Vaulting video got me thinking.

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ajn1610

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A friend shared this video on Facebook and it got me thinking. Now I am not in anyway slagging off vaulting, I know next to nothing about it but I really enjoyed watching the video and I am in admiration of the athleticism, strength, grace and bravery of anyone who does it. However as I watched it a few things crossed my mind.

The great weight issue - while these are clearly fit and svelte individuals there are at some points three adults on the horse at one time, with sometimes all the weight bearing down through just the feet.
The horse is working on a fairly small circle in canter in side reins.
Total absence of safety gear, I get that a hat would unbalance them and not be practical but how does this fit in with escalating safety standards in other equine sports?

I understand that the movements are rehearsed off the horse but presumably a fair amount of practice must also take place on it. So all of these issues must occur fairly frequently over a period of time. I was wondering what others thought about this and if there is anything special that the vaulting community do to keep their horses sound, as they are under quite significant amount of physical stress during their work, and if there is anything the wider equine community could take from them. Also how have they avoided the safety concerns that have increasingly regulated other sports?

Just to reiterate - definitely not having a go or looking for a fight, only expressing an academic interest!
 
I did competitive vaulting in my youth (though not quite to the standard shown in the video!). Things have actually changed quite a lot in the 18 years since I quit. In my time, all vaulting was done on the left rein. That meant horses did much more work on one rein than the other. These days, the compulsory parts of the tests (not included in the clip) are done on the right lead, the freestyle part (as in the clip) on the left. IMO, that's done a lot to even out the strain put on the horses. They have also split competitions. We used to do compulsory elements followed straight by the freestyle, which meant about 15min straight canter on the left lead. These days I believe those parts are split, meaning only about 5-8min per session, on opposite leads.
In my time, group vaulting (with up to three people on the horse at a time) was also reserved for the under-18s (above 18yo you had to do individual vaulting, or pairs). This has changed. In all fairness, I am not sure if the removal of the age limit has meant that much of a difference in terms of total weight, as you tend to get one or two "heavy"/strong people holding up a very light person, and that has not changed.
At least in my day, the horses did a lot of alternative exercise ( dressage up to elementary, hacking). The first is needed to produce a horse that can carry itself (plus vaulters) in a regular, balanced canter for 5min+ without fail, the second to keep the horse sane and exercise on straight lines.
The side reins are necessary to keep the horse in an even outline during the performance (imagine the horse having a good forward-down stretch with people on the neck...), but they are the first things to come off once the horse leaves the ring.
I do agree, vaulting is hard work for the horse. But I don't think it is necessarily worse than any other competitive discipline in the way it stresses the horse's body.

Another thing that has changed since my time is that (at least on the competitive level), the sport is now much more advanced/focussed on the gymnastic/acrobatic aspects, and off-horse training is much more emphasized. I did it for the love of horses, but I think at top levels these days, you must have a real competitive streak for gymnastics and acrobatics to enjoy the sport and do well. I quit in part because I was never flexible enough to do truly well (being able to do splits is pretty much standard), and because more and more focus in the training was removed from the horse-aspect of it all.

On the safety-side of things, I would say that vaulting horses are some of the most predictable horses around. They are used to all sorts. You learn how to fall/jump off from an early age, and do so always on a surface. It is of course not a risk-free sport, but IMO the greater risks these days are unrelated to the horse (e.g. landing wrong and falling on your head when doing a back-flip off the horse). I would put this more in line with the risks that gymnasts and acrobats take - and they don't wear helmets either.
 
Hats are not a legal requirement save in specific situations (eg on the roads); and many other situations where you must wear hats or other safety equipment is often regulated not nationally, but at an individual level by the organisation running/sponsoring the event.

Therefore one would assume that unless the call was made from within the vaulting community for increased protection the organisation(s) that run such events, then there would be no major increase in required protective gear. It also likely avoids backlash from the public because its a very niche thing and likely most involved are much more aware of the risks and dedicated - ergo when accidents happen there's less outcry and sue-happy culture attached to it (which thus avoids social pressure).
 
My children tried vaulting but we were put off by the monotony for the horse, the idea of so many being on its back at once, and the ridiculously revealing outfits that young children were wearing. Also the side reins, although I appreciate they are necessary, but the horses looked restricted to me. To us, it was not a horse sport at all-the horse is just a prop.
 
Agree SpringArising. I found the side reins and the monotony of it all quite disturbing, my children felt the horse was just some kind of living trampoline.....just our opinion and no actual abuse .....they enjoyed it at the start when they were the only one on board and it was a little like stunt riding.
 
supsup said:
I did competitive vaulting in my youth (though not quite to the standard shown in the video!). Things have actually changed quite a lot in the 18 years since I quit. In my time, all vaulting was done on the left rein. That meant horses did much more work on one rein than the other. These days, the compulsory parts of the tests (not included in the clip) are done on the right lead, the freestyle part (as in the clip) on the left. IMO, that's done a lot to even out the strain put on the horses. They have also split competitions. We used to do compulsory elements followed straight by the freestyle, which meant about 15min straight canter on the left lead. These days I believe those parts are split, meaning only about 5-8min per session, on opposite leads.
In my time, group vaulting (with up to three people on the horse at a time) was also reserved for the under-18s (above 18yo you had to do individual vaulting, or pairs). This has changed. In all fairness, I am not sure if the removal of the age limit has meant that much of a difference in terms of total weight, as you tend to get one or two "heavy"/strong people holding up a very light person, and that has not changed.
At least in my day, the horses did a lot of alternative exercise ( dressage up to elementary, hacking). The first is needed to produce a horse that can carry itself (plus vaulters) in a regular, balanced canter for 5min+ without fail, the second to keep the horse sane and exercise on straight lines.
The side reins are necessary to keep the horse in an even outline during the performance (imagine the horse having a good forward-down stretch with people on the neck...), but they are the first things to come off once the horse leaves the ring.
I do agree, vaulting is hard work for the horse. But I don't think it is necessarily worse than any other competitive discipline in the way it stresses the horse's body.

Another thing that has changed since my time is that (at least on the competitive level), the sport is now much more advanced/focussed on the gymnastic/acrobatic aspects, and off-horse training is much more emphasized. I did it for the love of horses, but I think at top levels these days, you must have a real competitive streak for gymnastics and acrobatics to enjoy the sport and do well. I quit in part because I was never flexible enough to do truly well (being able to do splits is pretty much standard), and because more and more focus in the training was removed from the horse-aspect of it all.

On the safety-side of things, I would say that vaulting horses are some of the most predictable horses around. They are used to all sorts. You learn how to fall/jump off from an early age, and do so always on a surface. It is of course not a risk-free sport, but IMO the greater risks these days are unrelated to the horse (e.g. landing wrong and falling on your head when doing a back-flip off the horse). I would put this more in line with the risks that gymnasts and acrobats take - and they don't wear helmets either.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info - very interesting!
 
Vaulting's a great sport and very popular all over Europe, in fact I would say that most kids start off vaulting before they go on to learn to ride (many just do vaulting 'tho, and don't bother to ride). I've never done it myself, having started riding in this neck of the woods where vaulting is practically unheard of - wish I was young enough to have a go! But I have worked out of stables where vaulting was offered (on the continent) and from my observations the horses were neither bored, restricted nor showed any problems from their work. In fact the best lunge horse at the stables was in his 20's, looked marvelous and had never taken a lame step. He was also regularly ridden and was a great schoolmaster. As for hats.......a personal choice, thankfully.
 
I am by no means an authority on vaulting. I did do it when I was younger (lower levels, nothing terribly advanced) a good many years ago. As far as helmet use (or rather the lack of) goes the explanation we were given at the time was that wearing a helmet whilst moving around on the horse posed a greater risk with regards to being stuck or catching on something/each other than not wearing one and risking what would most likely be a 'controlled' fall without it. I am sure someone could give a better explanation but when you think about it if you're going to do gymnastics you'd be awfully restricted with a crash helmet on. It's the same for footwear, you don't want standard riding boots as your movement becomes restrictive. It's wildly different to standard riding and much more like gymnastics.
 
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