Judging Musical Freestyles | Dressage With Michell

On January 18, 2019, USDF held a Continuing Education in Judging Musical Freestyles clinic presented by Terri Ciotti Gallo and Gary Rockwell at the Embassy Suites West Palm Beach Center in Florida. Terri, a lively and entertaining presenter, has more than 25 years creating musical freestyles from national through Olympic levels and owns Klassic Kur, LLC. Gary brought his unequivocal judging experience as an FEI O/5* judge, USEF S judge and FEI Young Horse 5* judge to the presentation.

This presentation was very important for USEF and USDF to coordinate because there are riders making their way to national finals with errors to their freestyle program that should have been caught at the local show level.

Terri began the presentation with audience participation by playing music compilations without corresponding video for the participants to determine what parts of the music went with the horse’s walk, trot or canter. With the pieces that had the most audience discrepancies, Terri required us to close our eyes and move our bodies to a walk, trot or canter rhythm. Then we were able to really feel what the music was designated for.

When listening to the music, think about these pieces:

Is the music cohesive and seamless?
- The music should never end with a long fade.
- Listen to the underlying beat (or pulse) of the music.
- Pay attention to the music transitions.

Can you determine the order of gaits?
- Listen to the music’s rhythm (how the beats get organized). Trot is 2, walk is 4, canter is 3.
- A typical trot tempo is 132-168, walk tempo is 98-112, canter tempo is 92-105 and passage tempo is 105-116.
- Terri says, “Matching footfalls are NOT REQUIRED, but the music has to suggest the gait.”

How would you characterize the music?
- Is there a theme or connection to the pieces? Think about the genre, theme or instrumentation to make the pieces cohesive.
- Does the music make the horse stand out or fade out?

Would this be suitable for a lower (or higher) level horse?
- Various music pieces affect the visual impact of the horse’s performance. Terri showed us Ravel doing the same half-pass pattern to various pieces of music. Each music piece fit Ravel’s trot, but only one really matched his real life presence and personality and was the most suitable.
- Does the music highlight the horse’s strengths?

Terri’s presentation was organized by explaining in great detail the artistic impression categories. This is a very, very brief overview. We were told that the order of the directives is important to the judge in determining the comment and score.

MUSIC (everything that happens before the show, not the execution at the show).

Suitability (criteria), cohesiveness (modifier), seamlessness (modifier).

INTERPRETATION (what happens during the performance)

The music expresses the gaits (criteria), phrasing (modifier) and dynamics (modifier).

We spent time understanding what was meant by “phrasing” and “dynamics” because it was new to some participants. The phrasing is the horse making a change in line with the music’s dynamics, which is the variation in the intensity of the music. For example, the music gets louder as the horse transitions into a medium trot, then as the music gets softer the horse performs a transition to collected trot. The participant judges were told to not deduct points for a freestyle with no phrasing but to add a half point if at least six points of phrasing are shown.

DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY

The judge will evaluate the degree of difficulty of a movement, for example, a steeper half-pass or a shoulder-in on the quarter or centerline. Then, if the movements performed are at the lowest level of the test (i.e. matches first level test 1 or 2, or the highest level of the test, for example, first level test 3). Poor execution of a movement will result in a deduction on score. A good execution of a difficult element will earn an increase in the score for difficulty.

CHOREOGRAPHY

Design cohesiveness (criteria), use of arena (modifier), balance (modifier) and creativity (modifier).

The design cohesiveness–its clarity and logic in structure is the most important criteria. Creativity has to do with presenting movements in combination. The more combinations and patterns (done well), the better.

HARMONY BETWEEN HORSE AND RIDER

Harmony goes beyond the submission and the aids. It has to do with trust and confidence, the ease of being able to perform the test, the horse being attentive and the presentation being fluid.

Then Terri discussed the freestyle judging methodology. In traditional judging it is basics + criteria +/- modifiers = the score. In judging freestyles it is a bit more complex because we have to know the rules, we have to time the horse before entry and then time the actual freestyle performance, we need to know when to give deductions, when a movement is illegal for that level or if violations have occurred, and if movements were performed to the minimum distances.

Terri gave us her personal methodology. First she divides her brain into the comments and scores she verbalizes to the scribe. Then she tracks the phrasing and dynamics presented, tracks music suitability, music expressing the gaits, music cohesiveness and use of arena with directional balance. Terri emphasized the importance of preparing a meaningful summary statement based on the score sheet terminology and she is aware of the need to be quick so she does not delay the next ride.

It is the greatest responsibility for the judge to be prepared and to always brief the scribe. Terri provided the participants some handouts and checklists to help us develop our freestyle judging skills. The presentation was excellent and informative, and I’m so glad I chose to attend it.

Highlights of some rules:

There are no more restrictions for holding reins in one hand.
There is a 4-point deduction under technical execution if the rider purposefully did a movement above the level.
An omitted movement is a zero, and the difficulty can’t be higher than a 5.5.
USEF rule supersedes USDF rule at a USEF rated show.
Extended trot or canter MUST be on a straight line. If it is attempted on a circle then it’s a medium, not extended.
Don’t be a fly in a paper bag (meaning the judge can’t tell where you are going and what you are doing).
Each movement a rider posts when he or she should be sitting is a -2 deduction.
After the bell, the rider has 45 seconds to signal the sound booth. When the music starts, the rider has 30 seconds to enter the arena (it used to be 20 seconds).
Exit music is not allowed.