Equestrian Life Magazine September Issue 220

Choosing music Blidworth Equestrian Riding Club Dressage 21st July 2013 Photos by EquiMoments Photography Sam Hall & Barney Joshua Martin & Ewyn Riding Club though can be a bit more enjoyable, especially for the quadrilles, where it’s all about dressing up and having a bit of fun. My final thought on lyrics is to say that it’s more difficult to edit music with lyrics and people don’t always realise that. “If you watch dressage to music, you’ll hear some people use markers - beeps or whatever - in the music to indicate transitions, but I think it sounds absolutely dreadful! Much better to find something in the music that gives the rider a hint. I don’t like the ‘fading out and fading in’ type of editing either; it’s much better for it to be seamless and for th e trot ending to have a good strong beat, not to fade away. “When we’ve selected tracks for a rider to look at, we add them to a video of the horse being ridden and the rider can then make their final selection. They keep that video, so it’s also a good learning tool, especially for a rider just starting in dressage to music.” Music Basics Preliminary - Intro trot to first halt around 20 seconds. Around 1 min 40 secs of trot, around 1min 20 secs of canter, 40-50 secs of walk - maybe up to a minute, as it’s TURN TO ENTRY FORM TO ENTER A floor plan and music CD for one lucky winner! it, with your contact details, including a ‘phone number and email address, to:- 1 to be won! The winner won’t need to travel their horse; this is all done with video and by email. No cash alternative and the prize must be claimed by December 31st 2013. All you have to do is video your horse or pony being ridden in walk, trot and canter and send Attn of Julie Geraghty, Equivisions, Willowbank, 11 Scarsdale Avenue, Allestree, Derbyshire DE22 2LA Closing date September 30th 2013. easy for preliminary combinations - with whatever you’ve got left 25-30 secs - for the trot at the end to the final halt. Novice - Intro trot to the first halt around 20 secs. Around 1min 40 secs of trot, 40-50 secs of walk and around 1min 30-40 secs of canter, but sometimes the canter can be less if the horse is not strong, with whatever you’ve got left - 25-30 secs - for the trot at the end to the final halt. Leanne Johnson & Benson Elementary - At elementary level, you will need more trot, around 2 mins, but less canter, around 1min 40 secs and it will probably work out that you have only 15-20 secs of trot to finish, so that the whole test is still 5 mins from halt to halt. Remember at every level the timing doesn’t start until you move off from the first halt. Becky Cartwright & Absolutely Magical Finally - consider using some ‘extro’ or exit music, suggests Julie. “It can be something like Abba’s ‘Thank you for the music’ and I’ve done that with Abba’s ‘Take a chance on me’ as the intro music for one client. Music makes dressage a little more interesting and getting started at the lower levels is not as difficult as you think; most people are doing it for fun - and it is!” Jo Lewis & Fred Contact Information: Sue Carson, Sue Carson Saddles. Tel: 01629 549343 Web: www.suecarsonsaddles.co.uk Julie Geraghty, Equivisions Dressage. Tel: 07976 518702 Web: www.equivisions.co.uk www.equestrianlifemagazine.co.uk EL-SEPT13-S3.indd 47 47 22/08/2013 22:43:45

Equestrian Life Magazine September Issue 220 | Page 47