International riders must make the most of every point. In freestyle, this is especially the case since each of the artistic categories carries a hefty 4 point coefficient.  To maximize these scores, many elite riders have turned to high-end production work.

Klassic Kur has been creating custom-composed arrangements since 1998. Guenter Seidel was the first to delve into this process, and has enjoyed music ranging from Caribbean to the Broadway smash Evita for Metallic, Foltaire, and Aragon.

Klassic Kur’s most famous design is Debbie McDonald and Brentina’s “Respect” kür, which earned them the bronze medal at the 2005 World Cup in Las Vegas and still holds the high score record for the US Freestyle Championships. It is closely seconded by George Williams and Rocher’s Madonna freestyle. The latter holds the Dressage at Devon record in both high score and in having three consecutive freestyle wins. Both Debbie and George enjoyed the process and result so much, they requested the same construct for their horses Felix and Marnix respectively. Felix has a companion piece to Brentina as the Soul Man, and Marnix uses a medley of Cher tunes.

Steffen Peters benefitted from our custom process in developing a Fleetwood Mac program for Floriano, To make the most of his Olympic journey, he commissioned a selection of tunes featuring 80’s rock music for his young mount Ravel. Representing Columbia, Cesar Parra and Galant du Serein blended tunes from Enrique Iglesias and fellow Columbian Shakira.

All freestyles begin the same way—with an analysis of the horse. The most important part is determining the tempo of each gait. For more information on how to do this for your own horse download “Let the Show Begin” from the USDF website.

With the tempos determined, the next step is to find the right music.  Several selections are compiled for each gait and the tempos adjusted to precisely match the horse. Now the team is ready to test the music for its suitability. This can be established only in a live session by watching how the horse looks as he moves to the music. Sometimes the horse even picks the music. For instance, Felix had a strong reaction to Sam & Dave’s Soul Man, which convinced us to go with a rhythm & blues theme.

Once the music is chosen, the choreography is double checked to confirm that it meets all requirements. It also must have enough difficulty but not over-face the horse; it must be creative, work with the music, and fit the time restrictions. When all is well, the dance is ready to be video taped.

The music is composed in much the same way as a movie soundtrack. The video is converted to a QuickTime movie, then imported into the music program. In this way, there is always a strong visual image to which the music can be related.

Based on the video, a tempo map is created. In that process the numbers of bars needed at a particular tempo are determined. Sometimes tempos not only change from gait to gait, but can change within the gait itself. Next, a general concept for interpretation is laid out so that the music’s dynamics can best express the various movements.

Now the actual writing may begin. The initial draft may be as simple as percussion and piano, and will have a voice over stating which movement happens when. The primary function of this draft is to make sure the timing is correct and that the rider likes the concept. Any issues should be resolved at this point before going on to the time-intensive step of orchestration. The second draft is done in MIDI format, and is also sent to the rider for approval. If everything remains on track, we are ready to go into recording. Unlike MIDI alone, live musicians give a piece “breath” and natural dynamics. The remainder of the “magic” is in the recording itself and in the engineering. This includes microphone selection, room acoustics, after effects such as reverb, compression, filters, and so on.

The finished product is a rich-sounding composition designed to match the horse/rider team. Moreover, it allows for a broader range of music to be selected, since finding an orchestrated version of any song is not an issue. Lyric may be injected sparingly, if desired, but in a portion that is not overwhelming.  No one will ever forget Brentina coming down the centerline to Respect. Most importantly, this highly specialized project produces a one-of-a-kind freestyle designed to bring out every nuance of the choreography, match the team in its temperament, and closely tailor tempos and interpretation.

Photos: Matt McKenzie on bass (Ravel), Vinnie Santoro on drums (Felix), Randi Paul belts Respect (Brentina), executive producer Terry Ciotti Gallo onsite, the horn section (Felix & Ravel), producer and arranger Greg Sims, engineer Dan Frizsell of Legends Studio, Nashville.