The process was very straight forward. I started with picking my music from a library on www.musikur.com, sending in a video of a First 3 test, and filling out a questionnaire about what my pony is good at (naps and snacks). It's kind of embarrassing that I had nothing for the question 'what do you want to end your test with to wow the judges'. Uhhhhhh, do they have any garbage cans they need moved with great gusto or maybe some lunches stolen? He's good at that . . .
He very purposefully knocked the jump over and then stared at me to see what I was going to do about it. Jerk.
We discussed when I needed my routine. I'm planning on a June debut, so lots of time. I suspect there are a lot of 'I show in a month!' type of requests, so it was nice to have a huge span of time. Beth said she'd probably get it done in February (we started in Jan) since it was a small project for her and she'd squeeze it in between the bigger projects. Cool! Then I waited, but not anxiously since the big ring won't be available until late March at the earliest.
I received a copy of my music, adjusted to Theo's tempos, and a pencil sketch of my choreography for my sign off about a month later. I rode through the bits that looked like they might be tricky and they all rode just fine (canter lengthen at P, working at M, turn onto centerline, head back to R and change leads through the trot, 15m circle at R, lengthen to F, back to working). My leg yield will be getting some extra work in preparation of this routine since I've got a change of direction and one leg yield that goes all the way across the ring. Not at all a concern, but if I'm going to go for it, I better make sure that leg yield looks amazing.
I can't do a ride of the full choreography until the spring thaw, but if he can do that canter combination with the total chill he showed, I have no worries. I emailed back that the choreography looked good and she locked everything down. She emailed my final choreography, a copy of my music with verbal cues for when to start movements, and a copy of my music with some final adjustments based on the chosen choreography. I received two copies of my music burned to CDs in the mail along with my final choreography.
I'm not going to post my full choreography or final music for obvious reasons, but the plan I got is a series of movements drawn on rings and very easy to follow. I got 21 movements with notes on how long the moves should take and time markers for interesting parts of the music. Beth did a great job of cooking up a routine based on what Theo is good at and minimizing where he's weak.
I'm planning to debut my routine at NEDA Spring in June. I'll be calling in some favors to use a large ring with a sound system in May for practice and hopefully get a run through at the end of a schooling show so I can ride in front of a judge. I don't even need scores, I just want to have my music start and need to enter while someone watches.
I love my music. I'm so happy with it.
I'm delighted with my experience with MusiKur. It was super simple from my perspective and Beth was very transparent with what was happening and checked in with me on every step. I would have stressed out doing this for myself, so it was worth the money to have a professional take care of everything. Come spring, I'll start running through my choreography and learning the exact timing. I'm sure there will be some tweaks, but overall it should be a flattering test for the feral yak.
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