Tom Hunt, 31, on learning to distinguish piaffe from passage and how his nerves kicked in at London 2012.
THE first time I ever saw a freestyle dressage test was on TV shortly after I had left music college. I was intrigued that the music being played didn’t quite fit the footfall of the horse. Around the transitions particularly it sounded disjointed. My next thought was that I could probably do better, so I bought a DVD of a grand prix show and wrote down everything the commentators were saying. I quickly learnt to distinguish piaffe from passage and half-pass from extension.
My first original grand prix freestyle composition was called Vanquish, created for Michael Eilberg. I have since composed music for Emile Faurie, Gareth Hughes, Richard Davison, Carl Hester and Charlotte Dujardin, and many top riders from other nations. Charlotte got in touch following a recommendation from Rebecca Hughes.
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