What is Dressage Freestyle? It is Horses Dancing to Music in a competition format.
The horse and rider perform a self choreographed routine, which contains compulsory moves put together in an elective route to produce an artistic performance.
The moves performed must follow the standard rules of dressage and are restricted to the level the horse is competing at.
Music is chosen to match the horse and riders movement and mood.
Think Ice Dancing, Torvill and Dean, but for horses.
Although much of the performance is dependent on the horse performing the moves correctly, the artistic component of the marks is close to 60% of the total marks, so good choreography and music is essential for a rider to succeed in this sport.
PMB has had extensive experience putting together routines for numerous horses and riders over the years.
Allie rides freestyles herself, and so can give a good insight into what works and what doesn’t.
Also some handy hints on how to ride them successfully. Handy Hint one – practice it!
PMB had stunning success in 2006, winning the Inter I Kur at the NSW State Championships with Lisa Martin and Rhythmic.
She also competed in the Nationals and at the 2006 Dressage with the Stars in Melbourne.
PMB developed her Grand Prix Kur in 2007.
Despite Lisa’s superb technical skills and scores, PMB are proud that her artistic scores in each case have been higher than the technical.
We can truly say we have strongly contributed to her success in the Freestyle competitions.
A true indication of the importance of having good choreography and music for your performance.
We do freestyle's for all levels, and believe that you should enjoy riding and the process of developing your freestyle.
PMB will assist you with your choreography from Preliminary through to Grand Prix.
With a good understanding of the requirements we can put together a pattern which suits you and your horse.
Powder Monkey himself assists in exploring the choreography set up on his own arena, so you do not need to travel for your production.
With the advances in technology, we service clients nationwide.
Either via postal services, or using the internet, we can work from DVD’s, uploaded digital video, VHS video, or given times.
Music selection is one of the most important parts of putting a freestyle together.
The first reaction to a piece of music should draw the audience in, and keep their attention through out the performance.
Often we see the music does not suit the horse, or the different tracks do not blend.
Or the same track is over used and the audience becomes looses interest.
This is one of the most important aspects of the Art of Freestyle.
PMB have a library of over 4,000 CDs, and ready access to much more music, so it is unlikely that we cannot find a good selection of music to suit your taste.
Prices
These are related to the level the rider is competing at, the higher the level the more complexity and hence time and energy needed.
Prices are for the initial development of a performance, and include basic choreography, initial track selection and production based on the average time needed to produce a performance at each level.
If the production of a performances exceeds the allotted time, the changes are charged at the rate of $45/hr.
Preliminary / Prepatory $230 for 5 hrs)
Elementary / Medium $400 (8 hrs)
Advanced $550 (12 hours)
Inter I and II $900 (20 hrs)
Grand Prix $1250 (aprox. 25 hrs)
Clients are requested to actively participate in the process.
A satisfactory result is impossible without your involvement in the process.
Our aim is for you to find the fun and enjoyment in this wonderful aspect of horse sports.
Here we have for you to download is a selection of track and some excerpts of rough drafts we have used in previous freestyles.
We hope you will listen and enjoy the wide range of music that can be used in this competition format.
From movie and TV shows, to classical, from folk to techno, our music selection is huge.
We can insert cues and we can use different sound effects.
In this track we have used “Thunder” as in introduction of drama and to create an atmosphere of anticipation.
Here we have put a tolling bell in as a cue for a rider who is a little hard of hearing and needed a clearer indication to say “time to halt”.
This Celtic theme was used for one of our earlier tests.
Many different types of music from serious to jazz to dance are available.
We enjoy all types of freestyle and using imagination to create a wholly unique freestyle experience suited for you and your horse.
By posting these links we hope we can fire your interest in this form of art, and encourage you to give this a go.
Contact us for a chat regarding your new or your first freestyle. ;