Introduce Your Horse to Riding in Company

To enjoy riding on a drill team it is important that your horse enjoy being in company also.  This is usually not hard to achieve as horses are herd animals.

An easy way to begin is to get together with your friends, 1 or 2 or the entire team that you want to have and agree to ride in the same arena.  You don't have to start off riding together especially if your horse/friends horse is shy or aggressive.  Instead you can all work in in the same arena and ride like you would at the collection ring of a show (if you don't show then you could each 'stake out' a part of the arena to work mainly in and ride by one another on occasion as in going down the long side or around the perimeter of the arena while the others are working in their spaces).  Then when you and your horses need a break, just ride close together at walk and chat in a relaxed manner. After your down time you can all break up into your single units and work on your own again for a shorter time this time.  Call another break and bring the horses together to bond and relax as you do.

Work like this a few times and the horses will begin to look forward to the break time.  It will also help them when you go back to individual work as they will not get anxious about 'leaving' the group during a drill ride.

As your team progress you will be able to begin adding trot and then canter into your 'break time'. It will be easier to introduce the faster paces in pairs and then work up to larger groups.

Remember to have fun and relax so your horse will too.

Musical Freestyle 101

The emphasis of the musical freestyle presentation is on fun and the possibilities are seemingly endless; but, be prepared for a significant amount of preparation that will go into preparing a ride.
Before we can have “Lights, Camera, Action” we must have music. Download some of your favorite music and make a selection of one to two minutes each on a 20 minute tape/CD/mp3. Remember that musicians deserve their royalties, so download your music legally.


When you choose music think themes such as:
1.Cowboy Music, 2.Wagner, 3.Latin styles, 4.Lawrence Welk, 5.Beach boys - something that you will enjoy (hopefully you will consider the audience), and that fits your horse. Some music is anti heart beat and so will not win any prizes and will not impress a judge. Your most important judge is your horse. The horse should enjoy this workout . Most of you know that they have opinions too.


2. A good way to find out if music fits is to watch video of your horse taken at shows or in an arena while playing the music under consideration. Remember your horse's tempo is very different with you on. To find tempo use a metronome while watching the video of your horse with you on to calculate the tempo of each gait. You can also use the metronome to check the music you like.


So, after preparing some ideas on" tape", take this music and listen to it watching your horse. If your horse has never heard music played loud and close you might consider trying his/her first exposure with safety in mind. Don't have the music blast on from an overhead speaker or sidelines suddenly. When you deem your horse safe ride to your sample tape get on with finding out what you and your horse like. Some horses are particular and even intensely dislike some music. I like to have a remote as sometimes the music is such a mismatch that you may want to skip to the next one. Choose your music. I like to choose music first and then make the ride but the other way 'round is good for some people. With freestyle you match the tempo of the front legs to the beat, not the hind legs. However, you will be judged by the standards for your breed, discipline, and show so make sure your horse is working properly. The world would be a better place for all horses if they were developed properly from back to front so do not neglect this. And yes still match your music to the front legs that will be very expressive because you care that the equine engine is best driven from behind.


Some helpful questions to ask yourself when selecting music might be:


A. Does this music flatter my horse?
B. Does it flatter me?
C. When I watch my horse do I think light and bouncy or heavy? male/female? sassy/quiet?
D. Does it fit the color and shape and aura of my horse?
E. Do I have a message or theme?


Now you are ready to start the actual ride preparation.
1. Your ride should usually be no more than 5 minutes and really anything over 3.5 min but under 5 is great. A short exciting program is better than a long boring one.
2. If you are not required to declare a level then you are not limited to what movements you can show. However if you do show movements do them well.
3. Your music should start no more than 30 seconds before you enter the ring. Music must end at your final halt and there is to be no exit music. Read all your pertainent show rules if you are planning to show.
4. Halts should be at the beginning and the end of your ride. Do not halt or the judge(audience) will assume you are done.
5. Dressage, reining, and quadrille freestyles are not required to do movements at a specific letter/marker and don’t have to halt at X(the exact center of the arena). Although freestyle tests are ridden in the large arena, you aren’t required to use the whole arena, which leaves you the option of making a small but interesting pattern here and there. Be aware that some classes have a "freestyle" compulsary pattern. Read your rules. YES, that does take the freestyle out of freestyle; but, for alfa types it gives meaning to the exact executing of a pattern to be ridden with style, ring savy, and stage presence.
6. Bring two tapes/discs as one may get lost/break/have some other natural disaster, and give only one to the officials, keep the other for a backup. If you bring a tape bring a good player...it nerver hurts to be prepared.


Consider having a ground person who can be sure your tape/CD/mp3 is cued up and be in the sound booth to assist. The show will have asked for your tape to have it ready and your ground person should be carrying your spare. The tapes/CD's/mp3's  should be cued you by and marked at the least with your name, the horse's name, and  "Insert as is, start when I nod at you." Most shows test the equipment and your music.  Often that can inadvertantly mess with your timing. These people are often (wonderful) volunteers ... Watch your music or get that ground person to do so. 


Finally, standard equipment and bitting rules do apply to these classes. There are no costumes or props permitted in most musical freestyles. Read your rules so you know if you are entering a musical freestyle or a costume musical freestyle. Always read the show or exhibition rules.


Costumes are a good subject for another time.