Everyone who attended learned a lot and had a blast! Everyone learned several ways to approach and to get over various obstacles, gained new perspectives on how to interact with any given envorinment, and safety techniques. Thank you all. I also want to send out a special thanks to fellow friends and trainers Chris Hartwell and Sarah Mount who assisted/participated in making this workshop great. I love my job and all the amazing people I get to work with!
I have become lucky enough to be inducted as the newest member to the Lone Star Vaulters!! With this great opportunity comes lots of work and several new goals have been set. The biggest ones are that in 2009 I plan on... 1 Being able to hold a handstand on a moving horse. 2 Backflip off a horse. 3 To perform in demonstrations and to compete in Equestrian Vaulting events with the LoneStar Vaulting Team.
Equestrian vaulting is most often described as gymnastics and dance on horseback, and like these disciplines, it is an art and not a highly competitive sport. It is one of ten competitive equestrian events recognized by the International Federation of Equestrian Sport.Therapeutic or Interactive Vaulting is also used as form of treatment for children and adults who may have balance, attention, gross motor skill, or social deficits. Some trace the origins of vaulting to Roman games, including acrobatic displays on cantering horses. Others see roots in the bull dancers of ancient Crete. In either case, people have been performing acrobatic and dance-like movements on the backs of moving horses for more than 2,000 years. The first known depiction of vaulting was from stone painting, dated at around 1500 BC, of Scandinavian riders standing on horses. Vaulting was later used to help cavalry troops increase their abilities on the horse, and the troops would begin by working on a wooden horse before advancing to a live, moving mount. Modern vaulting was developed in post-war Germany as part of set of exercises for improving general riding. Cavalry officers introduced the sport at the 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp as "Artistic Riding," although the sport was not continued in the Games.
(clip from my first attempt at horse vaulting- From July 30th)
(clip from my second training session with the goal of mounting moving horse- From Oct 5th)
