DRESSAGE TO MUSIC

Build a Freestyle from Choreography to Competition, by Claire Lilley. Hardcover, 192pp, RRP £15.99. Hale Books.

September 12, 2008

You may be daunted when watching the top guns perform their freestyle music tests, and secretly tempted to try it out yourself. You may not be up to the level of doing the stuff that Isabell and Anky et al perform, but who cares? You can still have some fun with the music and the movements, and your horse might enjoy it, too.

And if you make a mistake in your test - who's to know? They can be disguised fairly easily.

Freestyle to music - or kür - first saw the light of day in 1979, and was in the Olympic Games for the first time in 1986, where it is the deciding test for individual medals, as it is for the World and European Championships. Now, some riders employ their own composers to make custom music for their horses.

There are definitely tricks to the trade, and author Claire Lilley shares many little tips and hints garnered from her many years of choreographing tests. This book will help you to plan and execute a great test.

The key, says Lilley, is to use music with a regular beat. Some horses will pick up on the beat and adjust their gait to it.

Firstly, Lilley gives exercises to try out at the walk, then the trot, and then the canter. All exercises are illustrated by line drawings and colour photos accompany the text.

The next step is finding the music for your test. She suggests lunging your horse to the music you want to try out, to see if the track suits his gaits.

Then comes the time to ride to the music. As the experts have discovered, music can be great for disguising a horse's weak points, as well as for emphasizing his strengths. Instrumental tracks are the most commonly used, but you might find music with words that particularly suits your horse.

Next is the choreography itself. You will need to know which movements are compulsory for your level, and which are optional. If you are riding in costume, do a dress rehearsal first - if there is anything flapping your horse isn't used to it could be all over very quickly.

If you need some help with planning, sample tests up to advanced medium (UK) are given, as are the compulsory and optional movements for the levels up to Grand Prix.

Next, the technical side of setting up your music is covered, such as recording from CDs to cassette, and burning your own CDs.

You might have created the best musical track for your test, but if you are not riding the movements correctly you will be penalised. As well as artistic marks, you will be judged on technical execution. You must not forget the basics - aids and position, transitions, suppleness, contact, and so on. Then there's the riding of the test - including corners, serpentines, straight lines, the gaits, and the halt.

For those in pairs (Pas de Deux) or groups - quadrille riding is also explored. Things to watch out for when riding in a group (excitable horses for one thing!), and sample movements for a quadrille are illustrated. Do's and don'ts of quadrilles are also outlined, and the more elaborate choreography - and costumes - for this are also covered.

In all, you don't have to be a high level, hotshot rider to enjoy riding to music. Even if you use it only for your own training you may well find both you and your horse enjoy yourselves more while at work.

ISBN: 978-0-85131-943-8

About the author:

Claire Lilley's comprehensive career has spanned nearly twenty years. During that time she has run a livery yard and worked as a chief instructor and yard manager. She has also run her own training yard, taking in horses for remedial training, breaking in young stock, teaching students and entering dressage competitions. Freelance teaching became a big part of her life and she also began writing for equestrian magazines and participating in demonstrations throughout the UK, riding for Sylvia Loch. Claire now runs regular training courses in Sweden, specializing in competition and remedial training for all disciplines. She competes on her own horses in dressage to Advanced level and in dressage to music. Broadening her equestrian horizons all the time, Claire qualified as a fitness trainer which has helped her knowledge of human anatomy, so relevant to teaching riding, and has recently taken up side-saddle riding. She lives in Wiltshire.
Claire Lilley is also the author of The Problem-Free Horse and Schooling with Ground Poles.