Last year, when recovering from a badly broken leg, I decided one of the things I would do to cheer myself and think to the future would be to learn about Dressage Freestyle. I see freestyle at the Grand Prix level as the pinacle of the discipline, a true mastery of the movements and subtleties that are built over time and through the levels. Freestyle is also the most relatable of tests in dressage, as it is done to music. Music is a universal language for people, and while taste can vary widely, we all understand and appreciate it. Understandably, it is most of what we see televised for Olympic Dressage, which also builds it in the mind of the public as that high point to achieve in the sport.

I believe I am not alone when I say that sometimes, when listening to music I truly enjoy, I envision in my head riding to the music. Particularly after the beautiful WEG 2006 Freestyle Dressage Final test ridden by Andreas Helgstrand on Blue Hors Matine was redubbed and shared widely on social media, I think a much greater number of people, equestrians and not, could imagine a horse dancing to their favorite music.

To me now, after many hours elevating my healing limb in the company of the United States Dressage Federation website, various YouTube personalities, and dressage books, watching that video of Blue Hors Matine’s test with the wrong music is like watching an episode of Bad Lip Reading. It is entertaining, it is admirable, but it loses a lot in translation.

It is also notable that I am a lifelong musician. I have played the cello since age four, had instruction as well in singing, piano, musical theory, and composition, and still play several instruments. I also studied ballet for many years as a child. The relationship between the physical movements of the dancer and the musical movements has always been paramount to how I understand dance, and music created for dancing. When I was told that Anky van Grunsven hires a composer to write music for her horses, my head said to me, but of course!

We cannot all employ a composer and orchestra to write music tailored to the specificities of our horses’ strides, but we can find it. For each freestyle, music ought to be chosen for each gait, walk trot and canter, based in the hoof beats’ tempo and the music’s bests per minute. Google is a great resource for finding the right beats for your beast! What makes a test like Blue Hors Matine’s work so ideally for the watching audience is what the announcer says, the horse is dancing!

The je ne sais quoi of freestyle is to find the music that elevates your horse to the level of apparent dancer. Someone watching from the ground should feel moved by the performance, like a ballerina in Swan Lake. The connection between the horse and the music should be indisputable, and it should move you.

Sometimes, what moves your horse and makes him look stunning, is not to your own taste. Sometimes what shapes the movement and the visual of our horses is unexpected. I believe though, the very best freestyle music should move horse and rider. A rider who unconsciously moves along to the beat – even imperceptibly – translates that excitement, energy, or elation to their mount. And vice versa. This is a dance, all riding is a dance really, and both partners should feel moved by the movements before they lay out their movements.

Sometime, when I’m more than just two years into my dressage riding, I’ll find that song with my horse, and we shall dance.

The Original YouTube Video: https://youtu.be/zKQgTiqhPbw