How to Determine your Horse's BPMs for your Dressage Musical Freestyle...
Learn how to create a dressage musical freestyle. Click here.
I get asked about BPMs (beats per minute) frequently from riders who need help finding freestyle music. They know that they need to figure out their horse's bpms but aren't quite sure what that means or how to go about it. It is actually quite simple once you give it a try. I have included a few different methods, hopefully one of them will work for you!
Why You Need To Figure Out Your Horse's BPM:
Every piece of music has it's own beats per minute. When you match your horse's bpm to the music's bpm you can feel confident that the music will match. Of course, there is more to it than just matching the bpm (picking a theme, matching personality, and whether your horse enjoys it as well) but is a good place to start.
Items You Will Need
A Timer or Cell Phone (with one of apps listed below)
Leg Wraps - use one easy-to-see color
Video Camera (optional)
A Helper/Assistant
Start by wrapping one of your horse's front legs with a colored polo wrap. You only need this one wrap but the leg will show up better in a video if all the legs are wrapped with just one that is brightly colored.
Learn how to find your horse's BPMs for your musical freestyle.
I suggest that you warm up first so that you can be sure to have the best representation of your horse's working gait.
Every time that front leg touches the ground at the walk or trot, you will count it as one “beat”. At the canter, you count the leading foreleg as one “beat” when it strikes the ground.
Use a Timer
Using a stopwatch or the timer on your cell phone, have your assistant set the timer for one minute. Have them count the number of footfalls (of that one foreleg) while you ride your horse in a consistent working walk, trot or canter. As long as the horse stays steady and your helper is a good counter (haha) you will have your bpm. You may want to take an average after multiple tries.
Use an App
Have your ground person use a metronome app on your phone, adjusting it up or down until the “beep” sound of the metronome matches the footfall of the wrapped leg. A good app to try is Metronome.
OR
Have your ground person use a BPM app, tapping the screen every time your horse's front leg touches the ground. It will give you the average bpm within a few strides, try it a few times to double check consistency. I have been using the BPM by Motokazu Sekine for many years.
Take A Video
Take this opportunity to have your assistant video your horse at a consistent walk, trot and canter. Make sure to include your working gaits and lengthened/extended movements. Stay in each working gait for at least one full minute. You can count the footfalls from the comfort of your own home on your computer. The video will also be helpful for you to test out different pieces of music.
Here are some basic BPM guidelines:
Walk- between 50-65 BPM
Trot- between 75-90 BPM
Canter- between 95-110 BPM
Passage/Piaffe- between 60-65 BPM
*Generally the canter is twice the beats of the walk and the trot lies somewhere in between.
Browse my Freestyle Book Store
Learn how to create a musical freestyle from start to finish with my Freestyle Guide or choose an e-Book with choreography ideas just for your level.
Click here to view all Freestyle Books.
This Ebook dives deeper into choreography, specifically for Second Level. It covers the required movements, offering a variety of ways to include them in your freestyle. It also includes TEN ready-to-ride freestyles that you can choose from - just add music!
NEW Version recently updated March 2022!
Use this eBook if you need to create choreography for your freestyle quickly and on a budget. This ebook includes:
10 Fully Choreographed Test Patterns! Just Add Music!
43 pages of unique choreography!
Blank arena diagram page for you to print and draw your own choreography
*** RULE CHANGES for 2019 *** Please note that the qualifying score to compete a musical freestyle has been changed from a 60% to a 63%! You also need to show at least one of your medium trot and canter on a STRAIGHT line. You may ride a medium trot/canter on a bending line for artistic marks but it will not count towards your technical score.
If you need help with the ENTIRE freestyle creation process check out my book The Ultimate Guide to Riding, Training, and Competing to Music.
Take a moment to join the Create Your Own Musical Freestyle Facebook Group where you can ask questions and share your freestyle videos to gain valuable feedback from a community of like-minded, creative equestrians!
Note: This is a DIGITAL product so you will not receive anything in the mail. After your purchase you will be taken to a page with the link to download the .pdf document. You will also receive an email with the same link. You will need Adobe Reader to view the .pdf document. Click here if you do not have Adobe.
The download link will only stay active for 24 hours (a security feature of this website). If you are unable to download the e-book within that time frame don’t worry, just send me an email at beginthedance@gmail.com and I will send you the file attached to the email so that you can download it at any time.
This is the Second Edition with a brand new look and unique pre-choreographed tests. If you need help designing your First Level musical freestyle, this e-book is meant for you. It reviews the required freestyle test movements, offering a variety of ways to perform them with your horse. It also includes TEN ready-to-ride freestyles that you can choose from - just add music!
You can also use this Ebook if you need to create a freestyle in a hurry or to move up to the next level.
This ebook includes:
10 Fully Choreographed Test Patterns
38 Pages of Choreography
Blank Arena Diagram Pages (for you to take notes and draw your own choreography)
Musical Freestyle Checklist
You can also join the Create Your Own Musical Freestyle Facebook Group where you can ask questions and share your freestyle videos to gain valuable feedback from a community of like-minded, creative equestrians!
Note: This is a DIGITAL product so you will not receive anything in the mail. After your purchase you will be taken to a page with the link to download the .pdf document. You will also receive an email with the same link. You will need Adobe Reader to view the .pdf document. Click here if you do not have Adobe.
The download link will only stay active for 24 hours (a security feature of this website). If you are unable to download the e-book within that time frame don’t worry, just send me an email at beginthedance@gmail.com and I will send you the file attached to the email so that you can download it at any time.
2020 Equus Film Festival Winner in the Equine Training Category!
This book will inspire and educate riders of all levels on how to create a musical freestyle. I focused on three areas, riding to music for personal enjoyment/training, for the competition arena, and also for exhibitions. This is a hefty book at 279 pages and covers a broad range of information.
Your copy will be signed! There is a place for you to enter a special message if this is a gift.
Includes 338 Choreography Diagrams for USDF Freestyle (Training - Fourth Level) and for WDAA Freestyle (Basic - Level 4). Yes it includes western dressage! Freestyle is quickly becoming a popular class within the discipline.
Interviews with today’s top riders and performers including Mario Contreras, Marsha Sapp, Lindsey Partridge, Tik Maynard, Frances Carbonnel, Luke Gingrich, Nancy Conley, Elizabeth James, and many more!
