For Edward Gal of the Netherlands the freestyle is all about fluidity and emotion. “I never want to make my choreography too difficult,” he said. “It has to be very fluid so it’s easy for the horse and nice to look at.”
]When he began designing a freestyle for Lingh, he sat down with his business partner Nicole Werner and put together the choreography. Then he asked Niels Coevoet to prepare the music. Gal told him the type of music he wanted, but Coevoet chose the music and created the freestyle.
Most of the music comes from Vanessa Mae, a Japanese violinist. Gal described the music as mysterious, with some elements of trance music. In fact, Gal liked the trance music so much that he’s working on a new freestyle prepared by trance musician D.J. Jochen Miller and Boy van Lamoen that will use four new pieces of trance music prepared especially for Lingh.
Trance music is a type of music, usually electronic, that could be described as hypnotic and good for dancing. It’s often played at nightclubs or discotheques.
Gal has been riding his freestyle with the 12-year-old Dutch Warmblood for the last two years in competition.
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Creativity is one of the areas that Gal focuses with his freestyle. “What’s important for the music is that you use catchy music and it tells a story,” he explained. “I don’t break it up at all because I want that fluid test.”
But he certainly has difficult movements in his test. For instance, he rides the extended canter into a double pirouette and then into his tempi changes.
But Gal is more focused on the overall look than on the technical difficulty. “When you make it difficult for the horse, it’s not pleasant to watch,” he explained. “It’s important that the horse have fun in the [freestyle]. When we make it too difficult, it’s no fun–and the horse will show that. I really want a happy horse.”
Gal said that Lingh is a very happy horse, especially when he does his freestyle. “He knows he can do it well, and he shows that. He has this sparkle in his eyes, and that’s the same sparkle you hear in the music,” he said.
