"Dancing to the Music" Freestyle Reining enables exhibitors to let
their creative juices flow while performing a reining routine set to
music.
Taken
from Article by Chandra L. Orr, Photos by Adrianna Silvestri
"Devin Warren and Boonlight N Diamonds
demonstrate a sliding stop in full costume.
The pair won the 2005 Reserve World Championship in
Freestyle Reining performing a routine
to music from the movie Ghostbusters."
"Watching a great reining horse in action is
awe-inspiring and it takes a horse lover's breath away.
Freestyle reining is the equine industry's version of figure
skating and, like figure skaters, riders create their own
routine instead of performing a given pattern. Combining reining
with music and choreography to create poetry in motion, this
event is offered only as a specialty class at the World Show.
Freestyle reining provides an opportunity to use reining
maneuvers creatively and musical scores to show a horse's
athletic ability in a crowd-appealing way, said APHA judge
Bonnie Miller of Sodus, New York, who judged the freestyle
reining at the 2004 World Show."
"Left: Boonlight N Diamonds generates speed in
his rundown so he will be able to perform a sliding stop.
Middle: Devin sits back into the saddle and asks the horse to
drop his hindquarters into a sliding stop.
Right: While he slides on his hind legs, his front legs are
still in motion so he can slide as long as possible."
"Unlike a normal reining class, where riders
complete an exact pattern with seven maneuvers, APHA's freestyle
reining class allows riders four minutes to perform a routine
with only five required maneuvers, which are done in any order.
These maneuvers include: four consecutive spins to the right,
four consecutive spins to the left, three separate stops, a lead
change from left to right and a lead change from right to left."
"The Ghostbusters are ready for action.
Megan Mulqueen is to the left of Devin and Kate Lukof is
to the right. Megan owns the 1999 Sorrel Overo Stallion
and Kate is a student working for Devin for the summer."
"Freestyle reining is deceiving because when you
are watching it in the audience it looks like so much fun, said
Sandy Kaplan, a trainer from Larkspur, Colorado. "Many people
think you just pick a song, throw stuff together and go out
there and do it. That's not the case. To have a great freestyle
reining routine, you need to spend months preparing it."
"Freestyle reining
competitors spend a lot of time developing their routines and
practicing in their costumes. This is necessary to determine
what works and doesn't work, well before showtime."
"Not every reining horse will succeed at freestyle reining."
"It takes a special horse, one that can handle the lighting, the
crowd and the pressure of going to the music. A horse needs to
have the right disposition to handle the increased stresses in
freestyle reining."
Megan Mulqueen, Jason Kvols and Devin Warren
riding Boonlight N Diamonds, 1999 Sorrel Overo
Stallion won the 2005 Reserve World Championship in
Freestyle Reining. Their performance was to the music from
the movie "Ghostbusters."
