When I first began my background research for this article, I perceived vaulting to be a rigorous discipline reserved for elite athletes coming from many generations of horsey people. So I was surprised when I read the FAQ on the Vault Canada website claiming vaulting to be a sport suitable for even very young children who have never before laid eyes or hands on a horse. Indeed, claimed one response to a frequently asked question about the requisite level of riding skill for beginning vaulters, “You don’t need to know a darn thing about horses to begin vaulting. You don’t need to ride to vault but if you do, vaulting will greatly enhance riding skills.”

Becky Marland, co-founder and past president of the Alberta Equestrian Vaulting Association and current chair of sport on the Alberta Equestrian Federation board says, “I think the whole essence of the sport of vaulting is harmony with the horse. When you ride horseback, you have a saddle, but most of the best riders will tell you they learned to ride bareback.”

She explains, “When you have a saddle there’s that much leather between you and the horse’s musculature. With vaulting, you don’t have a saddle, so you can really feel the movements of the animal’s body beneath you . . . you learn to move with him, not against him. You learn balance. You learn to be at one with your horse, using the movements of his body and your own body to work together for a rhythmic flow that is cooperative.”

The modern sport of vaulting has its roots in the military, evolving from the time when the cavalry soldiered on horseback. Stone paintings, dating back more than 2,000 years from the pre-Romanic Ice Period, depict horses with people standing on them. And in ancient Greece, artistic riding was an integral part of classical Olympic competitions. It is said that modern vaulting was developed in postwar Germany as a way to introduce children to equestrian sports. Vaulting became one of the seven equestrian disciplines recognized by the FEI in 1983.

For the audience, the sport of vaulting is a captivating display of bravado and agility with the vaulter performing a combination of gymnastics and dance, to music, on a moving horse. This partnership between horse and performer is actually part of an athletic triad, as the horse’s gait is controlled in a circular movement by a lunger in the center handling the lunge line attached to the bridle. For the vaulter, the sport is a rigorous but fluid discipline of athletic and cooperative prowess that, by all accounts, is fun and challenging.

Hannah Marland, who has been vaulting for 13 years, beginning when she was five, says, “It’s an amazing sport with so many different aspects... personal fitness for the vaulter, understanding of teamwork and sportsmanship and communication and horsemanship.

“Even if you’ve never touched a horse before you can learn it all through vaulting.”

Worldwide, Europeans claim the most mature vaulting experience. In North America, vaulting is emerging as an increasingly recognized discipline, and, with the 2010 World Equestrian Games (WEG) coming to Lexington, KY (the first time ever WEG will occur on North American soil) vaulting will gain credible renown closer to home as it is a long featured event in WEG. Hannah joined a contingent of competitors from Alberta and BC in a series of world class competitions last summer in Kentucky. Together with Alisa Porter from BC, Hannah is working toward gaining qualifying points to compete at next fall’s WEG in Kentucky.

“In Canada, the only provinces that have vaulting competitions of value are Alberta and BC,” explains Becky.

Interest is growing in Saskatchewan and Ontario and Quebec.

“In Ontario, they do have vaulting but they are seriously hampered by their provincial sport organization that has ruled that in order to be on the horse in any discipline you have to be wearing a helmet and boots with a heel,” Becky says, “And you can’t compete in vaulting with those… it would be more dangerous than vaulting in spandex and a little gymnastics shoe.”

For families considering an equestrian interest, vaulting is one of the least expensive ways to introduce equestrian sport. In Alberta, there are five vaulting clubs offering coaching, and vaulters don’t need to own their own horse. Fees range beginning as low as $25 to $35 per lesson, which typically covers a two-hour engagement in horsemanship and one-on-one coaching with the horse and on stationary barrels.

For the local vaulting community, the challenge in developing interest in the sport is hampered by too few clubs, too few trained vaulting horses and too little funding to support significant growth in the movement. Still, increasing visibility — including regional competitions at least twice annually in Alberta and BC — is raising the profile of the sport.

For more information, visit www.vaultcanada.org,where there are links to provincial clubs in your area.