Visual Dressage, a website for helping dressage riders develop their own freestyles, was launched in January. Layla Porter and Jim McGowan, both of Buckinghamshire, England, started work on the site in 2009.

“The response we’ve received so far has been fabulous, particularly among those who have properly sat down and become absorbed in creating their own dressage tests,” said McGowan, 34. “We have not committed to any marketing beyond publicizing the system on social networks, so its existence is not common knowledge amongst the freestyle riding community.”

The online format, accessible to both Windows and Mac users, allows riders to build their freestyle tests without wasting time on multiple paper revisions. The site is currently free, and the creators are welcoming feedback from users.

“We are undecided as when to begin charging [for use of the site]. For now we are happy to let it run and let people play,” said Porter, 29. ”One of the things we are trying to negotiate at the moment is the permission or licensing agreement to have official tests from the various international dressage federations with their diagrams available on the site. Ideally, we would like to have some of these agreements in place before the hard launch, as it would give considerably more value to our subscribers.”

Microsoft Silverlight, a free web browser plug-in, is required to use most functions of the site.