural APHA Member Model Search, Karly is glad she took a chance and ventured to Texas to experience the unknown.
“It sounded like a really fun opportunity—and I think when opportunities present themselves, you should take them. I’ve never once taken a chance like that and regretted it,” Karly said.
Though she might not pursue fashion full-time—Karly recently graduated with her bachelor’s degree in biology and is pursuing a nursing degree—she certainly gained a new perspective on what goes into a full-fledged fashion photo shoot. She hopes Chrome readers appreciate the group’s effort, too.
“It was a lot of hard work,” she said. “I hope they appreciate [the final product] and the hard work of everyone who had a hand in this.”
