Creating a Freestyle: Choreography

The first step I've taken in creating a first level freestyle to debut this year is putting together choreography. With my research background, I felt the need to search and browse over everything I could find on about creating the best freestyle possible. The USDF e-TRAK section is chock full of information and is accessible via the USDF by current members.

Obviously the first step in creating a freestyle is to know the basics. So go check out the score sheet for your level to find the required and forbidden movements. It's also good to have an idea of the coefficients associated with each aspect of the test so you can try to maximize your score. The scoring associated with freestyles is different from regular dressage tests, so it's a good idea to understand freestyle scoring.

Great tips for choreography from a Dressage Today article:

Add difficulty to minimum technical requirements at the level to improve your "degree of difficulty" score.

Add a little technical difficulty to each movement or combination rather than taking a few "all or nothing" risks.

Directional arena placement of movements should account for the judge's viewpoint.

Consider which movements, like half pass, are best performed going toward C and plan other movements as directional set-ups.

Short connecting lines make efficient use of arena space and your time allotment.

Difficult transitions add to your "degree of difficulty" score.

Keep the walk short and simple to preserve time for more brilliant movements in trot and canter.

Quick changes of bend add difficulty.

Combine several movements in sequence to show the greatest number of requirements in the least amount of space possible.

Frequent transitions between paces add difficulty.

In movements such as half pass, riding a longer or steeper line than required in tests at the level adds difficulty.

Create space in your design scheme to include one or more "insurance lines" (chance to do movements a second time).

Performing a technical movement in a connecting line, such as the short side of the arena, uses arena space efficiently.

Use centerlines to add technically scored movements to your design.

Practice alternate movements on the final centerline and you add an "insurance line" to your program.

Other great resources for freestyle choreography:
USDF e-TRAK article "Let the Show Begin"
USDF Connection article "Tackling Choreography"
USDF Connection article "A Primer on Freestyle Creation"
USDF Connection article "Judges on Freestyle"
USDF Connection article "So You Think You Can Dance"
USDF Freestyle Committee handout "Understanding Artistic Impression"