Standing on your hands... on a horse

Equestrian vaulting is the art of performing gymnastic maneuvers on horseback. It is one of the ten equestrian sports that the International Federation for Equestrian Sports recognizes and sanctions. According to Vault Canada, vaulters are expected to develop "the agility and athleticism of gymnasts, the grace and expression of dancers and the balance and feel of equestrians."

Vaulting can be performed individually, in pairs, or in teams. The vaulting horse moves in a 15-metre diameter circle and is controlled by a person standing in the centre of the circle, called a lunger or longeur. Vaulting competitions consist of compulsory exercises and choreographed freestyle exercises done to music. There are six compulsory exercises: basic seat, flag, mill, scissors, stand, and flank, in addition to the mount and dismount. Each exercise is scored on a scale from 0 to 10. In freestyle classes, vaulters may include mounts and dismounts, handstands, kneeling and standing, and aerial moves such flips. Teams will also carry, lift, and even toss another vaulter in the air. Judging is based on technique, performance, form, difficulty, balance, security, and consideration of the horse.

The basic seat consists of sitting astride the horse with arms held out at shoulder level to the side of the body. During the flag, the rider kneels on the horse's back with one leg, while the other is extended behind the body, and the opposite arm is extended forward towards the horse's ears. The mill is a common exercise used with young children to teach them balance; called "Around The World" in some places, the rider brings one leg over the neck of the horse to sit sideways, and moves the other leg over the rump of the horse to sit backwards. The rider then continues the movement, sitting sideways on the other side of the horse, and completes the turn by swinging the last leg over the neck to sit astride in basic seat again. Scissors involves a rider swinging into a handstand and twisting to land facing backwards on the horse, then reversing the motion to sit astride facing forwards once more. To perform the stand, the rider simply stands on the horse's back with arms outstretched to the side, and for the flank, the rider creates momentum with the body to swing onto his or her stomach on the horse and land sideways on the horse, then reverses the motion to sit facing forwards.

Vaulting horses do not wear a saddle; rather they wear a surcingle (or a roller) and a thick back pad. The surcingle, which encircles the horse like a belt, has special handles which aid the vaulter in performing certain moves, as well as leather loops called cossack stirrups for the vaulters to insert their feet. The horse wears a bridle and side reins, which keep its head steady at a certain level. The

lunge line connects the horse's head to the lunger's hands.

Vaulting horses are highly trained. They typically circle to the left (counterclockwise), but in certain kinds of competitions, such as two-phase classes, the horse will canter in the other direction. Many American vaulting clubs work to the right, believing that this benefits the horse and the vaulter, while most European clubs circle the horse to the left. Horses also receive a score during a vaulting competition, and are judged on the quality of their movement. Often, "heavy" breeds such as Belgians, Clydesdales, or Percherons are used due to their inherent patience, steadiness, and rhythmic slowgaits. There are a number of horses that do not have the balance, consistency, or stamina to sustain work at the canter even if they have the right temperament, but often these horses are perfectly suitable for work at the walk and trot. The horse's comfort is of paramount importance, and judges will deduct points for movements that are rough on the horse, such as a hard landing from an exercise.

The history of vaulting is disputed; some claim the sport originated in Roman games, whereas others see the foundation in the bull dancers of ancient Greece. In either case, people have been performing acrobatic movements on the backs of moving horses for more than 2,000 years. The first known depiction of vaulting was from a stone painting, dated at around 1500 B.C., of Scandinavian riders standing on horses. Knights and noblemen practiced vaulting to improve their riding and agility during the Renaissance, from which the sport acquires its name (the French verb "voltiger" means "to go flying"). Modern vaulting was developed in post-war Germany as part of a set of exercises for improving general riding, and cavalry officers introduced the art at the 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp as "Artistic Riding," although the event was not continued in theOlympic Games. Vaulting is still much more popular in Europe, where it is still included in dressage training, than it is in other parts of the world.

Almost every young child who takes riding lessons has been exposed to vaulting in some way. Sitting backwards on a horse, moving from one position to another, and kneeling on a standard saddle are oft-employed ways of making a child understand the movement of a horse, adding variety into a lesson which, on account of the lack of developed skill, may only consist of walking, and to increase the child's confidence in his or her own riding skills.

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