Dressage to music - tips?

Lucy_Ally

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Spring and I have entered a dressage to music competition that is being run at our yard. We are entering in a pair with another girl from my yard who has a black Irish draught which is very similar to Springy. We have chosen songs from the Jungle Book to be our music (for those who know Spring you will understand why the march of the epephants is particularly suitable!
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Anyway, I need some ideas of movements to do in a pair. We have to walk trot and canter on each rein but other than that it is really up to us. The other horse is infintely better schooled than Spring but she can lengthen and collect and has nice paces, lateral work is coming but not really established. So any ideas?

Also we need to think of costumes so ideas on that gratefully received!

I am really loking forward to it! We had a trial run with the music last night and Springy loved it, her face was a picture when she first heard the elephant noises though!
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This is me as an alien about three weeks ago

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This is the quadrille team.

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We had the music from the "war of the worlds"

If you are being jungle book, then perhaps dressing as some kind of indian/or pith helmetted people on tigers/lions/elephants would be good?

Much the best if you are identical. Also try to match your paces to your music, so the trot is usually around 96 beats perminute I think (I may have remembered that wrong!) but if you can get someone to video you doing walk then trot then canter, then look ONLY at the front legs, and count how many beats that is for say 30 sec, then double it and you'll have the beats per minute. Then it helps if you have a metronome, find the right music to match.

This is important in the trot especially.

The canter and the walk is about the same beats per minute, so it can be the same piece.

Some ideas for a duet. Try to keep near one another, not at opposite ends.

Wheeling is always good. Yielding (if poss) apart and then back together.

Lots of fast work, not much walk as that always looks boring.

Cross over, so do opposite serpentines and pass one another.

Just a few thoughts...... have a LOVELY time! I wish I could be doing it! Just sold my daughters unsuitable mare and am starting a new search....
 
Wow! You looked amazing!

Thanks for the tips, I am really excited about it and Spring seemed to enjoy working to music as well and actually picked up the rhythm and kept in time with the music really well.
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It's lovely:

thanks for the comp

It is very useful if they are scared about the situation, when the music kicks in and you have practised it with them so much, they just go into autopilot bless their little/big hearts!

You have to raise a hand and lower it to tell the steward to start your CD

Best use a CD. You need at least one spare. You have to fill in a form and pay a little for copyright. Label the CD as to their requirements.

Practise loads and loads and you get to know when you have to be in a certain place, in a certain beat/note of the piece, and when to pass one another.

Always make a pair, so you are both in the same place opposite one another at all costs.

Need any more ideas? You can PM me if you like!
 
I am doing my 1st freestyle dressage to music on Sunday. We finalised the costumes tonight. I am in all white and my partner is in all black. The music is Hung Up (Madonna) and we are getting it videoed too. Scary, as I have never seen myself ride before!
 
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