As you might know, I have been designing musical freestyles and teaching amateurs and professionals to ride to music for over a decade. The most frequent comments I hear are that you want have fun, and you want the right music for your horse.

 

You’ve also told me that:

 

♪    You want help recognizing the rhythm of your horse’s gaits.

 

♪    You can’t maintain a rhythm.

 

      ♪    You and your horse are nervous and need help relaxing.

 

♪     You’re tired of getting “4”s for loss of rhythm on your dressage tests.

 

♪     You’re frustrated because there’s no harmony during your ride.

 

♪     You don’t know what the right tempo is for your horse.

 

♪     You don’t know the difference between rhythm and tempo.

 

♪     You don’t know what type of music to choose.

 

♪     You can’t hear the difference between walk, trot, and canter music.

 

♪     You can’t identify the tempo (or BPM) of music.

 

♪     You don’t know how to edit music.

 

♪     You’re tired of spending so much money on music CDs that only have one good song for riding.

 

I have the solution for you and your horse.   I’ve created a great set of music CDs called RIDING WITH SOUL™.

 

These CDs are called RIDING WITH SOUL™ because they’ll do just that.  They’ll help you ride with your body and soul.

 

Our bodies have an innate ability to follow rhythm.  And when we ride, the most important thing we need is RHYTHM!

 

RIDING WITH SOUL™ CDs are made to help you identify the perfect TEMPO!

 

RIDING WITH SOUL™ CDs are created to help define your sense of RHYTHM!

 

RIDING WITH SOUL™ CDs help you RELAX AND HAVE FUN!

 

This letter is fairly long, so if you’ve already listened to the sample of RIDING WITH SOUL™ and you know you want to order them, click here NOW!

 

                                                           

 

Over the years I’ve studied and researched the effect of music on a rider… and here’s what I’ve learned.

 

 

THE PROOF IS IN THE MUSIC…

♪    Studies show that music affects our physiology. Slow music slows the heartbeat and the breathing rate as well as brings down blood pressure. Fast music speeds up these same functions.

♪    Listening to your favorite music is good for your cardiovascular system.

♪    Researchers have shown that joyful music has a healthy effect on blood vessel function.

♪    Riding to music increases your endurance and stamina. Studies show that exercising to music improves endurance by 15%.

♪    Riding to music increases our sense of well-being (those cool endorphins!!).

♪    Many hospitals use music to treat patients with stress-related illnesses to stimulate the brain and relax the body.

♪    Music affects both sides of your brain. So, whether you’re a left-brain logical thinker or a right-brain artistic thinker, music helps you ride better.

♪    Music puts you in a more positive state of mind, and helps to keep depression and anxiety at bay.

♪    Even animals react differently to various types of music. Given a choice rats will choose calm classical music over hard rock every time.

♪    Music can also influence brainwaves.  Faster beats make you more alert and slower beats help you relax.

♪    Music brings lasting benefits to your state of mind, even after you’ve stopped listening.

♪    Music filters out background noises so that you and your horse can concentrate better.

♪    Music acts as an INTERNAL metronome to help you maintain a regular rhythm.

The bottom line is… it’s fun to ride to music!  Rhythm and relaxation are essential for EVERYONE including dressage riders, trail riders, hunter riders, and western pleasure riders.

I know how much music helps my riding and my horses. And because I want to share these benefits, I created Riding With Soul™.

 

To hear an excerpt from the Jazz & Big Band CD, click play.

 

Riding With Soul™ CDs contain multiple selections of walk, trot, and canter music for your horse. With five different genres, you can find a style of music to fit you and your horse!  Whether you have a hot and nervous horse, or a lazy and uninterested horse, there is a CD for you.

 

There are 7 CDs that you can choose from depending on what type of music you like or what type of horse you have.  Each CD is 20-30 minutes long with a selection of walk, trot, and canter music.    Throughout the CDs I personally guide you with instruction to help you find the DOWN-BEAT and TEMPO of each song, and help MAINTAIN YOUR RHYTHM.

 

You’ll also learn about musical phrasing, footfall patterns, use of music for transitions and much more!

 

Do you have a horse that needs a boost of energy?
 Listen to this CLIP, best suited to help motivate the horse and rider.

 

                                                           

 

 

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

I know you might have questions about the series, so I’ve done my best to answer them.

 

Q: How much does Riding With Soul™ cost?

 

A: In just a few days, I'll be running a one week special introductory rate of $35 each. After that first week, the regular price is $47.50 for each CD.  

 

Q: Why not just ride to the radio?

 

A: Any music is great to listen to when you ride, but to actually enhance your ride, you need a few key ingredients:

- The correct tempo or beats per minute for EACH gait.

- The correct genre of music to help you relax, or add energy to your ride.

- My instruction throughout the program serves as a guide to make sure you understand the music and that you’re able to hear the actual downbeats of the music.

- Not all music maintains the same tempo or keeps a particular rhythm.  Riding With Soul™ CDs are made with songs that fulfill these requirements.  They have correct walk, trot, or canter BPM, and maintain a steady rhythm.

-           

Q: I am just about the LEAST coordinated person dancing on my own two feet – how can I expect to “dance” with my horse? Can I really learn rhythm?

 

A:  If you ride, then you have the desire to feel rhythm and become one with your horse. 

 

If you can count to 4 and you have a heart beat (your heart beats in a systematic pattern), you can learn rhythm.   It’s our nature for our bodies to respond to rhythm.

 

Try this: Find a song that you consider rhythmical. Now clap your hands to every beat. I'm sure you have no problem doing it. That means you have rhythm. Now try clapping stronger to a stronger beat. Now try clapping only to the strongest beat. See, you have rhythm.

 The trick with dancing is to teach your feet and your whole body to move with it. After learning to count with the music in the Riding With Soul™ CDs, you’ll even become a better dancer!

 

Q: Is the choice of music really important?

 

A: Watch as these two horse/rider combinations demonstrate the importance of riding to the “right” music. You can see right away that great music for one horse is NOT necessarily good music for another!!  The music should enhance your horse’s movements!

 

 

 

Q: I can’t even find or maintain a steady tempo in my lessons with my instructor! How could a CD help me?

 

A: Your instructor can help with so much, but rhythm can be so elusive. Maybe you can find it when your teacher counts the beats, but immediately lose it once she stops.

 

Each 20 to 30 minute program gives you constant help in following the rhythm. Even without consciously thinking about it, your body will tend to match and maintain the tempo of the music.

 

Q: What happens when I don’t use the music? Will it just be a crutch that I need to ride with every day?

 

A: Both people and animals develop muscle memory. When a person or animal repeatedly trains a movement, it creates a new habit. Remember music with a strong beat can stimulate brainwaves to shift speeds more easily on its own as needed.  That means that music can bring lasting benefits to your state of mind, even after you’ve stopped listening!

 

Through correct practice, we develop new habits. When the music is taken away, the muscle memory sticks!

 

                                                           

 

Even when those new habits are formed, Riding With Soul™ can always be used for those days where your horse comes out a little jumpy, (put on some relaxing Classical) or your horse comes out lazy or a bit uninterested, (put on some upbeat Jazz)!

 

Q: My horse’s rhythm is fine! I don’t need this!

 

A:  If you don’t need music to help you find rhythm, then just spice up your ride for a bit more fun.  Put on YOUR favorite RIDING WITH SOUL™ CD to keep you in a positive frame of mind.

 

Q: I have a very spooky Thoroughbred / Arab cross. He’s afraid of EVERYTHING! How would riding to music help him?

 

A: Riding With Soul™ helps in two distinct ways:

 

1.    It addresses rider tension. Your nervous horse sends tension to your body, which is channeled back to him. When focusing on music, your body naturally relaxes.  You break the cycle of nervous energy and help your horse relax.

TESTIMONIALS     “I know riding is a sport. But when I ride to RIDING WITH SOUL™ CDs, I feel like I’m creating “living art”.”                                            - Jane S.  -Florida     “I started riding my first freestyle in competition last year, and had so much fun; I got inspired to start using music to ride to everyday. We play around with music at the barn – I’ve got everyone riding in the barn to music! We love it, we love that it helps with the rhythm. It sets a metronome for us. Everyone just loves it – we get silly – just a bunch of adult amateur women! We’re just having fun, and that what it’s all about!”   -Nancy M.-New Hampshire                                                               “It [music] was an eye-opener in helping the development of the tempo. Having ridden with the music changing speed I really developed a better ear for a steadier rhythm and a steadier tempo. As we rode to Ruth’s music, my horse and I were much more in harmony!”   -Susan A. – New Hampshire   “I always listen to music, so it only makes sense that I also ride to music. But I thought using music in riding was only something that Grand Prix dressage riders could do. It helped me SO much! I stopped thinking and worrying and concentrating TOO hard! Then, all of a sudden, I noticed my horse was loose and relaxed, and I wasn’t nagging him AT ALL! Riding With Soul™ was great! It’s now a permanent fixture in the barn CD player!”                                                      -Skylar M.-Colorado     “My poor instructor at school was ALWAYS having to count the beats of the gaits for me.  We could never get past that! I felt like every time she’d teach me, it’d be the same story. I started using Riding With Soul™, and the next lesson was incredible! She didn’t have to get after me once!!”   -Callie M.-California   All my life I have dreamed about riding and once I began riding (at 40years of age!!) I fell in love with the concept of riding to music, but have never been brave enough to ask anyone to help me with it as I don’t believe I ride well enough!! Your music gave me a longed for opportunity and your quiet calm voice saying “down down” during the canter helped me so much as I have been struggling with the canter on this horse who is quite new to me. I really cannot express my heartfelt thanks enough. I would love more music when it becomes available and I hope by the end of the year to feel confident enough to attempt a freestyle test to music – that would be heaven!!                                                             -Rekha- Austriala

 

 

 

 

                                                           

At this point you might be wondering what the CDs are EXACTLY!!!  At the moment, there are 7 different CDs of different genres and moods.  You can get them individually, or you can add the whole batch to you library!

 

At the moment (more to come later) you can choose from:

 

1.      Upbeat Symphony
2.      Contemporary Orchestral
3.      Jazz & Big Band
4.      Classical
5.      Latin
6.      Holiday Traditional Music
7.      Holiday Non Traditional Music

 

Video  from RIDING WITH SOUL™ clinic

 

 

 

                                                           

 

Have fun and ride to music everyday!!!

 

Ruth