dressage music

Dressage Music that is composed especially for your performance

Would you like dressage music for your performance? Composed specifically for you and totally unique?

Click any of the samples below to see what kind of music I can create. Just tell me what sort of thing you are looking for and I will create a track tailor made for you and your horse's next big show. The fee for this is only £200.00. If you are not happy with the rough mix I supply then there is no charge - what have you got to lose!

Just contact me in the first instance, without any obligation. Please be patient after clicking the icons as the tracks need to load.

dressage arenas

If you have the land to spare, a dressage arena could prove a good long-term use for the space – after all the horse can only benefit further from extra dressage work even when the test is consigned to the history books. You can use a dressage arena to teach sensible training techniques that will keep the horse disciplined and encourage good riding practice.

Although the prospect of building a dressage arena might give you sleepless nights worrying about finance, there’s no need to make cost an issue, as a dressage arena can be as simple in design as you like – you don’t even to physically build anything if you don’t want to.

First of all, mark out an appropriate ‘zone’ in which to build your dressage arena. Ask the organiser of the local dressage competition about the size of the arena being used for the test and try and replicate these conditions so the horse does not become overwhelmed on the day of the competition. Generally, the arena should be roughly 20-40m in length and 20m wide – these are the standard measurements for most horse dressage arenas.

Obviously, when you are practicing with your horse, you’ll need to have full awareness of the arena’s perimeter. Mark this out clearly as you map the design out – special grass spray paints and poles can help replicate the shape of a dressage arena. Another condition of the dressage test that needs to be mirrored in the arena is the lettering that indicates a new skill demonstration. Specialist supply shops may sell dummy test letters, but it’s probably just as simple to provide your own versions. Search around your house and garage for items such as old tyres or other harmless markers that can substitute as letters. Study the layout of the dressage arena in test conditions so you can practice separate manoeuvres in the appropriate part of the arena.

After you have seen your dressage arena transformed from a dream into a reality, it’s important not to rest on your laurels. The arena will need regular maintenance for it to be suitable for regular, disciplined training. Re-spray the perimeter every couple of weeks and keep ground conditions at a sensible level. Although your horse dressage arena might not quite live up to the real thing, it can be an extremely useful tool in ensuring you pass with flying colours on test day.

dressage videos

Dressage Training Tips

1. The rider must constantly be thinking and keeping open the lines of communication with the horse remembering every horse is different and should be ridden as an individual
2. A well trained horse will gain confidence in themselves by building on their physical capabilities in a gradual way so they can understand the task that they are being asked to do, the horse is a heard animal its from the knowledge of where he stands in the order of his life in terms of routine, consistency and repetition of his training.All these things increase their ability.
3. Stay away from short cuts, they only exist in the minds of inpatient riders
4. Remember Dressage equals quality not quantity
5. The main aim of Dressage is to create harmony and balance between horse and rider
6. At all times the rider must remain aware and promote mental self discipline
7. The quality of the gaits takes precedence over all.
8. Progressing comes through a gradual build up of correct training
9. Go and watch as much good Dressage as you can

Grand Prix Dressage

Grand Prix Level dressage is the highest level of dressage. This level is governed by the FEI and tests the horse and rider to the highest standards. As with the previous levels of dressage, the horse and rider are judged on correct execution of movements, the willingness of the horse and the effectiveness of the rider’s aids. This level also consists of 3 standard tests: the Grand Prix, Grand Prix Special and the Musical Freestyle. The Grand Prix Special is similar to the standard Grand Prix test; however, special attention is paid to the transitions executed throughout the test.

Anky van Grunsven

Anky van Grunsven was born in Erp, the Netherlands, on January 2, 1968.  When she was six years old she got her first pony, a Shetland pony named “Heleentje”.  At first she would only clean and brush Heleentje. After taking the first riding lessons from her father, she joined the pony club in Erp. At age seven she started showing, something she was not too good at in the beginning.  Only after graduating from high school she decided to start riding professionally.

Prisco was the first horse that was really her own.  Anky rode her very first dressage test on Prisco at “L” level in 1980.  She advanced to “Z” level in 1982.  There were ups and downs.  Her persistence was rewarded in 1990 when she won the Dutch championships for the first time.  With her mount Bonfire she became Dutch dressage champion a second time in 1991. They won the national dressage title a total of nine times.

Anky became the World Champion Musical Freestyle in The Hague in 1994.  She won the World Cup Final seven times. The first time in Hollywood in 1995 where “Bonfire’s Symphony”, her freestyle music, played an important role.  She won in Gothenburg (1996), in ’s-Hertogenbosch (1997), in Dortmund (1999) and again in ’s-Hertogenbosch (2000).  During all these finals she rode Bonfire.  In 2004, 2005 and 2006, Anky and Salinero won the World Cup Final in Düsseldorf, Las Vegas and Amsterdam respectively.

The highlights of Anky’s career until now are of course her two gold medals at the Olympic Games in Sydney and in Athens.  The first one on Bonfire (2000), who finished his career winning in Sydney.  She won the second gold medal aboard Salinero (2004), who at the time just started his sports career.

In 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2000 and 2004 Anky was named “Rider of the Year” in the Netherlands and she was honored as “Sports Woman of the Year” in 1994.  In 2001 she was named “Rider of the Century”.  Anky also received two royal decorations “Ridder in de Orde van Oranje Nassau” and “Ridder in de Orde van de Nederlandse Leeuw”.

Riding and everything that comes with it have become a full-time occupation for Anky.  In the afternoons, after the daily training of her horses, she will teach her students.  The levels vary from the national Z level through Grand Prix.  In addition, she frequently gives clinics in the Netherlands and abroad.  Much attention also goes to her clothing line, ANKY ® Technical Casuals.  She primarily gets involved with the designs and PR.

After the successful Olympic Games in Athens, Anky and her trainer and partner Sjef had a son, Yannick Janssen, who was born on November 23, 2004.  Yannick Janssen always joins Anky and Sjef when they travel to major shows. Anky and Sjef were married in Las Vegas in April 2005 in the presence of Yannick Janssen. On March 6, 2007 daughter Ava Eden was born. Only a few weeks later she wins the National title with Keltec salinero and that year she wins the European Championships in Turin. The Dutch team wins gold. In 2008 Anky wins the two most important competitions of this year: the Worldcupfinal and the Olympic Games! Anky is the first rider even who wins individual gold three times in row with two different horses (Bonfire 2000 and Salinero 2004 & 2008)

Emma Hindle

Date of birth: 19 May 1975.

Lives: Erbach, Germany.

Major achievements: As an under-21, Emma was on the team for the Junior European Championships in 1989 and 1990 and the Young Rider European Championships in 1992, 1993 and 1996.

As a senior, Emma was a member of the British bronze medal-winning team at the 2003 European Championships at Hickstead with Wie Weltmeyer. She has been a member of the British team every year since and achieved the best British placing, seventh overall in the individual competition, at the 2008 Olympic Games.

Current competition horses:

•Lancet, a 16.2hh German-bred brown stallion by Wenzel I out of Stella, born 1993 and owned by Emma Hindle.

•Diamond Hit, a 16.1hh German-bred brown stallion by Don Schufro out of Loretta, born 1997 and owned by the Brookhouse Stud.

•Fürstenreich, a 17hh bay stallion by Floristan I out of Maibel, born 1998 and owned by the Brookhouse Stud.

•Chequille Z, a 17.1hh bay stallion by Caretano Z out of Hauterive, born 1999 and owned by the Brookhouse stud.

First competitive experience: “A lead rein class on a pony called Woody at a show near Liverpool when I was five. My uncle David was leading and we finished second.”

Trainer: Richard White.

Superstitions: “I am extremely superstitious about wearing my two bracelets and I wear ‘lucky socks’ from nanny, basically because they are the most comfortable with my competition outfit. I broke my superstition with the bracelets in 2003 in Berlin. I took them off because I get a rash otherwise, put them down and someone stole one, but I won anyway. I replaced the stolen one and now only need to wear one, but always wear both anyway.”

Most admired riders: “Holland’s Anky van Grunsven and the German riders Ulla Salzgeber, Hubertus Schmidt and Kathrin Meyer zu Strohen, who has won lots of young horse classes at Germany’s Bundeschampionats. She is a clever lady.”

Qualities looked for in a dressage horse: “There is no perfect dressage horse. I like them to be active behind from nature and to have good self-carriage, three good paces and to be willing to work. There are always exceptions. I’m riding a young horse at the moment who wants to learn so much that it makes up for a lot of deficiencies in other areas.”

Favourite dressage venues: “Nothing compares to Goodwood, which sadly is no more. Wiesbaden in Germany is a great show and I love competing in Sweden – the Swedish get really excited about dressage, even more so than the Germans.”

What other career would you have chosen: “I don’t think I can ride for the rest of my life and, in the long-term, my plan is to run my family business, which is property developing.”