Sandra Beaulieu - Freestyle: The Ultimate Guide to Riding, Training, and Competing to Music

The Ultimate Guide to
Riding, Training, and
Competing to Music

FREESTYLE

Sandra Beaulieu

Foreword by Marsha Sapp

First published in 2020 by

Trafalgar Square Books

North Pomfret, Vermont 05053

Copyright 2020 Sandra Beaulieu

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, by any means, without written permission of the publisher, except by a reviewer quoting brief excerpts for a review in a magazine, newspaper, or website.

Disclaimer of Liability

The author and publisher shall have neither liability nor responsibility to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by the information contained in this book. While the book is as accurate as the author can make it, there may be errors, omissions, and inaccuracies.

Trafalgar Square Books encourages the use of approved safety helmets in all equestrian sports and activities.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Beaulieu, Sandra Louise, 1981- author.

Title: Freestyle : the ultimate guide to riding, training, and competing to music / Sandra Beaulieu.

Description: North Pomfret, Vermont : Trafalgar Square Books, 2019. | Includes index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2019014801 (print) | LCCN 2019022304 (ebook) | ISBN 9781570769306 (paperback)

Subjects: LCSH: Musical freestyle rides (Dressage) | Dressage horses--Training.

Classification: LCC SF309.6 .B43 2019 (print) | LCC SF309.6 (ebook) | DDC 798.2/3--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019014801

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019022304

All photographs by Kimberly Chason except: 3.2, 3.9, 3.15, 3.25, 4.103 B, 4.164 A, 5.1, 5.2 A, 5.15, 5.72, 5.167 (Harry Furey); ix, I.1, I.6, 6.13, 7.1, 7.13, 7.17, 7.27, 8.1, 8.15 B (Jesse A. Klein); I.2, I.3, I.4 (Peggy Beaulieu); I.5, 7.5, 7.9 A, 7.10, 7.28, 7.29, 7.31, 8.35, 8.37, 8.38, 8.40 (Bill Lee); 1.1, 2.14, 2.20, 5.23, 5.30, 5.62, 5.104 (Karen Mancuso); Part One, 2.3, Part Two, 3.1, 3.5, 3.8, 3.16, 3.24, 4.2, 4.45, 4.46, 4.55, 4.63, 4.73, 4.155, 6.3, 6.21 (Spotted Vision Photography); 2.4, 8.23 (Stephen Corby); 2.12 (Diana De Rosa); 2.16, 8.5 B, 8.6 (Lydia Rose); 3.6, 4.103 A, 4.164 B (Kelly Wright); 3.10, 3.12, 4.24, 6.24 (Lindsay Dolan); 3.11, 5.226 (Laurie Harvey); 3.26 (Barbara Foose); 4.136 (Megan Stapley); 4.156 (Robert Cieszenski); 4.184, 6.4 A & B (Meagan Sheriff); 5.2 B, 5.115, 5.174 AD, 5.194, 7.12 (Kathleen Bryan); 5.43 (Jennifer White); 5.54, 8.36 (Shane Rux); 6.7, 7.18 (Alaina Alderman); 6.8, 6.9, 6.10, 6.11, 6.12, 6.14, 6.15, 6.16 A & B (Sandra Beaulieu); 7.2, 8.3, 9.1 (Samantha Dawn); 7.4 (Helen Peppe); 7.6, 7.16, 7.26 (Winslow Photography); 7.8 (Gloria Austin); 7.24 (Thomas Harvey); 7.9 B, 7.33, 8.4, 8.19 (Brian Donaghy); 7.14, 7.15, 8.21, 8.22, 8.34 (Rachael Young Darrah); 7.21 (Berni Saunders); 7.30, 8.13 (Richard Hosmer); 8.8, 8.11, 8.17 (Sinari Diliiza); 8.9 (Courtesy of the De Niro Boot Company); 8.10 (Edie Hirtenstein); 8.12 (Amy Rickford); 8.16 (Taylor Burdin); 8.20 A (White Hart Photography)

All illustrations by Sandra Beaulieu except 2.7 (Lauryl Eddlemon)

Book design by Lauryl Eddlemon

Cover design by RM Didier

Index by Andrea M. Jones (www.jonesliteraryservices.com)

eBook design by Prabhati Content

Typefaces: Minion Pro; Gotham

Printed in Hong Kong

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Note from the Publisher: In chapters , the author used the official terms as preferred by the USDF and WDAA respectively. What may appear to be inconsistency in terminology simply reflects the differences in language between the two organizations.

There are few things in nature that are as beautifully designed as the horsean animal that speaks directly to our soul, overwhelming our very being with hope, gratitude, empowerment, and freedom. When you take a creature like the horse and combine him with music, magic happens. This magic has been inspiring us for hundreds of years, and now it is at our fingertips and ours for the making with the expertise found in this book.

I have known Sandra Beaulieu for over 20 years. My first memories of her are from the Isaac Royal Equestrian Theater, owned and created by Carolyn Rose in Dover-Foxcroft, Maine (see for Carolyns story). I watched Sandra and other students dance together on upper-level dressage horses, incorporating dancers, props, and incredible costumes. It was this experience that ignited my own Freestyle dreams.

Sandra has spent many winter seasons at my barn in Tallahassee, Florida, with her horses. We train and show together, inspiring each other to reach new heights in our work with horses. Her passion for musical Freestyles and performing is very evident to all who know her. She loves to share her knowledge and encourage everyone to cultivate their own creativity in partnership with their horses.

Marsha on her Mustang Cobra.

Over the years Sandra has designed many competition Freestyles for me at a variety of levels, including Grand Prix. She helped me achieve my USDF Bronze and Gold Freestyle Bars, and I am currently working on my Silver. She has also helped me with my Western dressage Freestyles, including the one that earned an 82% at the WDAA World Championship Show! I also love collaborating with Sandra for my exhibition performances with my beloved Mustang Cobra, who was chosen to be a Breyer model in 2017 (youll read about some of our exciting experiences in the pages ahead). From riding a Grand Prix Freestyle in Wellington, Florida, to winning a Western dressage World Championship with Cobra, and all the creative exhibitions in betweenno one has inspired me more than or helped to craft these moments as much as Sandra.

My fondest memories with my horses are of when we have performed together to music. With the help of this book, you, too, will be able to create memories that will last a lifetime. I am honored to have been a part of this book, and I know that Sandra has poured her heart and soul into these pages for you to enjoy. I hope the result is you are inspired to create a Freestyle of your own, and maybe I will even see you ride down the centerline someday. It would be so exciting to see more riders at shows in the Freestyle classes, entertaining audiences at events, and simply having fun schooling to music in their own backyards.

Marsha Sapp

USDF Gold Medalist,
Western Dressage World Champion,
Entertainer/Performer

Special Dedication and Acknowledgments

I would like to dedicate this book to the most instrumental people in my equestrian journey. First and foremost my parents, Peggy and Kenneth Beaulieu, for letting me follow my own path, even though it has certainly strayed far from the norm.

To my grandparents, Jane, Bruce, Louise, and George, for helping me with riding lessons as a child and for the support of my artistic ventures as an adult.

To Carolyn Rose for her passion and dedication to her students. I will forever cherish the experiences and lessons I learned in her unique riding program. And I offer her a heartfelt thank you for creating the Isaac Royal Equestrian Theater, which gave her students a stage on which to perform and learn. It still inspires me to this day.