Ready to make a great first impression for your musical freestyle? Use your entrance to help tell a story, just like the opening of a movie or the beginning of song, you are setting the mood and telling the judge what to expect from your freestyle. There are many ways you can capture the attention of your judge and the audience, even at the lower levels.

Douwe and Sandra enter for their First Level Musical Freestyle. Photo taken by Spotted Vision Photography.

Use Lyrics

Lyrics have grown in popularity for musical freestyles. They are allowed but you need to make sure that you choose songs that enhance your routine rather than take away from the overall flow.

Using fun openers to a song or a catchy jingle can set the tone for your entire freestyle and put a smile on everyone’s face. Recently, I designed a freestyle where we used the opening of “I Feel Good” with James Brown. It is iconic and recognizable to every person that might be in that audience, especially to the judge. The rest of the freestyle included songs from the same genre and rider Linda Brock received a lot of compliments.

For my client Carolena we used the song “Lollipop” for her entrance. She did her halt, salute perfectly to the “pop” sound that everyone would recognize. She is an adorable young rider (definitely has the cute factor with her small horse!) performing a Training Level freestyle. Her freestyle followed the same genre with songs like “Sandman” and “ Tweedle Dee”.

Think of lines from a popular movie like “Bond...James Bond” or the prologue from “Beauty and the Beast”. Broadway musicals also have plenty of one liners that can work for an entrance such as “He’s here the Phantom of the Opera!”.

The beauty of using lyrics for a musical freestyle is that the music doesn’t necessarily have to match the beats of your horse’s stride. It would be great if it did but overall you are using the entrance to make an impression and set the stage, so if the beats aren’t perfect but the lyrics are I say go ahead and try it!

Sandra and Rovandio showing a Second Level Freestyle. Photo credit Spotted Vision Photography.

Use Transitions

Something that I rarely see are transitions such as walk to trot, trot to canter, or walk to canter. At the lower levels there are limited options for centerlines, if you can use entrance music that has a clear transition that can help enhance your artistic scores and demonstrate technical skill the judge.

I rode a Third Level freestyle with my horse Rovandio many years ago and our violin music started slow and then added a distinct trot beat. I cued the music, began at the walk and then transitioned to the trot when the music changed.

Only try this if your horse is really consistent in upward transitions! If they tend to brace or come above the bit I wouldn’t risk it, just stay in your preferred gait.

Add a Lengthening/Extension

Impress the judge with a dramatic extended trot down the centerline! If your horse has a reliable and high-quality medium/extended trot this can be a really good option. Also using medium/extended canter can really ‘WoW’ the judges and set the stage for a powerful ride.

This entrance works well when you have are going all the way down the centerline to your first halt. Some riders prefer to halt around L or G to set up for their first movement closer to the judge.

Sandra used Outlander music for her Friesian gelding Douwe. Photo credit Spotted Vision Photography.

Add Sound Bites

You can add a little more sparkly and pizzazz with your opening salute by accenting with additional sound bites. This could sound like a gong, a magical chime, a drumroll, or perhaps the sound of people clapping. You can get creative and add sounds that will go along with your entrance music and the overall theme of the freestyle. Having a definite sound or accent for your salute elevates your freestyle and shows that you pay attention to detail.

You can search for sound bites on websites like www.audiojungle.net where you can purchase short music clips and search by instrument and genre. Use keywords like “Intro” to search through hundreds of short clips that people use for music videos, movies, and promo videos. They are generally short and already fade in/out so they would be very easy to incorporate in the editing process.

Additional Ideas

I personally like the sound of an orchestra warming up if you are using classical music
Sound clip from a band playing live…sometimes they will address the audience to get everyone fired up
Drumroll that you hear at the start of a movie
Record your own voice over your entrance movie to create something unique and special
Sound clip from a motivational speech

Have Fun!

No matter what you decide, I hope you have fun in the process! Creating a musical freestyle is a rewarding process that takes patience, determination, and creativity. Let me know in the comments below what you used for your musical freestyle entrance I would love to know. You can also email me with questions/comments to beginthedance@gmail.com.

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The Creative Equestrian Blog

Creative Centerlines for your Dressage Musical Freestyle