*Sports TheReview Wednesday, August 29, 1990 B7 Musical dressage made to look completely efforiless by Mare Davis The Review A seasoned veteran of horse riding competitions, Central Saa- nich resident Jill Yonge said she is excited about competing in Can- ada’s first-ever musical dressage. The Pageant of Musical Free Style event should attract about 30-40 entrants at the Withy Win- dies Stable in North Saanich on Sept. 16, organizer Bev Marley said. As a member of the Victoria/ Saanich CADERO Dressage Club, Yonge welcomes the opportunity to help promote the sport, along with competitors from all over B.C, she said. But most of all, she will enjoy the quiet personal thnill of feeling “total harmony between the horse and the rider.” Musical dressage involves a rider guiding his or her horse _ through a choreographed routine to the beat of music, she said. She said a rider uses subtle signals such as pressure applied with the legs and gentle tugs on the reigns to give the horse its cues during the dressage routine. GRACEFULLY LEADING HER horse through a physi- cally and mentally demanding routine of choreographed steps, dressage competitor Jill Yonge makes the per- formance an artistic dis- play. Money raised with crossing Several Peninsula kayakers were among about 150 people taking part in the first annual Save Geor- gia Straight Marathon, Saturday. Canoeists, kayakers and swim- mers braved pouring rain and choppy seas in the 16-mile cross-. ing of the Georgia Straight, from, Nanaimo to Sechelt, participant Gord Hutchings said. He and fellow Sidney resident Cynthia George took four hours and 20 minutes to make the cross- ing, along with a flotilla of about 80 canoes and kayaks, he said. Jeff Mundy, also from Sidney, also paddled to the Lower Main- land, where a welcoming patty was organized for all the partici- pants. Despite bad weather that forced some boats to turn back, the event ; Was a Success and attracted a good deal of interest, Hutchings said. “Tt’s physically hard work but to do it well you have to make it look graceful and effortless,” she said. Musical dressage has only been in existence as a sport for about 15 years, Yonge said. © Its forerunner, dressage, origi- nated in Europe about 400 years ago and has been developed as a means of training horses for pleas- ure and for warfare, she said. She said musical dressage is gaining widespread popularity, especially since it only differs from dressage in that it is per- formed to genres of music, like Latin music and polka. “When you are riding to music you tend to ride to the tempo of the music. That*s what you focus on,”’she said. “It’s very creative and artistic and its relaxing to ride to music. Musical dressage is the ballet dancing of the show world.” Yonge added that one of two judges who will be officiating at the Sept. 16 competition is a figure skating judge who will be awarding points for artistic impres- sion. Yonge, who won a gold medal in musical dressage at the B.C. Sum- mer Games in 1981, said a great deal of effort goes into training horses for dressage. She said she is presently train- ing a five-year-old mare called Moonstone, which used to race at Sandown Harness Raceway, going by the name of Racing The Gold. Having only recently acquired Moonstone, she said it could take up to five more years of training before the horse is ready for top levels of competition. At the North Saanich pageant later this month, Yonge said she plans to perform a routine with Moonstone to the music of the Pizzacato Polka. “It’s light airy music that suits a small thoroughbred. For a much bigger horse, you’d probably use some heavy Germanic music,”’ she Said. “Dressage can be very beautiful to watch and it’s very rewarding when it looks easy.” However, as well as being physi- cally draining, it also demands great concentration from both the horse and the rider, as well as a strong sense of teamwork, Yonge said. “It?s two personalities suiting each other. In fact, the aim is to make the rider an elongation of the — horse’s body,” she said. Marley agreed that musical dressage is a very aesthetic sport, which makes it equally appealing to spectators who are accustomed to the sport and to those who are not. She said there will be free admission to anyone interested in attending the show, at 10375- Wilson Rd. Final details of the event have yet to be determined but it is expected to start at about 9 a.m. and run through the day, she said. “Being the first event of its kind in Canada, it’s created a lot of interest,” she said. “It’s also worth noting that the Victoria Riding for the Disabled Society wiil also take part in between competitors.” For more information, call Mar- ley at 477-7450. ral BACK TO SCHOOL Celests..es Running Shoe Sale! ADIDAS PUMA NIKE K-SWISS BROOKS POWER BRENTWOOD BAY VILLAGE SQUARE 7120 West Saanich Rd. ANTONIO- MARCO LIVE- WIRES WILDCATS JORDACHE 652-6640 HOUSE OF RUSSEL Our Reputation is on Your Head HAIRSTYLISTS LTD. UNISEX ¢ 656-1522 se ® Precision Cutting IN SIDNEY CENTRE #102-2367 Bevan Ave., Sidney, B.C. (Next to Safeway) es ACTION SHARPENING tia” SERVICE 6677B Mirah Rd., RR. 3, Victoria, B.C. V8X 3X4 652-5232 Industrial Saws, Carbide, Scissors & Knives JUST OFF KEATING XRD your home ‘water acd ‘this test? 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