Indian Trail Farm
(609)870-1588
Thursdays 5:30 - 7:00pm
Saturdays 8:00 - 10:00am
The classes are $50 per session. Monthly discounts available.
Vaulting is often described as the art of dance and gymnastics on the back of a moving horse. It is one of the seven disciplines recognized by the US Equestrian Federation and included in the World Equestrian Games. It is one of the best ways for a person to achieve harmony with a horse. Vaulting can improve ones overall balance, coordination, confidence, and strength, which can also translate into enhanced riding skills. Most importantly, vaulting is a fun and
unique way to express your creativity! Not many people have the opportunity to stand on a living, breathing horse, let alone stand and perform tricks on a MOVING horse! Vaulting is a sport that can be extremely beneficial as a recreational activity or a supplement to riding lessons, but it can also be a competitive discipline for those who choose to travel to local, regional, or national competitions. Vaulters learn a set of seven compulsory exercises and create an individual freestyle routine that is choreographed to music. The compulsories and the freestyle are the basis of vaulting, but there are a number of other classes and exercises, including Team classes, where up to three people can be on the horse at once performing high-flying moves.
Vaulting lessons are typically in 2-hour group sessions in order to maximize all participants vaulting experience and encourage a team atmosphere. The schedule of a typical lesson usually goes as follows:
Warm-up and stretching- Just like in most sports, the first 10-15 minutes are always dedicated to making sure the vaulters are properly warmed up, so as to prevent injury. This usually consists of just a short jog/jumping jacks, or similar light cardio workout to get the heart pumping, followed by simple stretching exercises.
Safety- For beginner vaulters, the next 15-20 minutes of the lesson are on safety. Vaulting is actually one of the safest equestrian disciplines because of this early training. Safety is the most important lesson any vaulter learns and, among other things, it includes learning how to roll/tumble in case of a fall. This should be done before any new vaulter progresses to the horse or barrel.
Barrel Work- Once the vaulters are warmed-up and trained on safety, they progress to learning compulsories and other exercises on the barrel, which is a stationary, horse-like apparatus used for practice. Here the vaulters have a chance to practice moves before trying them on the horse, and they learn to be soft and gentle at this stage, so that they do not cause any harm to the horse later on.
Vaulting on the horse- The latter portion of the lesson is where the vaulters get to actually try the moves that they learned on the barrel on a moving horse. Since safety is always the main focus, vaulters try their moves while the horse is standing still or walking before progressing to trotting or cantering. This is the most fun part of the lesson for the vaulters, but the early part of the lesson is equally as important to ensuring that the vaulters can safely achieve harmony with the horse.
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