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To
please the audience and present a performance with drama and expression, a Musical
Freestyle (MFS) needs to have at least a few kewl moves. To work, these have to be
movements both the horse and rider can do well. They are not necessarily difficult for the
pair to perform, but add an element of mystery, surprise, dance-like grace, brio, humor or
just plain technical astonishment to the ride. This free-style host was wowed by quite of
few of the kewl moves I saw at Gladstone. Here’s a list of my favorites. With so much
to watch I know I missed some, too. If you noticed (or even rode) one I missed, please
e-mail us with it.[email: kyrabeth@dressageunltd.com
] If you know any other kewl moves you've seen or love to ride (at any level), let us
know. By sharing what we see and ride we can begin to build dressage’s limited
movement vocabulary into phrases and sentences which we all can use in different ways to
put expression and meaning into our rides.
Debbie McDonald showed off quite a few fun patterns that suited Word Perfect, well,
perfectly.
1. Halt on the centerline near “A” to canter half-pass left to “B” to
flying change to canter half-pass right to “C” to canter pirouette directly in
front of the judge. Flowing and culminating in drama.
2. Two-tempis on a long zig zag line from out of the corner at “F” to
“X” and back to “M”. Good element of surprise.
3. And here’s a move even 2nd level riders can create variations for - shoulder -in
left on the quarterline to between “X” and “B” to a 5 meter circle
left to a 5 meter circle right to shoulder-in right on the opposite quarterline. Graceful.
With Brentina, she made great use of half circles to show off her technique.
1. Trot extension on the 20 meter half-circle directly into half-pass. Mind-blowing.
2. Two tempis on the 20 meter half -circle. Pretty and useful because it can proceed in a
variety of ways.
Debbie’s freestyle consultant was Terry Gallo.
Dorothy Morkis and a very “on” Gershwin made us sit up to watch these two:
1. Canter half-pass right from “K” to “X” to a pirouette to half-pass
right to “M” with a repeat to the left on the next diagonal. Good flow, drama
and symmetry.
2. A canter pirouette in the corner and then directly into two tempis across the diagonal.
Susan Jacoma and Jellowa used this kewl move, as well. Pirouettes often get lost in the
corners, but this sequence has great drama - the feeling of blast off and flight.
Susan Jacoma and Jellowa used movement sequences that really allowed them to adjust their
changes of direction to the phrasing of the music. The result, a ride with very well
accented choreography.
1. Shoulder-in down the quarterline into half-pass in trot. Not only does this move look
nice, the sequence helps set the horse up for a good half-pass. And, if the rider is a
little ahead or behind the phrasing of the music, it gives her room to adjust by
shortening or lengthening the duration of the shoulder-in.
2. Shoulder-in on the quarterline to a very short diagonal from quarterline to quarterline
to shoulder-in on the quarterline to an extended trot across the diagonal. Graceful
symmetry flowed by an explosion.
Lynda Alicki and Impressario’s harmonious ride showed an abundance of very pretty
patterns , some of which are convertible to lower level rides.
1. Diamond trot zig-zags in trot half-pass. Half-pass left from “A” to
“B”, half pass right from “B” to “C”. Trot extension across
the diagonal to the mirror image of the half-pass
sequence. At first level, the half-passes can be changed to leg-yields and connected by a
trot lengthening. This has a wonderful dancing quality and would be super in a Pas de
Deux.
2. Shoulder-in right on the quarterline to the spot between “B” and
“X” to a ten meter half circle to the opposite quarterlline to shoulder-in
left.. This could also be done in travers. The second should-in has a high level of
difficulty to do well. It has a nice dancey feel to it and reads well visually.
3. Canter three-tempis on a 20 meter circle to half-pass across the full diagonal. At
first level this could be converted into a leg-yield in trot across part of the diagonal
to a 15 meter canter circle to a change to the trot to a continuation of the trot
leg-yield on the
diagonal. A powerful, grand ballet-like sequence. Very elegant.
4. Half-pass from the corner to “X” directly into two tempis on the centerline.
This could become a leg-yield from “M” to “X” into canter down the
centerline. Good element of surprise. A nice transition from grace to power.
5. Walk circle between the quarterlines in the center of the arena. The circle can
be enlarged. Walk circles in the center of the arena just look pretty. Quiet and
harmonious feeling.
Lynda’s MFS consultant was Marlene Whitaker.
Belinda Nairn-Wertman and Sorcerer, a very dancing type of horse, showed off their
extravagant lateral work with these two moves:
1. Half-pass right out of the corner to shoulder-in right down the center-line to a ten
meter circle to the left then back down the centerlline to a turn left to a half-pass left
to the centerline to a shoulder-in left to a ten meter circle right. A tricky pattern to
do well, but worth it for the elegant dance-like quality.
2. Half-pass from the long side to the three-quarterline and back again. This move reads
very well visually, is not test-like, and lets the horse show off its flow in the
half-pass in both directions. Good combination of symmetry and unpredictability.
3. Walk to canter at “F” to three tempis continuing on the first loop of a
serpentine to a pirouette on the centerline. This is a difficult move which can have great
musical drama. The 2nd level version? Walk to canter at “F” through the first
loop of a serpentine to the
quarterline to a ten meter circle between the quarterlines. Want to increase the level of
difficulty? Try walk at “F” to counter -canter left through the first loop of
the serpentine to a ten meter circle right between the quarterlines.
Belinda’s MFS consultant was Kaye Meredith.
Betsy Rebar Sell and Wonderful Walden gave a performance that capitalized on Walden’s
strengths.
1. Three tempis on the serpentine. When done in perfect time to music, these are hard to
beat, visually.
2. Two tempis on the 20 meter circle, a good attention -getter. Feeling of the movement
depends upon the style and punctuation of the music.
3. A complex and an unusual sequence: canter pirouette on the centerline between
“I” and “G” to a straight line to the long side to a flying change to
a turn down the long side to a turn back to the centerline to a canter pirouette to a
straight line to the long side to a flying change to a turn towards the corner. Wildly
inventive and unpredictable. Don’t try this at home kids, unless you and your horse
really have your acts together. I was so busy watching what they were about to do next, I
can’t really say what feeling this kewl move conveyed to me. Probably, amazement.
Abby Strauss was Betsy’s MFS consultant.
Nancy Smith and Etias gave a fluid performance which included this interesting sequence:
1. Half-pass to a 10 meter circle to extended trot. For lower level riders, this could be
a leg-yield or shoulder-in or travers into a ten meter circle to a lengthening or a
medium. This is another example of grace into drama. The contrast is very exciting.
Those are the kewl moves of movement phrases and sentences that said something to me as I
watched the rides. I’m beginning to realize that we need to develop a way of talking
and thinking about musical freestyles. We need to identify some of the ways that work in
putting together equine movement sequences to create artistic expression
(including technical correctness). We need to clearly define that which is artistically
interesting, but technically unacceptable. We also need to define what is technically a
little off-beat, but perfectly acceptable (For instance, is a quarter-turn on the haunches
at the walk permitted at first level.? A half-pirouette is not, but there is no mention of
a quarter pirouette.). We may need to develop a vocabulary for discussing both the
creation and performance of MFS. First step could be a catalogue of kewl moves and why
they work.
[Ky's Editorial Note: Wendy's "Cool"
was replaced with the internet spelling "Kewl"]
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