Conference noted::equitation

    The place I take dressage lessons at (Mayers Riding Academy) has a
    vaulting team. They travel to meets all over the place most of the
    summer. This team is for kids from 10 to 18, I don't know if she does
    anything with adults. I am in Pittsburgh Pa but I could get info. if
    you want.
    Sandy
    

The only person I know of who teaches vaulting is Helen Yetman-Bellows from
Pepperell, MA. She and some of her "assistants", including a vaulting barrel, 
came out to a local 4-H club forum and gave some demonstrations and had some
audience participation. The kids (and the adults) *loved* it!

There was one little girl, very small, very cute and *very* shy who you
could tell was dying to try it but was also petrified.... I picked her up
and "voluntereed" her as an assistant and she had a ball! Helen showed people
how they do singles and pairs and how to mount, dismount (as in vaulting) and do
some simple moves including somersaults and such... I think at the time she
had was trying to start up a school and maybe even had a couple of vaulting
horses....

Helen discussed how vaulting improves not only your balance, but
also your perception when riding (along the same idea as teaching yourself to
utilize your "right brain" abilities vs. your logical "left brain" processes.)

I know nothing about Helen as a teacher but she did a nice job at that
gathering...

Linda

    
    
    	Hi Kiirja-
    
    	I was into vaulting quite a bit when I was younger.
    	It's very hard to do at the begining (who in thier right
    	mind would want to jump off a perfectly good horse:-)) 
    	but really is a wonderful thing to learn.  The instructor
    	I had at the time does not give leasons anymore and is also
    	gone, I have NO idea where she is.  Sorry...  If I ever hear
    	anything about though I will let you know!  I'm also I 4-H
    	leader so I will ask at the next meeting if anyone knows of
    	an instructor that teaches it.
    
    	Zina

    Thanks everyone!
    I met someone who teaches vaulting a few weeks ago, and she 
    invited me to come take lessons. What I was looking for was 
    people's experiences with vaulting and whether they thought 
    it was a fun/worthwhile experience.

    Sounds like it is!

    
    No problem - we do valuting at the barn where I board - I have a
    nice 4 year old who would .... well I lied.  When the kids are vaulting
    he gives them the hairy eyeball.  It seem like fun but I think I'm
    too decrepit to hop on to anything larger than 11 hh and that'll
    collapse in the middle anyway.
    
    Good Luck
    
    Linda

    O.K., I have to ask this dumb question....WHATS VAULTING?
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    L-

  Hi Lynne,

  Vaulting is basically gymnastics on horseback. The horse wears a Surcingle
  with two handles on it and goes in a circle on a longe line. The vaulter
  mounts the moving horse much the same as a gymnast mounts a balance beam. 
  And the routines and movements are much the same as balance beam movements,
  except you are doing them on a cantering horse. There are routines for
  multiple people, you've probably seen pictures of these in advertisements
  for Fjord horses. Fjords, Percherons and other horses with broad backs
  are preferred for this.
  
  Maybe someone else can explain more about specific movements, etc.

  Kiirja

    Kiirja,
    
    I have done some vaulting, and its lots of fun, though I have to admit
    I was not very good at it!  I'll probably see you this weekend, so  we
    can talk about it then.  You need an incredibly calm horse!
    
    Joan

My 14-year-old daughter entered the French national championships last week
for "Voltige" which took place in Pompadour in the area of Limousin in France.
This is her first year at doing this and although came 13th out of 17
regions in France, her team did very well.

I'm looking for the English name for "Voltige".  The nearest translation I
can get is "Horse Acrobatics", which doesn't ring true.  In France, Voltige
is an artistic sport similar to a circus act where the horse runs in circles
and the rider or riders execute acrobatic figures on it to music.

I'm also interested to find out how popular this sport is in other parts of
the world.  Germany, I understand are the acclaimed champions as they have
been doing it for 30 years and some other countries in Europe are doing it.
It has had some following in France for about 7 years, but not been really
popular until recently.

Regards,  Geoff.

    I think the English word you are looking for is 'vaulting'.
    
    Deb 

Thanks for the quick answer.  I assume you relocated my note, or did NOTES
magically find Vaulting and insert it as a reply?  That's artificial
intelligence for you!

If anyone's interested in the French championship results I can post them here.

In the meantime anyone know what the ideal team setup for vaulting is?  My
daughter's team consists of:

	a nice large-size and gentle horse
	a manager/trainer
	a "Longeur" (the one with the whip who holds the strap to direct
	the horse)
	three voltigeurs and one voltigeuse

Actually, the horse is lovable and the star of the team, but all the vaulters
are good too.  I think they need a separate trainer as the manager has far 
too much to do.

Regards,  Geoff.