2007 Club Reports - American Vaulting Association

Transcription

OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE AMERICAN VAULTING ASSOCIATION
8205 Santa Monica Blvd. #1-288, West Hollywood, CA 90046
www.americanvaulting.org
Photo: courtesy Peggy Van Hook
Competitions
Demonstrations
Photo: Clio Rebillon
FEBRUARY 2008
Therapeutic
Photo:
Gary
Hilberd
Photo: Clio Rebillon
Horses
Photo: Carolyn Conner
Medal Tests
CLUB REPORTS
page 4
Mary McCormick
page 22
USEF Annual
Meeting page 24
Photo:
courtesy
Mt.
Tabor
Club
Activities
Top row: left: Valley View, middle: Lompoc;
right: Gold Star Pacesetters. Middle row:
left: Morning Star, right: Flying Star. Bottom
row: left: Mt. Tabor, middle: Timberlane,
right: Woodside
Practice
Photo: courtesy
Timberlane
Photo:
Lynne
Thieme
Barrel
Fun
AVA Annual Meeting 2008 - The Future is Now!
Preliminary Schedule
For complete event descriptions and updates please visit
www.americanvaulting.com and select ‘AVA Annual Meeting” on the home page. All meetings are open to all current
members of the AVA (with paid registration) unless otherwise
noted. Changes (times or a new session) from the information
published in the December Vaulting World are noted in red.
Thursday, February 28
8-9 am
Executive Board Meeting
9-11 am
Therapeutic Vaulting Meeting
9-noon
Strategic Planning Sub Committee Meeting
10-11:30 am Grants Committee Meeting
11-1 pm
Horses Committee Meeting
1-4 pm
Competitions/Nationals Meeting
3:30-4:30 pm Membership Meeting 4:30-5:15 pm Vaulting World Brainstorming Meeting
5:15-6 pm
AVA Website Brainstorming Meeting 5:30-7 pm
Education Committee Meeting
7-8:30 pm
Making Vaulting a Profitable Venture 7-9 pm
Judges Training - Judges only
Friday, February 29
8-9:30 am
Through the Eyes of the Judges - Coaches Only
9:30-10:30 am 60 Tips in 60 Minutes – Marketing Your Club
10:30-12:30 pm Introducing the Long Term Athletes
Development Program
12:30-2:30 pm Region Meetings (All) - No Host Lunch
12:30-2:30 pm Executive Director Committee Meeting
2-3:30 pm
Technical Committee Meeting
3:45-4:45 pm Insurance Meeting
4:45-5:45 pm Music Session I: Selecting Freestyle Music
5:45-6:45 pm Music Session II: Introduction to Editing
7-9 pm
Regional Supervisors Meeting
7-9 pm
Constitution and Bylaws Meeting
Saturday, March 1
8-12:30 pm
AVA Board Meeting
8-10 am Through the Eyes of the Judges Vaulters Only
10-11 am Music Session III: Using GoldWave
10-Noon Showmanship Skills - For Vaulters Only
11-Noon
Music Session IV: Making Cuts/Final Product
11:30-1 pm 2007 Nat’l Champs Luncheon (invitation only) 1-2 pm How to be a Great Vaulting Parent
1-2:30 pm Coaches’ Meeting
1-2:30 pm Visualizing Success - For Vaulters Only
2-3:30 pm Thru the Eyes of the Judges - For Parents Only
2-3:45 pm Vaulting Rules Jeopardy - For Vaulters Only
2-3:45 pm Introduction to AVA CompWeb
4-5 pm Spectacular Spandex – Successful Uniforms
4-5 pm
Region Boundaries Meeting
5-6 pm
Alumni Meeting and Get-together
6-9 pm
AVA Annual Recognition Banquet
Sunday, March 2
8-10 am
Training the Vaulting Horse
8:30-11 am
AVA Athletes Council Meeting - Vaulters Only
10 -12:30 pm AVA Annual Meeting of Adult Members
1:30-3:30 pm Digital Photography as Coach’s Assistant
Vaulter Clinics
Megan Benjamin - Saturday afternoon only
$65/person/hour private, $45/person/hour two-person clinics.
Samantha Smith - Saturday and Sunday, 1 hr each clinic.
#1 - Compulsories Drills, Exercises, #2 - Flight and Mount,
#3 - Technical Exercises, #4 - The Compulsories.
$20/person/hour (maximum of six vaulters per session).
Logistics: San Francisco International (SFO - about 3/4 of an
hour away) OR San Jose International (SJC - about 1/2 hour
away) airports are good. A trip to the Santa Cruz County
Fairgrounds in Watsonville (approximately two hour round
trip), site of the 2008 USEF/AVA Nationals, may be arranged
by contacting Marianne Rose
Housing: The 2008 AVA Annual Meeting will be held at the
Cypress Hotel, 10500 S. De Anza Blvd., Cupertino, California.
There is a complimentary shuttle from the San Jose Airport
but you must phone the Cypress 408/253-8900 24 hours ahead
for pickup. For information/directions: www.thecypresshotel.
com. A block of rooms is being held for Thursday February 28
- March 2, 2008. Phone 408/253-8900 and mention “American
Vaulting Association.” A single or double room rate is $139 per
night (normally over $200). Deadline for this rate is Feb. 13th.
A block of rooms is also reserved at the Vagabond Hotel in
Santa Clara (10 minutes away). www.vagabondinn-santa-clarahotel.com. The rate is $62.97 per night for a single or double
room for Thursday February 28 - March 2, 2008. Phone 800522-1555 and mention “American Vaulting Association.”
Deadline for this rate is February 13th. You may choose to stay
at the Sanborn Park Youth Hostel (www.sanbornparkhostel.org)
about 5 minutes from Garrod Farms. The cost is $14 adult, $7
child per night. The Hostel is only open for groups of 10 or
more. Contact [email protected]. If you wish
to stay with a local family please contact Marianne Rose at
[email protected]. The deadline for requests to
stay with families is February 13th.
AVA Annual Meeting 2008 (Register online if possible)
All registrants MUST be current members of the AVA except for the Banquet only.
Name: _____________________________________________________ Club: _________________________________
Email: _____________________________________________________ Phone: ________________________________
Full Registration: Does not include Benjamin or Smith Clinics............................................................................... $115
Meetings Only (Adults) ............................................................................................................................................. $50
Recognition Banquet Only: [ ] Adult Meal $65 [ ] Child’s Meal (10 years and under) $25....................._______
Inventing the Future: For Active Vaulters - All Meetings ......................................................................................... $30
Additional Clinic (Megan Benjamin, Samantha Smith): not included in any above fees:5.................._______
Deadline February 15 (except for Banquet only, deadline: Feb 25). Late Fee for Feb 16-27................. $25
Check to “AVA” 8205 Santa Monica Blvd., #1-288, West Hollywood, CA 90646-5912.
TOTAL $________
Vaulting World
February 2008
Table of Contents
Do The
“Write”
Thing!
Annual Meeting Schedule update.............................................. 2
Do the “Write” Thing Nancy Stevens-Brown............................ 3
2007 Club Reports
Region I........................................................................... 4
Region II......................................................................... 6
Region III........................................................................ 9
Region IV...................................................................... 11
Region IX...................................................................... 12
Region X....................................................................... 15
Foreign.......................................................................... 16
Nancy Stevens-Brown
Since I began vaulting, I’ve looked forward to reading the yearly Club Reports. Though I always dreaded
writing my team’s report, with the original 250-word
limit, I’d struggle to fit a year’s passion, pride and
excitement into that stingy editorial space. How could I
summarize what defined my life? [50 words]
I would
begin by earnestly
noting our fine
horses and public
appearances.
Then add details
on how many talented boys (a lot)
and girls (even
more) enjoyed the
Call for Nominations Amy McCune........................................ 17
AVA Medal Exams 10/6/2007-10/28/2007.............................. 17
By Any Other Name Nancy Stevens-Brown............................ 18
AVA Regional High Point Results Regions II and IX . ........... 20
Bronze is Now USEF Suzanne Detol...................................... 20
2007 Annual Judges Forum Suzanne Detol............................. 21
AVA Summer Camp Noel Martonovich.................................. 21
Mary McCormick Alex Thomas.............................................. 22
USEF Annual Meeting in Louisville Linda Bibbler................ 24
USEF Youth Sportsman Charter Award Jan Weber................. 24
Timberline experience. I’d
list our travels (frequent)
and accomplishments
(many) and then would end
with a thought about our
next year’s goals.
[100 words]
After endless re-writes I would painstakingly hone
the piece to exactly 250 words! Sometimes facts were
left out (like a freestyle move that doesn’t work) or a
new detail would get added in. Finally, like the judge’s
bell - the deadline for submission forced me to submit the condensed report. Comparable to freestyles I
was never satisfied so I’d compose something else to
share in Vaulting World. Why I wanted to write more
when those 250 word reports had been so troublesome
I cannot say, except that word counts, like compulsories, have set limits. Articles, like every freestyle, are
creative, challenging! [200 words]
I will
read every
club report
in this issue
and will
surely be
thrilled by
all the wonderful ways vaulting has touched you and
your whole club. Then I’ll be moved again to write for
Vaulting World. I hope you will also want to contribute
further! Write On! Vault On! [250 words]
Vaulting World
USEF High Performance Camp Mary McCormick................. 25
Cool Nationals in Watsonville Marianne Rose....................... 26
WEG 2010 Update.................................................................. 27
CVI*,** Sao Paolo, Brazil ..................................................... 28
South African Championships Barbie Gertzenbach................ 28
Vaulting in Israel Maria Gadnaor, Veronica Turner................ 29
To Compete or Not Pam Fleurant........................................... 30
AVA Directory......................................................................... 31
Calendar of Vaulting Events.................................................... 32
If you have any changes or corrections to your mailing address for Vaulting
World, are not receiving your issues, or wish additional copies please contact the
AVA National Office at 8205 Santa Monica Blvd., #1-288, West Hollywood, CA
90046-5912 or phone 323/654-0800, fax 323/654-4306 or email nationaloffice@
americanvaulting.org. The mailing lists are generated by the National Office where
extra copies of Vaulting World are kept.
Vaulting World is published by the American Vaulting Association. Mail all
submissions for publication to: Vaulting World, 11845 Skyline Blvd., Los Gatos,
CA 95033 or email marianne_rose@ worldnet.att.net.
2008 - 2009 Deadlines are: March 5 for publication April 1; April 30 for publication June 1; June 30 for publication August 1; September 10 for publication
October 1; October 31 for publication December 1; January 1, 2009 for publication February 1.
Vaulting World classified ads are $5 each for three or four lines. Display ad rates
are $12 per column inch, $100 for one third page, $115 for one half page and $200
for full page. Submit information/check payable to “AVA” and mail to Vaulting
World, 11845 Skyline Blvd., Los Gatos, CA 95033.
ADVERTISING RATES WILL CHANGE APRIL 1, 2008.
No part of this publication may be reproduced either in whole or part without
written permission. To subscribe: Affiliate AVA Memberships are $30 (+$15 for
first class postage) domestic, $55 foreign, payable annually in U.S. funds drawn
on a U.S. bank. Copyright by American Vaulting Association 2008.
Printed by Modern Litho-Print Co. 916/285-0051
Editor: Marianne Rose 408/867-1789, [email protected]
Copy Editing: Sheri Benjamin 408/872-1562,
Kate Dalby 703/754-0118, Katharina Woodman 408/530-9101
February 2008
2007 Club Reports
Region I
Carousel Ranch, Inc.
34289 Rocking Horse Rd., Agua Dulce, CA 91390
Phone: 661-268-8010, Contact: Denise Tomey
First Year: 2007
www.carouselranch.org
Desert Wind Vaulters
94 N 28th Street, Las Vegas, NV 89101
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 720-988-2248, Contact: Alethea Shelton
First Year: 2005
www.bighorseproductions.com
Diamond Bar Country Vaulters
2132 Indian Creek Rd, Diamond Bar, CA 91765.3345
Phone: 909-861-1564, Contact: Connie Geisler
First Year: 1989, Colors: Red, Gold, Black
Connie Geisler
This year, Diamond Bar, like many
clubs, has been fraught with horse problems
but has been blessed with a year of joy and
harmony among our vaulters.
All year our vaulters have worked cooperatively with horses, coach and other vaulters
from our club and other clubs without tears,
disagreements or arguments. Character development is such a great part of the benefits
of vaulting and all of our vaulters are a credit
to that concept.
edema. Scout, our home-bred vaulting horse
who was preparing to debut in 2008 had to
be put down in July. Fortunately, Goliath
has been going strong and has been willing
and able to fill in for these newbies. He was
honored this year at Nationals as the first
“Veteran Vaulting Horse,”competing in his
15th Nationals. Hopefully, he will be able to
share the load with our newcomer, Churchill,
a seven year old Hanoverian.
F.A.C.E.
PO Box 94167, Moorpark, CA 93094
Phone: 818-429-2115, Contact: Devon Maitozo
First Year: 1994, Colors: Silver, Black, Red
Flying B Vaulters
30338 Stein Way, Hemet, CA 92543
Phone: 951-658-4468, Contact: Jan Bertling
First Year: 2006, Colors: Black, Red, White, Blue
Hidden Hills Horsemen Vaulters
8205 Santa Monica Blvd #1-288, West Hollywood,
CA 90046, Contact: Craig Coburn
Phone: 323-654-4300, Colors: Red, White, Blue
First Year: 2007 Non Competitive Club
Lompoc Vaulters
3590 Via Gala, Lompoc, CA 93436
Phone: 805-698-3681, Contact: Peggy Van Hook
First Year: 1976, Colors: Black, Green, Teal
Peggy Van Hook
Diamond Bar Pairs on Goliath at Regionals
Photo: Primo Ponies Photography
Our A Team vaulters have continued
a second year of composite teamwork with
Half Moon Bay while our silver vaulters
enjoyed composite teamwork with Gold
Rush throughout the year. Our trot vaulters
had opportunities for impromptu composite
team and pairs competition with vaulters
from Starlite and Mt. Eden at the Region I/II
Championships in Grass Valley.
The horse members of our club have
demonstrated great character also, but have
had a few setbacks. Aristotle has been out
of competition all year with chronic lymph
Vaulting World
We’ve had a busy year so far, with a
lot of changes. Jeannie Beattie retired as our
loving coach and we merged with our local
US Pony Club. Linda Van Hook gave birth to
a healthy baby boy on September 13 (Aiden
Lee Clark) and Peggy Van Hook took over as
our new coach.
As the new Coach I’ve been crazy
busy. Vaulting is truly a labor of love for the
coaches. I never thought it would be easy
but somehow I was deluded into thinking I’d
have time for it. I don’t think I would have
made it through this last year without the support of the other clubs in our region. Just the
moral support and encouragement have been
great. Thanks for your advice and support!
We’ve been trying to build the team
back up and train our new vaulting horse,
Henry, a seven-year-old Percheron. So far
everything is going pretty well. We’ve done
two demonstrations and a mini-clinic/informational day for local Pony Clubs. We are
working hard to get more of our regional
Pony Clubs to offer vaulting. We’re also hoping some of the clubs closer to us will have
members who may wish to join our club. So
far we have added two new members. We’re
looking forward to competing next spring.
I want to send a special thank you to
Connie Geisler of Diamond Bar. Without
your support and help over the past few years,
I don’t think we would be here.
M.A.R.E. All-Star Vaulters
18200 Johnson Rd., Bakersfield, CA 93312
Email: [email protected], First Year: 2005,
Phone: 661-589-1877, Contact: Peggy Cross
Colors: Blue, White, Burgundy, Black
www.mareridingcenter.com
Mountain Springs Vaulters
555 W. Sierra Hwy, Acton, CA 93510
Phone: 661-274-2111, Contact: Debi Pakizer
First Year: 2006, Colors: Orange, Blue
www.mountainspringsvaulters.com
Debi Pakizer
Mountain Springs Vaulters had a great
year in 2007. We continued to re-introduce
the sport of vaulting to our Antelope Valley
area. Our practices were well attended and
we love it when people stop their cars to watch
our dazzling courage and daring! Our Belgian,
Tanny Mae, is coming along nicely! We are
giving her more and more of the workload
and easing Ol’ Belle into retirement – again!
We hosted/attended three competitions
and performed in two parades. We made our
local papers three times! In 2008 we will be
adding more demonstrations, competitions,
playdays and parades to our calendars. We
are looking forward to a very good year and
hope every club in the AVA has one, too!
Oak Hills Vaulters
350 West 470 North, Spanish Fork, UT 84660
Phone: 801-836-0799, Contact: KyLynn James
First Year: 1996, Colors: Navy, Red, Gray
www.oakhillsvaulters.com
Lois Brown
Oak Hills Vaulters have been busy this
year – increasing in size and experience.
Currently we consist of about 40 members,
including coaches, vaulters and longeurs, and
four horses. We sponsored our own spring
competition, and the Oak Hills competitive
team traveled to Grass Valley, California for
the Region I/II Championships. Twelve of
our vaulters, three horses, and two longeurs
attended the National Championships.
Our demonstration team vaulted at
Peach Days in Ferron, at Sanpete County
Days and at the Horse Exposition at South
Jordan Equestrian Park.
Zina Allred on Gizzmoe at Regionals
February 2008
2007 Club Reports
We wrapped up the season with a community Winterfest vaulting demonstration
that was free to the public. The event was
held at the Oak Hills barn in Salem, Utah,
which had been decorated to the hilt! We had
more than 250 spectators in attendance and a
large number of our vaulters ranging in age
from four years to 50 years old performed
on two of our horses, Ferrari and Stewart.
The crowd’s favorite was a routine about the
Grinch Who Stole Christmas. With such a
great response from the community, we may
decide to make Winterfest an annual tradition.
horses are Ted, a 14-year-old Belgian/Morgan
gelding and Gigi, a five-year-old Oldenburg
mare in training.
2008 will be our first year of competition. Our vaulters are excited to meet new
people and learn about competitive vaulting.
We are located in Menifee, which is in Riverside County (Southern California). Drop by
and say “hi” if you are in the area!
Showtime Vaulters
4597 Ave 272, Visalia, CA 93277
Phone: 559-684-8568, Contact: Leslie Hamar
First Year: 1996, Colors: Purple, Gold, Black
Technique Equestrian Vaulting Club
10851 N. 5750 W., Highland, UT 84003
Phone: 801-368-4438, Contact: Brian Kaylor
First Year: 2008, Colors: Black, Light Blue, White
Versatile Champions Vaulting
8677 Robles Drive, San Diego, CA 92119
Phone: 619-337-3706, Contact: Yasmin Assemi
First Year: 2006, Colors: Blue, White, Black
www.techniquevaulting.org
Kim Kaylor
Technique Equestrian Vaulting Club was
formed in October of 2007 in Highland, Utah.
With the support of family, friends and the
community, the club was launched by coach
Cambry Kaylor and coach/trainer Jodie Howard. Cambry is dedicated to coaching and
helping each vaulter feel successful. Jodie
recently relocated from California to bring a
wealth of experience to the club.
Technique currently operates in Provo
and Lehi, Utah providing vaulting classes to
children, youths and adults. As of December,
2007, we have 34 vaulters ranging in ages
from five to 45. Our equine athletes include
Opal, a Haflinger mare; Thunder, a Belgian/
Appaloosa gelding; Tasia, a Shire Cross
mare; and Gizzmoe, a Holsteiner gelding.
Technique Equestrian Vaulting Club held
its first barrel fun-fest at the end of January,
2007. The fun-fest was an opportunity not
only for the vaulters but also for members of
the community to learn about the sport. We
are enthusiastically training horses, picking
uniforms and posting a website.
So many members of the greater
vaulting family have given advice, horses,
expertise and equipment to make this new
club possible. We hope to do the same for
new clubs. We have found that our greatest
asset and marketing tool is the relationships
coaches, horses, and teammates build with
each new vaulter, young and old, who comes
to the barn. This is the magic of vaulting!
The Riding Academy
30300 Garbani Rd, Menifee, CA 92584
Phone: 951-301-9272, Contact: Sarah Hill
First Year: 2007, Colors: Blue, Black
www.vaulton.com
Sarah Hill
For the past seven years we have been
doing recreational vaulting. In 2007 Joy
Bollen joined us as a coach/vaulter. Joy was
trained by Martina Dyer at Pinto Ranch. Our
Vaulting World
and New York. It’s wonderful working and
visiting with clubs and vaulters from coast to
coast. We were pleased to have vaulters from
Germany, New York, Virginia, Maryland and
Delaware stay with us during all the bad rain
storms-here in sunny California!
Our fundraiser “A Day in the Country”
in Long Beach was a big success, thanks to
all who donated their time and great items for
our silent auction.
We are pleased to announce that we are
featured in two great books: Miracles Happen on Horseback by Morgan St. James, and
Longeing the Rider for a Perfect Seat by Linda Benedik. Both are available at
www.amazon.com.
We are also making vaulting pads for the
horses to help keep horses’ backs from getting sore. We’ve made them for our horses
for years and we are now making custom pads
for sale along with our AVA regulation barrels.
Voila Vaulters
9180 Heritage Circle, Hanford, CA 93230
Phone: 559-584-5994, Contact: Nellana Lobdell
First Year: 2007, Colors: Black, Brown, Gold, Red
Nellana Lobdell
The Riding Academy vaulters perform a triple
on Ted.
Photo: courtesy The Riding Academy
Valley Of The Sun Vaulters
7671 E Sutton Dr, Scottsdale, AZ 85260
Phone: 480-348-1607, Contact: Merrill Leffmann
First Year: 2005
www.sunvaulters.com
Valley View Vaulters
11295 Orcas Ave, Lake View Terrace, CA 91342
Phone: 818-302-0153, Contact: Virginia Hawthorne
First Year: 1981, Colors: Maroon, White, Black
www.valleyviewvaulters.com
Virginia Hawthorne
We want to say thanks to all of you
for your prayers and good wishes for our
daughter, Shannon Manges, who was a
Gold Medalist in the late 80’s. She had a
life-threatening tumor removed from just
under her brain. Her hearing equilibrium on
her right side is gone. A hearing device will
help and equilibrium on her left side is doing double duty, filling in for the right side.
Someone told Shannon “Of course you’re
doing great; your equilibrium must be better
than the average person’s since you stood on
a cantering horse for years.” Again, we can
never say “thank you” enough.
Rick and Virginia enjoyed holding
clinics in Oregon, Texas, Virginia, Maryland
Voila` Vaulters’ inaugural year was
focused on training their new horse, Reine,
an eight-year-old American Warmblood.
Thanks to the generosity of several other
vaulting teams, Elkhorn, Diamond Bar, Penryn Oaks, Gold Rush and FACE, Jacqueline
Lobdell, the lone Voila vaulter was able
to continue vaulting on borrowed horses
throughout the year with coaching by Leslie
Taylor of Showtime and Connie Geisler of
Diamond Bar.
Jacqueline traveled to clinics and
lessons with Megan Benjamin, including
the Annual AVA meeting in Texas in March.
She attended clinics with Nancy StevensBrown, and one with Blake Dahlgren and
Kenny Geisler. After Nationals in Denver,
Jacqueline was forced to slow down and
focus on healing both a chronic ankle and a
knee injury.
The generosity of fellow vaulters from
Elkhorn and coach Liz Myers connected us to
German coach and trainer, Charlotte Kantrel,
visiting the US for six months. Charlotte
continued Reine’s training and coached Jacqueline while she recuperated.
The highlights of Jacqueline’s year were
working with Charlotte, sharing American
customs while learning about German culture,
and recently, the opportunity to work with
Devon Maitozo of FACE.
We are most grateful for everyone who
helped Jacqueline through this challenging
year. It is our hope we will be able to return
the favor by supporting fellow vaulters in the
upcoming year!
February 2008
2007 Club Reports
Region II
Brookside Vaulters
9800 Brookside Ave, Ben Lomond, CA 95005
Phone: 831-336-1148, Contact: Mona Hogye
First Year: 2005, Colors: Red, White, Blue
www.brooksidevaulters.com
Tom and Mona Hogye
Last year was all about vaulting and
horses and wonderful people. The Lone Star
vaulters from Texas visited us. We organized
a clinic with Nancy Stevens-Brown. Tom
had flashbacks of vaulting with Timberline
20 years ago. Vaulters came from all over
to attend the Blake Dahlgren/Kenny Geisler
Clinic and these two guys produced! I am
already getting calls for the next one in 2008.
Some Brookside vaulters volunteered
at a foster kid’s camp. Most of the kids had
never seen vaulting or been near a horse
before. The surcingle made the experience
comfortable and our horse, Buddy, was just
right – a true gentle giant. We ran the raffle
at Regionals. We invited several Santa Cruz
Pony Club members to try out vaulting. Some
participated for the summer and a of couple
kids are still with us.
We purchased a spectacular new horse
with hopes that he will take to vaulting in addition to his dressage career. I am indebted to
all the clubs who lent us horses while physical problems made it impossible to longe our
own horses. If it were not for the wonderful
generosity of Kelley Holly, Carolyn Connor and the Grove family we could not have
competed this summer.
From the beginner just started out to the
dedicated club vaulters to the rider who just
wanted to develop a better riding seat to the
high level vaulters who exercised with us
– we did it all and had fun every minute!
Emily Hogye is now on the FACE team,
training for selection for the World Games.
Congratulations Emily!!!
Canyon View Vaulters
PO Box 1145, Durham, CA 95938, First Year: 2000
Email: [email protected], Phone: 530-891-5152
Contact: Valerie Goss, Colors: Purple, Red
Circle Of Friends
2780 Goodwin Ave, Redwood City, CA 94061
Email: [email protected], First Year: 2005
Phone: 650-366-7527, Contact: Carol Beutler
Colors: Red, White, Blue Non competitive club
Creekside Vaulting Club
22200 Mt. Eden Rd, Saratoga, CA 95070
Email: [email protected], Contact: Sue Smith
Phone: 408-741-5294, First Year: 2005,
Colors: Royal Blue, Yellow, Orange, Red
Elkhorn Park Place Equestrian
Vaulters
6011 W. 6th Street, Rio Linda, CA 95673
Phone: 916-992-1740, Contact: Elizabeth Myers
First Year: 2005, Colors: Red, Black, White, Silver
www.elkhornequestrian.com
Liz Myers
Elkhorn Vaulters had a very busy year.
We conducted a medal test that went extremely well. We also performed for Macy’s
Vaulting World
Community Service Day in Sacramento
and received a percentage of the profit for
the day. In September, Charlotte Kantrel of
Germany joined us to assist with our upper
level vaulters and our new horse D’Angelo.
He stands 18 hands and we are excited about
his potential.
We attended one of the longeing clinics
sponsored by the AVA Circle of Friends and
took home a lot of information and techniques. We also started gymnastics training
at a facility owned by one of the Olympic
Gymnastic Team Trainers, Geza Pozsar.
In addition, we hosted and assisted Voilá
Vaulters of Hanford and worked with Erik
Martonovich and his Big Horse Productions.
We look forward to 2008.
headlined the year-end dressage show at Starr
Vaughn Equestrian in Rancho Murietta.
We spent an afternoon with some kids who had
never even seen a horse at the middle school
where Darcie now teaches.
Vaulters and coaches enjoy a game of musical
chairs.
Our website, www.goldrushvaulters.
com, paired up with Primo Ponies pictures, is
constantly being updated with new information. We also strive to create goodwill in the
community by sponsoring a homeless family
at Christmas. After all, we feel so lucky to
have the support of everyone in the AVA!
Elkhorn vaulter
Photo: courtesy Elkhorn
Gold Rush Vaulters
4808 E. Chinahill Road, El Dorado, CA 95623
Phone: 530-621-4911, Contact: Eileen Jassowski
First Year: 2007, Colors: Blue, Silver, White
www.goldrushvaulters.com
Eileen Jassowski
Gold Rush Vaulters began in June 2006
with the members of the former Penryn
Oak Club. After our beloved coach, Darcie
Stratton, changed careers the club found
its new home at the Jassowski ranch near
Placerville. The horses have pasture turnout
and a two-story barn undergoing renovation
as our barrel/exercise area with two barrels,
a rock climbing wall and, thanks to Collette
Garrison, a large mirror to help perfect those
vaulting moves. Santa brought gymnastic
mats, Dad bought a new heater and a local
company donated carpet. We are thrilled to
have found a wonderful part-time coach, Michele Cunningham. Laura Jassowski is helping Michele and her mom, Eileen with coaching duties. Also new to the club is Mandela,
a 10-year-old Canadian Warmblood.
Our location puts us at a disadvantage
– being so far from where the heart of vaulting beats. Throughout the year we perform
demonstrations such as Kids Expo, which
drew 5,000 kids in one day.
We received regional exposure at the
three-day Western States Horse Expo in Sacramento. A parade of people literally followed
us to our performances. Our demonstration
Half Moon Bay Vaulters
321 Verde Rd, Half Moon Bay, CA 94019
Email: [email protected], Contact: Jill Palmer
Phone: 650-726-3115, First Year: 1999
Colors: Navy Blue, Light Blue, Red, White
Jill Palmer
Pretty much everything is the same. Pam
Geisler is coaching our club. We have three
horses: Pixie, Hudson and Highwater Bay.
We look forward to a fun and exciting new
year.
Lone Oak Vaulters
8538 Biruta Avenue, Orangevale, CA 95662
Phone: 916-723-1517, Contact: Vicki Cleary
First Year: 2003, Colors: Black, Green, Gold
www.loneoakvaultingclub.com
Vicki Cleary
In 2007 our club helped spread information about our sport and shared our love of
vaulting in two significant ways: We were
featured on a local news channel which cut to
our practice with interviews periodically over
a three hour period. We also demonstrated
and performed at the California Horse Expo
each day of its three-day run.
The only competition we chose to participate in this year was Regionals where each
of our vaulters competed at the silver level.
We were quite pleased with our showing. As
always at Regionals, we had a great time!
Morning Star Vaulters
95 San Miguel Way, Novato, CA 94947
Phone: 415-897-8486, Contact: Carolyn Conner
First Year: 1999, Colors: Blue, White
http://mysite.verizon.net/res1ev60/
morningstarvaulters
February 2008
2007 Club Reports
Lisa and Hope Jones
There are so many great times with
Morning Star Vaulters, it’s hard to pick just
one. As far as I have seen, each individual
practice is full of life lessons, friendships, discoveries and laughs. I was especially touched
by the club’s ability to support and grow
when they all showed up to do the medal testing....what an amazing group of young people
- and their ever-patient committed leader and
coach! The girls all did their very best and,
during the retests, they all stayed to support
their teammates. Seeing them all together and
so focused was a great treat!
I have no question as to the value my
daughter has gotten from her experiences in
vaulting: confidence, friendships, the meaning of teamwork, trust, the art of negotiation,
commitment to your teammates and a unique
perspective of the world – standing atop Star,
Kelly or Dillon. It is a great way to see things
differently. Thanks Carolyn! It is all because
of you. You are an extraordinary human being! We both love you very much.
Carolyn Conner
Looking back at 2007, the most fun
moment that stands out in my mind is Kylen
Dix’s unplanned dismount in the middle of
her Bronze freestyle at our fest. When she
realized she was coming off, she leaped high
and made a face and pose that cracked not
only me up, but the judge, announcer and
everyone else as well. I was unable to longe
for a good few minutes because I was laughing so hard!
Nu Balance Vaulters
7668 Cook Avenue, Citrus Heights, CA 95610
Phone: 916-725-3001, Contact: Michelle Solorzano
First Year: 1992, Colors: Scarlet, White, Navy,
Green, Orange, Yellow, Royal Blue
Jami Pressley, Tiffany McCollister
The year began with the Tambourine
Barrel Fest and then our own barrel fest on
St. Patrick’s Day. Three of our teams and
many individuals competed at Mt. Eden,
Woodside, CVI*,** Saratoga, Regionals,
Nationals, and Morning Star. Our vaulters
participated in clinics by Mari Inouye, Nancy
Stevens-Brown, Tanja Benedetto, Adrienne
Stang and in the USEF high performance camp.
Our challenging participation at Nationals started with a 19-hour car ride with three
small, sick children. By the time the main
awards ceremony came around, half the club
was sick. By the last of the competition only
two of our members were standing and our
camp looked like a scene from the movie
Outbreak. Thanks to Mt. Eden and other
clubs which helped with our assigned jobs.
Thanks also to the Martonovich family for all
of their generosity and help at Nationals.
Other than competitions and demonstrations, we performed a tribute to Will Rogers
at the Del Mar racetrack in San Diego with
the Riata Ranch Cowboy Girls. We hosted
the Swiss team when they came to compete
at CVI*,** Saratoga on our horse, Rapier 9.
We are looking forward to seeing them when
we go to Switzerland to compete. Every year
we are forced to live off corn dogs and cotton
candy as we spend a month vaulting at the
California State Fair. Nu Balance friends,
family and the community enjoyed a buffet
dinner, pony rides, face painting, craft sale
and a themed vaulting performance every
hour at our Harvest Fest fund-raiser.
Nu Balance also has a team of vaulters
called Athletes for God dedicated to volunteering and helping the community. We
also hosted a group from Africa, the Kuyasa
Kids (AIDS orphans who sing and dance).
Through connections with this group we hope
to visit Africa. Our club also sponsored a
young girl from Africa.
Pacific Coast Vaulters
230 Josselyn Lane, Woodside, CA 94062
Phone: 650-851-8825, Contact: Sydney Frankel
First Year: 1998, Colors: Blue, Teal, White
Morning Star’s Kylen Dix hams it up!
Mountain Mustangs 4H
PO Box 18587, Reno, NV 89511.0587
Phone: 775-851-3210, Contact: Barbara Boatman
First Year: 2007
Mt. Eden Vaulting Club
11845 Skyline Blvd, Los Gatos, CA 95033
Phone: 408-868-9476, Contact: Emma Seely
Colors: Black, Maroon, White, Blue, Gold
www.mtedenvaulting.org
Vaulting World
Susan Frankel
The Vaulters Arena: I think we attended
every possible local competition and clinic.
The CVI held at Garrod Farms was most exciting and a great bonding experience for our
vaulters. We were able to house the Italian
and Columbian vaulters. Our horse, Bronson
was loaned to the Italian vaulters for CVI.
They fell in love with him. Our vaulters have
stayed in contact with their new Italian and
Columbian friends.
For the second year in a row we performed at San Francisco’s Polo in the Park.
We had the audience standing, and clapping
in awe. In November and December Pacific
Coast hosted the USEF High Performance,
and Team Camps. The camps had a great
turnout with vaulters attending from all over
the USA. We were pleased to offer the use of
our facility.
The Pacific Coast team competed at CVI*,**
Saratoga on Cheval.
The Horse Barn: Two new horses are in
our stable. Wyeth aka Mo, came from Noel
Martonovich in Denver. When Wyeth arrived,
he had a very black furry coat. By June the
California sun had given Wyeth some lovely
golden highlights. Renoir is in training. Our
vaulters are anxiously awaiting their turns to
vault on him.
The Coaches and Longeurs Circle: Mari
Inouye has been working steadily with our
vaulters on compulsories, freestyle and
conditioning. Florence Rubinger will also be
coaching. Mike Sisul, an expert in horsemanship, has been keeping our horses fit and
ready to go.
2008 marks Pacific Coast Vaulting
Club’s 10th year of vaulting. We are very
proud to give strength, hospitality, education, and love to benefit the sport of vaulting.
Peace and vaulting blessings to all.
Phoenix Vaulting Club
3995 County Rd. S, Orland, CA 95963
Phone: 530-865-4558, Contact: Megan Grove
First Year: 2005, Colors: Turquoise, Orange, Black
Kristin Grove
Congratulations to all our members, new
and old, for expanding our horizons this year!
Congratulations also to our very first trot and
bronze medalists!
Our vaulters were four to 27 years old.
We included our first autistic vaulter and saw
several members of the Durham-Chico Pony
Club take advantage of our new Vaulting for
Riders Program.
Continued
February 2008
2007 Club Reports
PHOENIX VAULTING CLUB
Continued from previous page
Our Super Hero Squad and the Chicken
Polka were the highlight of our competition
season. Every competitive Phoenix vaulter
participated in a fun costume team routine at
Mt. Eden’s Halloween Fest. Coach Megan
Grove, dripping with feathers, had the audience roaring with laughter.
The most precious moment this year
occurred during our special/walk practice.
On a sunny Monday in November four-yearold George asked if he could run (canter) by
himself. As he squealed in delight, tightly
clutching the handles his heels barely brushed
the edge of the vaulting pad. His tiny figure
happily swaying on Picasso caused nineyear-old Conner to remark, “Wow he’s really
good.” He quickly added “For his age!”
I have to echo the sentiment, “Wow,
everyone is sooo good!” Our vaulters, their
parents, the horses and all our friends constantly impress me with their courage and
willingness to develop new abilities. When
I see how they help one another and how
hard they are willing to work I can only add,
“Great vaulting Phoenix Vaulting Club!”
Silver Bay Vaulters
8601 Oak Circle, Cotati, CA 94931
Phone: 707-795-2822, Contact: Julie Keville
First Year: 2003, Colors: Blue, Silver, White
Starlite Vaulters
5220 N. Greenwood Ave., Clovis, CA 93619
Phone: 559-323-8550, Contact: Alethea Traskin
Colors: Fuchia, Black, Silver, White
100,000 viewers and held our annual Starlite
awards and recognition party.
Starlite would not be able to continue
without the support of our helpful “star”
parents and generous “star” supporters and
sponsors. Starlite is also grateful to Mt. Eden,
Woodside, Morning Star and Phoenix vaulting clubs for sharing horses. Thanks to Marianne Rose and Kelley Holly who guide us
along the correct path. Thank goodness for all
the wonderful “stars” in the vaulting world.
Kelley Holly
The Tambourine Vaulters had another
fabulous year. We accomplished many of our
goals and have set new ones for the coming season. We have expanded our exposure
within the community by offering vaulting
birthday parties and vaulting lessons for
charitable silent auction items and as options
for high school senior projects. We have
worked with several different clinicians to
enhance aspects of our vaulting program
from within and outside of our sport. We have
brought several of our new horses in training
to clinics throughout the year and to vaulting
competitions in the California Gold or Green
Horse classes. We shared our horses, hosted
international vaulters, hosted medal tests and
co-started a Vintage Vaulters program.
The Woodside A Team competed on Giovanni
at Garrod’s Spring Classic. Photo: Susie Bors
Carrie Wick
Alethea Traskin
Vaulting World
www.woodsidevaulters.org
Tambourine Vaulters
1 Liberty Rd, Petaluma, CA 94952
Phone: 707-665-9281, Contact: Kelley Holly
First Year: 1983,
Colors: Green, Blue, White, Silver, Navy Blue
www.geocities.com/starlite_at/
In January Lisa Bar volunteered her
dance expertise so our vaulters would not
lose three weeks of practice time while our
coach recuperated from surgery. We attended
the Tambourine barrel fest in Petaluma in
February. In April we performed in the Big
Hats Parade in Clovis before over 10,000
viewers. We attended Garrod’s Spring Fest
in Saratoga in May and the Woodside Fest in
June. In July we had fun at Regionals as part
of a composite trot team, visited museums
and swam in the river.
For two days in September we performed at the Clovis Harvest Festival and
manned a booth with pictures, vaulting
videos, pamphlets and a barrel. We met a
number of retired vaulters and introduced the
sport to many people.
On September 28 we performed on our
barrel in the children’s section of Macy’s
Department Store. We set up pictures, a video
and passed out pamphlets.
October found us at Mt. Eden’s Halloween Fest, in Saratoga. In November
we attended the Region II Annual Vaulters
Clinic/Meeting/Awards/Dinner in Petaluma.
During December, we participated in the
Sanger Christmas Toy Parade and Clovis’
Electric Light Christmas Parade before over
Phone: 650-299-9281, Contact: Isabelle Parker
First Year: 1991, Colors: Purple, Teal
Kelley’s mom, Sydney, performs a prince.
Photo: courtesy Kelley Holly
Once again all our successes could not
have been possible without the loyal, unending support of the fantastic pool of parents
and friends of our club. They drove cross
country, hung from the roof of a horrendously
hot barn, drove the tractor, cooked sumptuous
meals, toiled behind sewing machines and
computers and cared for those left behind at
the barn. It truly does take a community to
make Tambourine what it is. Thank you to all
who share in our joy.
Woodside Vaulters
1209 Crompton Rd, Redwood City, CA 94061
In 2007 Woodside Vaulters consisted of
26 vaulters. Our vaulters competed in most
of the local competitions, Nationals and in
France and Germany. Our annual Woodside
Fest in June was a huge success thanks to the
tremendous efforts and organizational skills
of Linda Bibbler, Marianne Rose and Carol
Beutler.
We hosted two teams from Colombia,
South America for CVI*,** Saratoga. Some
of the Columbians competed on our horse,
Pepper Jack. The Hamar family of Showtime
Vaulters lent us Falcon and Sovira for this
competition.
Isabelle Bibbler Parker, head coach,
and Julie Divita, president, led our large and
busy club. Susan Griner was finally allowed
to retire as treasurer. It took several people to
take over her numerous responsibilities. We
said good-bye to canter coach Aleta Kotecki.
Fortunately Marina Olivieri joined our club
and will coach the canter teams. Ali Divita
followed by Megan Lanfri coached tiny
tot and trot vaulters. Jennifer Lauzze is our
new canter individuals coach. Jennie is an
experienced vaulter, coach and large animal
veterinarian.
Our fantastic longeurs’ (Krista Poppenberg, Julie Divita, Jennifer Arntsen, Lisa
Plungy and Anna Tumanova) and horses’
hard work both in and out of the arena made
February 2008
2007 Club Reports
our vaulters look so good. We are grateful to
Connie Geisler and Diamond Bar Country
Vaulters for the loan of their adorable American Cream Draft, Haystack while Miss Holly
Wood recovers from an injury. We are looking forward to the arrival of two new horses
from Krumke: Caspar and Charmeur.
Region III
Above And Beyond
PO Box 372, Suohomish, WA 98291
Phone: 425-870-4365, First Year: 2006
Contact: Saacha Deamborossio
Colors: Purple, Black, Hunter Green
the Northwest Spring Fest in April; Marsha
Browning for letting us borrow her nice
Percheron mare, May, for our trotters at the
Region III Championships in July; and Patti
Skipton and Kelley Holly for loaning us their
wonderful horses at Nationals. The amount of
sharing and goodwill in this sport is amazing.
The Region III Championships was
Calando’s debut in the competition ring and
his first trip off site. He carried our three
bronze vaulters to success. Best of all he was
selected for the Horse of the Year award in
his first competition!
Marci Siegel-Kittrell
www.noblezebra.com/better_late_than_
never.htm
Broken Top Vaulters
63275 Eastview Dr, Bend, OR 97701
Phone: 541-312-2054, Contact: Linda P. Wright
First Year: 2006, Colors: White, Red, Black
www.cascadevaulters.org
Tom Sayles
2007 was a busy and successful
year for the Cascade Vaulters. We participated in the Northwest Spirit of Vaulting Conference in March. We put on the Vaulters of
the Northwest Spring Competition with help
from Mt. Rainier, Harbor View and Emerald
City. It was likely the biggest competition in
Region III history with nearly 100 vaulters
and fifteen horses. Our club did well at a
number of competitions this past year.
Danielle Rynning took first place in
silver at our Spring Fest and won the Silver
Zone Award. Ryan Barbee finished fourth
overall in Trot Women and participated in the
National Champion Warm Beach composite
trot team. Cascade’s Rachel Norton finished
out our competitive year with a first overall finish in Trot Women at DevonWood’s
Harvest Fest.
Other activities included several “See
and Try” vaulting events and a booth at the
local Fall City Days Street Fair.
Calando
Photo: courtesy Suzanne Detol
In October, our club hosted its seventh
vaulting competition at the DevonWood
Equestrian Centre. The two-day event featured 68 competitors from California, Oregon
and Washington. Our vaulters served in the
food booth, as gatekeepers, music people,
runners and timers. Calando carried all our
canter vaulters and again was selected for the
Horse of the Year award.
We hosted a Medal Test/Fun Day. Patti
Skipton’s idea to bring her kids and horses
to a medal test and to exchange horses and
coaching developed a life of its own. Participants from Warm Beach, Flying Star and Harbor View as well as DevonWood ended up the
day with a BBQ at the Detols. My husband is
a saint!
[email protected]
Suzanne Detol
Vaulting World
The Flying Stars started out the year
with a demonstration for the Mane Event at
the Clark County Fairgrounds in February.
Our horse, Rhubarb, barely flinched as the
mounted shooting events happened right
before our performance.
We took the opportunity to do some high
altitude training for Nationals in Denver with
a team-building weekend in Sun River, Oregon. We hiked, worked out routines on a pony
barrel, conditioned, barbequed and played
in the hot tub. We even vaulted with the new
local team in Bend called Broken Top.
We hosted the Region III Championships this year at Forward Stride’s Vossenberg
Farms. Three of our vaulters attended Nationals this year, each doing incredibly well on
borrowed horses. We demonstrated vaulting
on a barrel to Girl Scouts and performed a
routine on stage at Girl Fest.
Emerald City Vaulters
PO Box 715, Wuana, WA 98395
Phone: 253-318-2900, Contact: Deanne Buffum
First Year: 1992, Colors: Black, Teal
DevonWood Vaulting Club
34142 SW Johnson School Rd, Cornelius, OR
97113.6228, Email: [email protected]
Phone: 503-357-9651, Contact: Alia Zagyva
First Year: 2004, Colors: Dark Blue, Light Blue
2007 was a good year for the DevonWood
Vaulting Club. Our new horse, Calando, is
extremely balanced and has a good canter, but
consistently trains the vaulters to be harmonious with him or else! We could not use Calando at many of this year’s competitions, so
I thank Flying Star for letting us borrow their
wonderful horse, Rhubarb, for the Vaulters at
We have one horse, Lady Mae. She is a
Clydesdale Quarter Horse Cross and stands
about 16 hands. Our team only consists of
four vaulters but we are growing rapidly.
We had a great year attending as many
competitions as possible and, for the first
time, we attended the AVA Annual Meeting
in Texas. We also did a few successful
demonstrations to get more people involved
in our sport. We participated at Nationals, did
very well and had a great time. I’m honored
to be the coach of Emerald City and we look
forward to another wonderful year.
Flying Star Vaulters
PO Box 19850, Portland, OR 97280
Phone: 503-830-6222, First Year: 2006
Contact: Marci Siegel-Kittrell, Colors: Blue, Gold
Better Late Than Never Vaulters
221 Highland Rd, Washougal, WA 98671
Phone: 360-837-3152, Contact: Kerry Noble
First Year: 2007, Colors: Purple, Green
Cascade Vaulters
16422 NE 19th St, Bellevue, WA 98008
Phone: 206-851-5210, Contact: Tom Sayles
First Year: 2005, Colors: Navy Blue, Silver, Gold
Jessica Berman
Lady Mae
Photo: courtesy Jessica Berman
Flying Star’s Mackenzie Johnson performs
her freestyle.
Photo: Clio Rebillion
One of the most exciting events of the
year was gaining our new equine team member. His name is San Tiago, or Tigo for short.
He is a six-year-old Percheron/Thoroughbred
Cross who is becoming a fantastic vaulting
horse and friend. His owners, the Kelley family, have graciously allowed him to be part of
our team. Good ole’ Rhubarb and his family,
the Vlastelicias, continue to be a cornerstone
of the vaulting club. 2008 promises to be
a year of continued growth. At Flying Star
Vaulters, we point to the stars with our toes!
February 2008
2007 Club Reports
Four Star Vaulters
PO Box 589, Graham, WA 98338
Phone: 253-770-1317, Contact: Kirstie Brar
Colors: Burgundy, Hunter Green, Silver
www.forwardstride.org
Happy Horse Riding School
548 Tuttle Lane, Burbank, WA 99323
Phone: 509-845-5477, Contact: Lindy Cogswell
First Year: 2006
Harbor View Vaulters
10012 Creviston Dr. NW, Gig Harbor, WA 98329
Phone: 253-858-0857, Contact: Lori Robison
Colors: Blue, Green, White, Turquiose
Iron Mountain Vaulters
PO Box 1253, Lake Oswego, OR 97035
Phone: 503-744-0765, Contact: Lisa Waldman
First Year: 2004, Colors: Green, White
http://hometown.aol.com/waldman1/
imvindex.html
Lisa Waldman
In March The Northwest Spirit of Vaulting Conference was held at our barn with
good attendance. It was a great learning experience and fun to spend the weekend with
other vaulters. We attended four competitions
in classes from novice walk to bronze. We
have seen lots of growth and improvement in
our club members’ vaulting skills.
the event. Three years ago he developed a
massive sinus infection requiring surgery in
order to breathe. He made an almost complete
recovery with only a little bit more difficulty
moving air than a normal horse and continues
to have the heart and enthusiasm to compete
as a team horse.
In 2008, we hope to continue to grow
our club and participate in more demonstrations to promote this great sport of vaulting.
Mountain Wind Vaulters
192 C Jackknife Lookout Rd, Kettle Falls, WA
99141, Email: [email protected]
Phone: 509-738-2077, Contact: Tamea C. Denault
First Year: 2006, Colors: Teal, Bright Blue Sill
www.oz.net/~tdenault
Mountain Wind Parent
2007 was a big year for our family. Last
summer we moved to the Kootenays, a part
of British Columbia, Canada that didn’t have
vaulting. Thankfully, through the AVA website, we found Tammy Denault and Mountain
Wind Vaulters. Although they were a couple
of hours away and in another country, we
started going there once a week in the Fall of
‘06. By January, we were practicing in their
covered arena in minus12 degrees weather
– a true test to our commitment to vaulting!
Tammy always keeps things positive and
worthwhile. Just put on a few more layers
of clothing and keep moving, she’d say, or
sneak into the heated tack room for a quick
warm-up.
As the warmer weather appeared, so did
the competitions. Mountain Wind went to
Springfest in Washington, Summer Splash in
British Colombia, the British Colombia Provincial Championships, DevonWood in Oregon, and the Alberta Provincial Championships. Living here and being with Mountain
Wind means that we have to love road trips!
Alternatively, we need to get things happening in Eastern Washington and Canada.
Northwind Vaulters
16355 SW 319th Place, Hillsboro, OR 97123
Phone: 503-628-0918, Contact: Wendy Ware
First Year: 1996, Colors: Navy, Turquoise
Wendy Ware
I have been training two horses and
working on Region III Spirit of Vaulting
Conference. I have to give credit to our club
for organizing and volunteering many hours
to the 2007 NorthWest Spirit of Vaulting
Conference. Jane and Les Rohde did the
conference part of the website and the online
registration programming for us. Wendy Ware
organized the conference and acquired sponsors. Dan Gleason supported and ran errands,
Emily Gleason helped produce conference
materials and was a clinician and conference
volunteer. Penny Maydak helped organize,
announce and volunteered the entire run of
the event. Caitlyn Boultinghouse helped
produce materials, set up and ran registration and ran the AVA Region III booth at the
conference. The conference was a six-month
endeavor for us. The final result was very
rewarding with over 100 participants and
several new AVA members.
Redwing Vaulters
5016 256th Ave SE, Redmond, WA 98053.2515
Phone: 425-898-9778, Contact: Katy Venters
First Year: 1996, Colors: Black, Red, Yellow
Region III of the AVA
16355 SW 319th Place, Hillsboro, OR 97123
Phone: 503-703-9177, Contact: Penny Maydak
First Year: 2006, www.region3vaulting.com
Non competitive club
www.skymountainvaulters.org
Warm Beach Vaulters
20806 Marine Dr. Box 40, Stanwood, WA 98292
Phone: 360-652-7575 ext. 258
Contact: Patti Skipton, Colors: Blue, Black, Silver
Photo: Jim Valerio
Vaulting World
Mt. Rainier Vaulters
9412 258th Avenue E, Buckley, WA 98321
Phone: 360-829-4298, Contact: Bonnie Kuki
First Year: 2002, Colors: Black, White, Blue
Sky Mountain Vaulters
11431 Old Suohomish Monroe Rd, Suohomish, WA
98290, Email: [email protected]
Phone: 425-870-7807, Contact: Andrea Brown
First Year: 2006, Colors: Electric Blue, Red, Black
Iron Mountain vaulter performs the stand.
Our horse BlackJack continues to be a
cherished member of our club. He loves his
kids and looks forward to hugs at the end of
practice. Our new club member, Ecco, is a
21-year-old Dutch Warmblood imported from
Amsterdam, Holland. He had a successful career in upper level dressage with very
steady and impressive floating gaits. His gaits
are only exceeded by his disposition. He has
accepted vaulters with wonderful, quiet enthusiasm. He was able to compete as a canter
vaulting horse within a month of starting his
training. Within a few months we took him to
Canada for the BC Provincial Vaulting Championships where he won best canter horse of
and she instructs us in horse management,
longeing, coaching, and anything else we needed.
She is a true inspiration. Her willingness to
share and grow the sport is exceptional.
www.warmbeach.com
Region IV
Tammy and Korynn had to vault on the
world’s biggest dump truck on the way to the
Alberta Provincials.
Photo: courtesy Tamea
Denault
As well as starting a new club of her
own, Tammy made our dreams come true by
supporting our aspirations. She has helped
us purchase and train our own vaulting horse
10
Acorn Vaulters
732 Camino Del Bosque, Albuquerque, NM 87114
Phone: 505-459-4846, Contact: Susan Caskey
First Year: 2006, Colors: Silver, Blue
Albuquerque Vaulters
117 Camino Alto, Corrales, NM 87048.7573
Email: [email protected], Phone: 505-898-6185,
Contact: Merry Cole, First Year: 1983,
Colors: Turquoise, Black
February 2008
2007 Club Reports
Merry Cole
It has been a very full year for the
Albuquerque Vaulters. We participated in
four local competitions including Nationals.
Add a successful barrel competition put on by
Lion’s Gate and the AVA Camp in Nebraska
and we were busy. I have great admiration for
the west coast clubs and the many competitions they sponsor.
Enchanted Circle Vaulters
PO Box 420 (TEC), Arroyo Hondo, NM 87513
Phone: 505-758-7542, Contact: Katherine Pettus
First Year: 2007, Colors: Gold, Pink, Black
Equestarz
PO Box 1025, Franktown, CO 80116
Phone: 720-851-4925, Contact: Star Hughes
First Year: 2001, Colors: Red, Blue, Silver
Gold Star Pacesetters
10321 CR 1020, Burleson, TX 76028
Phone: 817-295-5968, Contact: Frank Pace
Frank Pace
Albuquerque’s David McIntyre with Hayley
Hanson on Joe
Photo: courtesy Merry Cole
We were thrilled to have a University
of New Mexico student, Natalie Muehlke
from Massachusetts, coach for us this past
year and a half. Natalie was studying opera
and wound up singing the National Anthem
at Nationals. Teresa Salazar, former coach of
the Rocking Horse Vaulters, is our wonderful “technical” coach. She holds down a full
time job and can only come on the weekends.
Codi McIntyre, our alternate coach, works
around her college schedule. If any coaches
are thinking of coming to New Mexico, we
are looking!
Currently we are working with a
lovely 17.3 hand Irish Draft Mare, Irish
Cream, owned by Robin Kelly creator of
www.thedigitalhorse.com. Irish has a good
canter and will be able to give John Boy Joe a
break in the ring. Our goal has been to sponsor some of our vaulters, coaches, longeurs
or horses by getting them to important clinics
and competitions.
Keeping expenses for Nationals down
for the vaulters has also been a goal of the
club. So far each year we have been able to
pay all the horse fees and horse transportation
for competitions. Exciting plans for 2008 are
on the horizon.
Bosque Belgians
10200 Jarmel NW, Albuquerque, NM 87114
Phone: 505-710-7532, Contact: Francie Rodriguez
First Year: 2008
Cherable Vaulters
225 Country Rd 516, Ignacio, CO 81137.9728
Phone: 970-563-6517, Contact: Barbara Engel
First Year: 1995, Colors: Black, Blue
Vaulting World
The Gold Star Pacesetters, a new club
in Burleson, Texas, just south of Fort Worth,
started with nine active vaulters. We meet at
Frank and Patti Pace’s Almosta Ranch Dressage Stables. At present we are using Gus, a
16.3 hand Percheron/Quarter Horse gelding,
as our walk/trot horse and Oak Star, a 16.1hh
Quarter Horse gelding, as our “barrel.”
Our vaulters’ ages range from eight to
19 years old with most being sophomores
in high school. We did two demonstrations
for Wings of Hope Equitherapy Center and
one for Curragh Equestrian Center and are
hoping to arrange more demonstrations this
spring.As all of us are new to this sport. We
are learning as we go but have had excellent
support from people across the nation.
Our plans include working with Rosie
Brown’s Lone Star Vaulters in Austin, Texas
this spring. Two of our girls and our coach
are going to the Fort Robinson camp this
summer. We may not be ready for the World
Equestrian Games but we are a lot better than
we were six months – even six weeks – ago.
We thank the Paces for the use of their
arena; Penny Bonkowski and Katie Underwood for the use of Gus and Star; and Jim
and Sarah Garrett of Gold Star Homes for
their generous financial support.
Golden Gate Vaulters
5016 Crawford Gulch Rd, Golden, CO 80403.8112
Phone: 303-277-0356, Contact: Noel Martonovich
First Year: 1994, Colors: Black, Red
Noel Martonovich
Golden Gate Vaulters has made some
big changes this year. Our club is gaining
a large base of young vaulters as we begin
to lose our veteran vaulters to expanding
equestrian horizons, overseas adventures and
life journeys. We are also making big changes
in horses. After 11 years as our competition
horse and winning the CHA school horse of
the year award, Doc is retiring from competition
and going on to do performances with Big
Horse Productions. We have not only new
vaulters in training but also three new horses.
With the addition of another competition
in the region, we now qualify for AVA Zone
awards. As a club, we went to a spring fest in
Albuquerque, Regionals in Albuquerque,
Nationals and Octoberfest in Colorado. We
also attended the CVI competition in California. Many of our vaulters attended the AVA
11
vaulting camp at Fort Robinson, Nebraska
where they trained with Nancy Stevens
Brown, Christoph Lensing, Erik Martonovich
and Samantha Smith.
This coming year, we hope to attend all
of those events. We plan to offer a weeklong day-camp at Little Spring Ranch for the
younger kids incorporating aerial arts training
and creative writing.
We thank the great parents at Golden
Gate Vaulters for their terrific support of the
program and their kids. We couldn’t be the
club we are without them.
Highland Meadow Vaulters AND
Equestrian Club
HC 77 Box 27, Laguna, NM 87026.9701
Phone: 505-831-2423, Contact: Lynda Laursen
Colors: Purple, Black, Forest Green, Silver
Lazy River
6524 Corrales Rd, Corrales, NM 87048
Phone: 505-897-0367, Contact: Lee Thomas
First Year: 2005, Colors: Purple, Red, Black
www.lazyriverpony.com
Lions Gate Vaulters
7114 Hearth Dr. NW, Albuquerque, NM 87120
Phone: 505-898-3813, Contact: Karen Kitterman
First Year: 2006, Colors: Navy, White, Gold
Little Raven Vaulting
2406 S. Holman Circle, Lakewood, CO 80228
Phone: 303-204-7944,
Contact: Carol von Michaelis
First Year: 2007, Colors: Black, White, Navy Blue
Lone Star Vaulters
11316 Jollyville #167, Austin, TX 78759
Phone: 512-968-1561, Contact: Rosie Brown
First Year: 2006, Colors: Red, White
www.lonestarvaulters.com
Rosie Brown
2007 was another full year for us.
We performed at the San Antonio Rodeo,
hosted the AVA annual meeting in Dallas/Fort
Worth, held a medal exam, gave an introductory
clinic to a large Girl Scout Council near Houston,
put together a training camp in California,
performed at many other horse shows, gave
clinics at local facilities and to 4-H groups
and hosted and attended clinics to increase
our knowledge and further our training.
We learned, trained others, and informed
many people around the great state of Texas
on what vaulting is all about. Thank you to
all who have been involved in the evolution
of vaulting in Texas. This year will be just
as jam-packed and we will see ya’ll in the
competition arena. Looking forward to a
great 2008!
Mile-High Vaulters
2252 Weld County Rd. 21, Fort Lupton, CO 80621
Phone: 303-931-7072, Contact: Jodi Rinard
First Year: 2002, Colors: Green, Gold
Dena Madden
The Mile High Vaulters of Atlantis
Farms are based in Fort Lupton, Colorado,
which is just north of Denver. We are pleased
Continued
February 2008
2007 Club Reports
Mile-High Vaulters
that our barn and arena are improving slowly
but steadily. We have been using the arena for
most of the year and hope to have the office
and stalls completed this coming spring. We
are hoping to host some clinics and competitions in the coming years.
Sampson, our 19+ hand Percheron and
Amidala, our 16 hand Percheron Cross, have
been joined by several horses in training. We
took Wyoming, our Belgian Cross, to a green
horse class at the trot and canter and hope to
be using him in competitions soon.
Our vaulters competed in individual,
pairs, team and two-phase classes at Regionals, Nationals and Octoberfest. Three of our
vaulters earned their Bronze Medal, one a
Trot Medal and one a Trot Novice Pin at Octoberfest. This year was also the competition
debut of our youngest vaulter, Zoe Rinard,
age two.
We again performed in the Niwot Days
Annual Parade with a demonstration and
public vaulting session. Other exciting news
is that we have invited Renu Poduval to bring
her therapeutic vaulting club to our barn. We
are hoping that 2008 is going to be our year
to grow by adding vaulters of all ages and
abilities!
Vaulters Del Sol
1282 Mountain Valley Rd, Sandia Park, NM 87047
Phone: 505-281-6835-, Contact: Ann Shubert
First Year: 2007
Greta Shryock
Vaulters del Sol had a great first year!
Practicing in the mountains just east of
Albuquerque, our vaulters range in age from
four to 49, and includ tiny tots, adults, walk,
preliminary trot, bronze and gold levels. We
were honored to have the use of Veronica
Turner’s beautiful Belgian, Rocky. He helped
all the vaulters improve their confidence and
skills. We appreciate our wonderful Region
IV for always being supportive of each other
and us.
With winter snow on the ground, the
club has been staying busy indoors doing
gymnastics and working on the barrel. The
club is also newly official as a non-profit
corporation and is anticipating some fundraisers in the spring. We are all looking forward
to the warmer weather so we can get back
on Fortunada, our amazing Warmblood, who
will be working alongside some new horses.
I am looking forward to not having to
work horses in the snow! With our new team
uniforms ready to go, ‘08 should be a great
season of vaulting and more fun in the New
Mexico sun! I am honored to have such an
amazing team.
Welsh Rabbit Vaulting Club
3721 Country Vista Dr., Burleson, TX 76028
Phone: 817-561-9947, Contact: Meg Fletcher
First Year: 1998, Colors: Black, Purple
Vaulting World
Western Slope Vaulters
800-1400 Lane, Delta, CO 81416
Phone: 248-933-2822, Contact: Katherine Metzger
First Year: 2006, Colors: Black, Silver, Red
Region IX
A.R.T. Vaulters
4160 Dori Del Hills, Blacksburg, VA 24060
Phone: 540-951-8545, Contact: Deb Dyer
First Year: 2005, Colors: Black, Purple, Teal, Gold
Advenire
4190 Dori Del Hills, Blacksburg, VA 24060
Email: [email protected], Phone: 540-998-4633,
Contact: Rachel Alexandra Rizk, First Year: 2007
Balance Vaulters
1867 Spruce Lane, Maidens, VA 23102
Phone: 804-556-6376, Contact: Katie Flannagan
First Year: 1996, Colors: Black, Green, White
www.geocities.com/balancevaulters
Katie Flannagan
2007 has been a year of successes,
challenges and fun for Balance Vaulters. The
year began with a blast at Blue Star’s Mardi
Gras Fun Fest. As one mom stated, “I laughed
so hard, that my face hurts!” The Great
Falls/Topaz Mothers’ Day Fest was our first
AVA recognized competition and set the tone
for the rest of the year. At the AVA vaulting
camp in Nebraska we worked with great instructors and made friends from other clubs.
The friendships continued at the Region IX
Championships. A few days after returning
from Regionals our horses and vaulters were
on the road to Denver and Nationals. With
Balance, Agape and Great Falls our vaulters
earned the National C Team Championship.
Beau, our beautiful black Shire supported the
team freestyle. This was Beau’s third competition at the canter.
Autumn was time for recreation and fun.
We participated in the Great Falls/Topaz Fall
Balance Vaulters
Photo: Harold Seibert
12
Fest and played games at our own club’s Halloween Howl. We performed at the Virginia
State Fair along with members of the Ladies
Only! vaulting program.
The club and I wish to thank our mentors,
Christoph Lensing, Anna de la Motte and
Nancy Stevens-Brown. Most importantly, the
unwavering support of the team parents made
this memorable year possible.
Blue Star Vaulters
832 Copeland Rd, Suffolk, VA 23434
Phone: 757-621-6442, Contact: Nicole D’Auriol
Colors: Royal Blue, Light Blue, Silver
Butler Vaulters
15951 Germantown Rd., Darnestown, MD 20874
Phone: 301-977-6600, Contact: Becki Hardie
CATR Farms Vaulting Team
19 South Hampton Drive, Charleston, SC 29407
Phone: 843-766-4359, Contact: Anja Cain
Anja Cain
The CATR Farms Vaulting Team is part
of the community lesson program at Charleston Area Therapeutic Riding in Charleston,
South Carolina. We are the only AVA vaulting team in South Carolina. In 2007 our
team performed a demonstration at the farm’s
annual spring horse show. The team also performed in the fall at a mounted games event.
Clara and Eleanor Fish and Michelle Hillenius
on the barrel
Photo: courtesy CATR Farms
Amy McCune, Executive Secretary of
the AVA, gave a clinic in the spring to prepare
the team for their first competition, the Southern Sunshine Fest, near Charlotte, North
Carolina. All our team members placed at
this event (special thanks to Carol Land’s
horse, Moses) and came home inspired.
Elisabeth Antrack came all the way from
Flensburg, Germany to work with the vaulters
over two weekends in late November. Looking forward, we have plans for medal testing
and horsemanship certifications. The CATR
Farms vaulting team would love to hear from
other vaulters in South Carolina!
February 2008
2007 Club Reports
Cavalier Vaulters
193 Duck Pond Drive, Groton, MA 01450
Phone: 978-448-4193, First Year: 1996
Colors: Hunter Green, Navy Blue, White
Delaware Valley College Equine
Studies
700 E Butler Ave, Doylestown, PA 18901
Phone: 215-489-2432, Contact: Susan Whites
First Year: 2007, Colors: Green, Gold
Falconwood Vaulters
1187 Floyd Street, Covington, GA 30014
Phone: 770-786-7283, First Year: 1989
Contact: Priscilla B. Faulkner
Colors: Blue, Black, Red
Lisa Zielenske
We hosted our spring competition at our
barn this year. We also had our competition
AVA recognized. Those were both big firsts
for our club. The competition went very well
and our parents did an excellent job even
though many had never been to or seen a
vaulting competition before.
As the school year ended and summer
approached, our calendar began to fill up
quickly. Hannah Horsemon, from Agape,
came out and vaulted with us during the summer. In June, we had Kerith Lemon come to
do a weekend clinic. She did a great job with
our freestyles! She gave a compulsory session foy our canter vaulters and we saw huge
improvements by the time she left.
Our summer was full of fun and was
gone in the blink of an eye. We traveled to
Virginia for Region IX Championships in
July. That put an end to our competition
season but did not stop our young vaulters
from their performances. In October we put
on a Halloween demonstration for friends and
family. We decided to let the kids wear their
Halloween costumes to express their different
styles and fashions. After the demonstration,
we had a hot-dog cookout.
In 2008, our team is going to host
another AVA recognized competition at
Falconwood on March 29 and 30 and we plan
to have many more exciting demos for the
community. Our goals for this upcoming year
are to spread the word about vaulting and
improved our vaulting skills.
Flying Fillies
507 Bellwood Lane, South Boston, VA 24592
Phone: 434-575-8360, Contact: Gwyneth Knouse
First Year: 2007, Colors: Black, Red
Great And Small
17320 Moore Road, Boyds, MD 20841
Phone: 301-349-0075, Contact: Laurie Bay
First Year: 2007 www.greatandsmalldc.org
Great Falls Vaulters
11021 Dobbins Dr., Potomac, MD 20854
Phone: 301-983-9795, Contact: Jennifer Williams
First Year: 1978, Colors: Deep Green, Maroon,
Royal Blue
Vaulting World
High Vaultage
872 Rte 146 A, Clifton Park, NY 12065
Phone: 518-877-8303, Contact: Anja O’Toole
Image Vaulters
71 Iroquois Dr, Warwick, RI 02888
Phone: 401-481-6439, Contact: Stephanie Harris
First Year: 2006, Colors: Maroon, Gray, White
http://imagevaulters.tripod.com
Stephanie Harris
Image Vaulters had an exciting and
eventful 2007. With team members living
in Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and
Virginia this year, it took a little creativity to
keep everyone connected. We attended four
competitions in our region, including the
AVA Region IX Championships in Lexington,
Virginia.
Stephanie Harris on Gumby
Photo courtesy Image Vaulters
The team gave demonstrations at the
Connecticut Equine Trade Show and the
Equus and Equestrian Sports Foundation Gala
in Long Island, New York. Our horses, Doc
and Abby, were quite a hit as we waited in
line to board the ferry to Long Island! I think
almost as many people learned about vaulting
in that parking lot as did at the demonstration.
In addition, two of our club members vaulted
in an AVA Friendship Team demonstration at
the North American Junior and Young Riders’
Championships.
We are especially grateful to Falconwood
Vaulters and Great Falls Vaulters for sharing
their wonderful horses Gumby, Paddington,
Murphy, and Goldie with us throughout the
year. 2008 will bring new opportunities and
lots of traveling, as we remain committed to
13
staying connected and supporting competitions throughout the region.
In Step Vaulters
5024 Ogg Rd, Cedar Hill, TN 37032
Phone: 615-382-4360, First Year: 2005
Contact: Lily K. Wray-Davis, Colors: Red, White
Matrix Vaulting Programs
200 Rockingham Rd, Seneca, SC 29672
Phone: 864-888-8649, Contact: Amy McCune
First Year: 1996, Colors: Blue, White
Mt. Tabor Vaulters
620 Deercroft Dr., Blacksburg, VA 24060
Phone: 540-951-4816, Contact: Kim Beisecker
First Year: 1990, Colors: Purple, Jade Green, Black
Kim Beisecker
A cold and windy winter proved challenging to the vaulters and horses in Blacksburg, Virginia. The weather warmed enough
for Nancy Stevens-Brown to come in April
and take great pictures of vaulters as the
snowflakes fell. “Go for the Gold” is a new
program to encourage East Coast vaulters to
reach elite levels. Mt Tabor vaulters enjoyed
working with Nancy.
The tragedy at Virginia Tech strained
our focus at practices but vaulters did a great
job striving to meet their personal goals. The
Falconwood Fest and the Great Falls/Topaz
Mothers’ Day Fest were exciting venues in
which we could show our progress.
As the weather reached record high
temperatures, our vaulters did an outstanding
demonstration sponsored by the Kentucky
Horse Park. We introduced the community to
the values of our sport. Many in the audience
were surprised by the number of male vaulters in our club.
The Spirit of Vaulting Conference was
held in Blacksburg early in October. The
coaches brought plenty of warm clothes but
no one expected to need sunscreen. What a
nice surprise!
Colleen Kelley, a body mechanics
expert from Australia gave us a fascinating
clinic. She also did a presentation at Virginia
Tech in memory of a member of the Equestrian Team who died in the April 16th tragedy.
All the vaulters and riders now better understand what the perfect seat looks like and they
learned some new training techniques.
New England Valkyries
PO Box 404, Littleton, MA 01460
Phone: 978-952-6787, First Year: 1994
Contact: Rachael E. Markels Webber
Old Dominion Vaulters
PO Box 185, Pilot, VA 24138
Phone: 540-651-3053,
First Year: 2005, Colors: Navy, Gray
http://pob.swva.net/odv
Paradise Vaulters
3037 Friends Rd, Hayes, VA 23072
Phone: 804-684-9936, Contact: Suzanne Parodi
First Year: 2005, Colors: Black, Gold
February 2008
2007 Club Reports
Puckerbrush Vaulting Team
97 Miles Rd, Newburgh, ME 04444
Phone: 207-234-2147, Contact: Sandy Welsh
First Year: 2005, Colors: Pink, White, Black
www.puckerbrushfarm.com
Renaissance Farm Vaulting Club
372 Captain Clark Hwy, Wilton, NH 03086
Phone: 603-654-5174, Contact: Pam Fleurant
First Year: 2005, Colors: Purple, Silver
www.renaissancefarminfo.org
Pam Fleurant
Renaissance Farm Vaulting Club is
coached by Pam Fleurant. We are one of the
few clubs in the New England Area. We have
attended only two regional championships.
However each year we set out to improve
ourselves and our horses and increase awareness about vaulting.
This year we performed many demonstrations at Pony Club Camps, an open house
for the leading area Equine Hospital and two
prestigious fundraisers. We even made the
cover of the local newspaper. It is our mission
to educate the public about our sport.
Throughout the year we host clinics and
camps with some of the AVA’s best clinicians
to help us reach our goal. We consider our
club lucky to have Kerith Lemon nearby. She
coaches us two or three times a year.
We currently have three vaulting horses,
Degas, Lola and Avalon. For the past two
years we have hosted a barrel fest, but in
2008 we will host a horse fest. This will be
our trial run for an AVA Recognized event
for 2009. We also have plans to attend the
National Championships in California. I am
lucky to have such wonderful vaulters to
coach and parents to help out. Currently, we
have 20 vaulters ranging from pee wee trot
vaulters to silver level.
Root Farm Vaulters
6000 Rock Rd, Verona, NY 13478
Email: [email protected], Colors: Green, Black
Phone: 315-363-6124, Contact: Pete Senn
First Year: 2005, www.rootfarm.org
Root Farm vaulters perform at a demonstration.
Kim Senn
Photo: courtesy Kim Senn
What a year! Root Farm added seven
horses to its equine-assisted therapy program
Vaulting World
when it began hosting the local equine science classes. The junior and senior kids from
the program are planning their own vaulting
club, with coach Peter Senn’s help, to fill up
those long, cold, dark winter evenings.
We plan to continue and upgrade our “on
the road” therapeutic vaulting presentations
and we are looking forward to taking our
barrel and even one of our “portable” horses
into the classrooms and dining rooms of the
local schools and therapy centers for some
lunchtime learnings. A lot more people in this
central New York area will know about vaulting by the time we’ve finished with them!
We are already planning for our annual
Therapeutic Vaulting Symposium the weekend of May 16-18, when Rick and Virginia
Hawthorne from Valley View Vaulters will be
strutting their stuff at Root Farm. Stay tuned!
Seneca Sport Equestrian Vaulters
14901 Montevideo Rd., Poolesville, MD 20837
Phone: 301-467-7873, Contact: Francie Dougherty
First Year: 2007, Colors: Red, Tan, Black
www.senecasporthorses.com
Shea-Rose Vaulters
2411 Waxhaw-Marvin Rd, Marvin, NC 28173
Phone: 704-843-4306, Contact: Carol Land
First Year: 1993, Colors: Red, Black, White, Silver
www.shearosevaulters.org
Carol Land
Just for fun: To work on our dismounts we
took the horses swimming and jumped off
their backs into the lake this summer. Over
spring break all our coaches and most of our
longeurs are going on a week-long trail ride
in Spain from the mountains to the sea near
Barcelona. We held our last practice before
Christmas at a yoga studio so we could work
on balance, flexibility and stretching. We did
a vaulting demonstration for the local community day and invited others to try vaulting.
After our spring Southern Sunshine Fest, we
took our judge, Toni Amoroso, on a beach
ride and visited historic Charleston.
Training vaulters: Our vaulters are working hard. Quite a few found a vaulting barrel
under the tree this Christmas!
Training horses: We are trying to add more
horses to our vaulting string. Our current
vaulting horses are getting older.
Training coaches: One of our coaches will
be heading off to college this year. We will
really miss her! We are training a retired
vaulter and we have a yoga instructor who is
coming to practices.
Training longeurs: Several of our parents
are learning and longeing at practices.
Training parents: Attending the Spirit of
Vaulting Conference in Blacksburg was very
helpful.
It will be very interesting to see how this
club will develop with all the changes and
opportunities coming up this year. It’s kind of
like watching a rose unfold as it matures.
14
Shooting Stars Vaulting Club
6903 Harding Hwy, Mays Landing, NJ 08330
Phone: 609-476-4266, Contact: Dana Van Vranken
First Year: 1998, Colors: Purple, Silver, Black
http://shootingstarsvaulting.org
Silver Star Vaulters
7708 Scenic River Ln, Nashville, TN 37221
Phone: 615-662-9428, Contact: Trish Thomas
First Year: 2006, Colors: Teal, Silver, White
www.silverstarfarm.com
Small Wonder Pony Club
421 Kings Hwy, Milford, DE 19963
Phone: 302-422-4171, Contact: Glenda Adkins
First Year: 2000, Colors: Red, Black, White
Smooth Moves Vaulting Team
2507 Mill Rd, Powhatan, VA 23139, First Year: 2001
Email: [email protected], , Contact: Kathy Pitt
Phone: 804-598-0171, Colors: Green, Tan
Spirit Creek Vaulters
325 Main Ave, Milmay, NJ 08340
Phone: 609-501-0947, Contact: Brandi Bleifuss
First Year: 2008, Colors: Blue, Black
Therapeutic Animal Partners
PO Box 624, Kingston Springs, TN 37082
Phone: 615-948-2618, Contact: Terri Knauer
Topaz Vaulters
3912 Chantilly Rd, Chantilly, VA 20151
Phone:703-378-5987, Contact: Chris Appel-Bucierka
Colors: Black, Magenta, Purple, Red, Black, White
www.homestead.com/topazvaulters
A versatile
vaulting
horse:
Avery with
Rachel
Sykes
Photos:
Alex
Thomas
Avery
eventing
with
Megan
Godek
February 2008
2007 Club Reports
Christine Appel-Bucierka
We participated in Great Falls’ Barrel Fest, Great Falls/Topaz Spring Fest, the
Region IX Championships, Nationals and
Great Falls/Topaz Fall Fest. We performed
numerous demonstrations including one for
Bruce Deal’s Office party. The crowd was
very interested and asked lots of questions.
In April we had our annual clinic with
Rick and Virginia Hawthorne. Rick is always
inspiring for our vaulters. In July we had a
green horse training day. In October we had
clinic and medal tests with Adrienne Stang.
Adrienne was able to pull apart the compulsories so that each vaulter could achieve
higher scores. Vaulters, coaches and parents
were thrilled with her knowledge and great
sense of humor.
The club is so proud of Debby Deal’s
marvelous mare, Avery, who carried our
canter vaulters and stepped into carrying
team like a true teammate. The canter team
lost Andromeda. Per vet’s orders she can no
longer canter but will enjoy a great future
as a trot horse. Pam DiCioccio found a 16.1
Quarter Horse/Clydesdale gelding. Jonah
is in training with Chewy, our 16.1 Quarter
Horse/Mustang gelding prospect.
Immediately following Jonah’s purchase, a 17.1 hand Belgian/Paint Cross gelding, King Arthur, was donated to the club.
Better known as “Gigantor,” vaulters Alex
Thomas and Margaret McLain are riding him.
Dr. Linda Neimeier, DVM, and an AVA
Silver medalist donated Ben, a 15.3 Belgian
trained for trot vaulting.
The Topaz club wants to thank all the
clubs who loaned us horses at Regionals, Nationals, and Spring and Fall Fests. The
most rewarding part of this sport is the sharing
of horses, ideas, and vaulters among clubs.
Amy Albertson is head coach, based in
Purlear North Carolina. Basic Doc, a veteran
vaulting horse and Gandolph, our trot horse,
comprise our current equine members. A canter horse is somewhere on the horizon. Under
Amy’s enthusiastic and expert tutelage, White
Oak has developed into a team of confident
up-and-coming vaulters.
In 2007, the club participated in the
Southern Sunshine Fest, Mountain Spring
Fest, a week-long vaulting camp at White
Oak Stables, a one day clinic at SheaRose
camp, Dusti Hausman’s camp/clinic, Region
IX Championships, Great Falls/Topaz Fall
Fest, the Spirit of Vaulting Conference, three
exhibitions and two clinics in which our
vaulters helped coach. Looking towards 2008,
we hope to add a weekly vaulting practice
to our schedule, refine the barrel room and
continue having fun in the world of vaulting.
My daughter summed up the way we all feel
about the sport when she told me that she
“couldn’t imagine life without vaulting.”
Region X
A Vaulting Connection
6389 Burton SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546
Phone: 616-954-7028, Contact: Karin Schmidt
First Year: 2005, Colors: Blue, Neon Green
www.avaultingconnection.com
Karin Schmidt
A team of high spirited young athletes
of various ages and talents are very excited to
see what 2008 is going to bring. Our horses
Charley, Caspian and Vinnie are located at
Stonehill Stable in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
This provides year-round arena practice for
the club members. Our manager and coach,
Karin Schmidt, has worked very hard to
insure that not only do we have the horse
sense but also, with the use of Karin’s home
church facility, we are able to work on our
barrel sense.
We are also very thankful to our gymnastics instructor, Kay Nehls, for all her hard
work and dedication to our club. Our club
offers therapeutic vaulting to special needs
kids of all abilities. We are hosting the Winter
Expose, February 1-3, 2008. Visit us.
Agape Vaulters
5329 Old Pipestone Road, Eau Claire, MI 49111
Phone: 269-782-3206, Contact: Jane Egger
First Year: 1986, Colors: Black, Red, White
Jane Egger
2007 brought competitions, exhibitions
and education for the Agape vaulters. We
competed in the new Celebration Fest series
in Region X and at fests in other regions.
Two of our vaulters competed at Nationals in
Colorado. Gwen, our team-owned Percheron
mare, carried our vaulters at local fests. She
also calmly walked in the Eau Claire Fourth
of July Parade while our vaulters performed
to the delight of the crowd.
Continued
Vaulting Visions
536 Tomlin Station Rd, Gibbstown, NJ 08027
Phone: 856-467-0889, Contact: Donna Minix
First Year: 2007, Colors: Black, Teal, White
Virginia Vaulters
34294 Bridgestone Lane, Bluemont, VA 20135
Phone: 540-554-8209, Contact: Patrice Smith
First Year: 2001, Colors: Royal Blue, Gold, White
White Oak Vaulters
348 C.C. Hayes Rd, Purlear, NC 28665
Phone: 336-903-0016, Contact: Amy Albertson
First Year: 2005, Colors: Black, Purple, White
Introducing... White Oak Vaulters
Celeste von Mangan
When I was a young teenager, equestrian
vaulting was on my mental list to look into,
but I became involved with eventing, training
horses, equine acupuncture, providing sanctuary for unwanted horses and freelance writing
over the course of thirty years. When I saw
a notice for vaulting lessons offered near my
home, my daughter Eve was signed up immediately. I was soon a longeur for the new
club, White Oak Vaulters.
Vaulting World
15
February 2008
2007 Club Reports
AGAPE VAULTERS
The vaulters and Gwen joined with all
the other Michigan vaulting clubs to demonstrate at the Michigan Stallion Expo in Lansing. Gwen and coach Jane Egger attended
the Spirit of Vaulting conference in Grand
Rapids, Michigan to learn longeing from German clinician, Rainer Hilbt. His clinic was
well organized and we came away with better
communication between horse and longeur
as well as specific training methods to help
Gwen’s gaits.
We thank our team’s supporters, especially the encouraging parents. They stepped
up to lend a hand whenever something
needed to be done, not only at practices, but
also at events.
Blue Sky Vaulters
808 E. Dunkerton Rd., Cedar Falls, IA 50613
Phone: 3192407392, Contact: Deb DeVries
First Year: 2008, Colors: Blue, Silver
Michigan Vaulting Teams
12195 Andresen Rd, South Lyon, MI 48178
Phone: 586-242-7351, Contact: Karen Rach
First Year: 2004, Colors: Red, Royal Blue, Silver
Jane Cutler
We have kept up a busy performance
schedule and competition season this past year.
Performances included: Michigan Stallion Expo, Kensington Metro Park Festivals,
Milford Fourth of July parade, and summer
and winter recitals combined with drill, dressage and jump riders from Equine Performing
Arts. Many people were exposed to, and fell
in love with vaulting as a result.
We attended clinics including one
by Megan Benjamin, clinics by judges at
regional competitions and a two-day clinic
with Nancy Stevens-Brown. Each clinician
inspired our vaulters and helped them with
their technical and artistic skills and revitalized their love for the sport!
www.cfequestriancenter.com
Cedar Lodge
PO Box 218, Lawrence, MI 49064
Phone: 269-674-8071, Contact: Amy Edwards
First Year: 2006 www.cedarlodge.com
Countrystyle Vaulters
15839 Floating Bridge Road, Three Rivers, MI 49093
Phone: 269-816-4468, Contact: Brooke Ruggles
Elements of Grace
1477 10th St. SE, Buffalo, MN 55313
Phone: 763-227-7347, Contact: Sally Boyd
First Year: 2008, Colors: Aqua, Orange, Black
Fiddler’s Green Vaulters
14022 Harder Road, Three Rivers, MI 49093
Phone: 269-273-2667, Contact: Cindy Mehaney
First Year: 2004, Colors: Black, Teal, Silver
Graham Acres Vaulting
5451 McKinley, China, MI 48054
Phone: 810-765-4706, Contact: Janet Huff
First Year: 2007, Colors: Blue, Yellow
In-Stride Vaulters
W7810 Loveland Road, Poynette, WI 53955
Email: [email protected],
Phone: 608-635-2968, Contact: Carol Nelson
First Year: 2005
Kentucky Horse Park Vaulting
Program
1068 Jackson Pike, Harrodsburg, KY 40330
Contact: Kelly Mardell
First Year: 2007
Lakeshore Vaulters
59940 Knevels Ct., Three Rivers, MI 49093
Phone: 269-244-5541, Contact: Chris Horsmon
First Year: 2008
Mel-O-Dee Vaulting Club
2 Birch Lane, North Oaks, MN 55127
Phone: 612-723-6568, Contact: Sharon Sloper
http://melodee-stables.com/
Vaulting World
Michigan vaulters at the Mitford Fourth of
July Parade Photo: courtesy Michigan Vaulters
Competitions we attended included: Regional competition series and AVA Nationals
in Denver. Many ribbons were brought home
from each event. In preparation for the 2008
season, the team is cross training in dance,
gymnastics and vaulting.
Pegasus Farm
7490 Edison Ave, Hartville, OH 44632.9328
Email: [email protected].
Phone: 330-935-2300, Contact: Tammi Gainer
First Year: 1996, Colors: Gray, Black, Royal Blue
www.pegasusfarm.org
Stars and Stripes 4H Club
3700 E Mulder Road, McBain, MI 49657
Phone: 231-775-7999,-ext-109, Contact: Linda
Gruenberg
First Year: 2007, Colors: Red, White, Blue
Sunshine Vaulters
7950 Trotters Lane, Whitmore Lake, MI 48189
Phone: 734-449-2928, Contact: Loretta Scheel
First Year: 2006, Colors: Green, Yellow
Timberlane Vaulters
3614 Ridgemont Ct, Grand Rapids, MI 49546
16
Phone: 616-285-9851-, Contact: Annie Rouvillois
First Year: 2007, Colors: Red, Yellow, Black
Annie Rouvillois
As we look back on our first year as a
club, two things come to mind: what fun we
had and how we somehow kept our spirits up
even though our team has not yet found the
right horse! Our very existence depends on
finding a horse with a modest price tag that
can serve as a dressage school and vaulting
horse, With that in mind, here is our guide to:
Surviving a Year Without a Team Horse
#1 Drive around country roads until you
spot a herd of Haflingers and ask if the
owner knows of any slightly larger
models - like, say,
Belgians, that have been ridden.
#2 Miraculously find that Belgian and make
a lease deal with the owner.
#3 Realize that the Belgian would make a
wonderful vaulting horse but not dressage school horse. Give the Belgian
back at end of summer.
#4 Meanwhile, be lucky enough to find an
amazing club two hours away that has
an experienced, generous coach with a
seasoned white Percheron and offers to
share at all four AVA competitions.
#5 Search endlessly on Dreamhorse.com,
explaining many times what is equestrian vaulting!
#6 Connect with more generous vaulting
coaches from Massachusetts to New
Mexico who are willing to try out sale
horses in their area.
#7 Find that some are good for dressage but
not vaulting, or vaulting but not dressage
or both, but are too expensive.
Victory Vaulters
11312 Haggerman Rd, South Rockwood, MI 48179
Phone: 734-379-1341, Contact: Terry Ferraro
First Year: 2003, Colors: Blue, Silver, Pink
Foreign Clubs
Clearview Vaulters
429527 8th Concession B, Singhampton, ONT
Canada NOC 1MO
Phone: 705-627-8251, Contact: Kathy Wilson
First Year: 2004, Colors: Blue, Yellow
www.clearviewvaulters.com
Design Fitness
244 Lincoln Road, Waterloo, ONT Canada NZJ 2P3
Phone: 519-747-0814, Contact: Terry Ford
First Year: 2007, www.designfitness.ca
Meadow Creek Vaulting
Box 15, Site 7, RR4, Olds, ALB Canada T4H 1T8
Phone: 403-556-6266,
Contact: Marijke Van Der Sluijs
First Year: 2006, Colors: Black, Blue, Silver
Spruce Valley Vaulters
RR #2 Site 15 Comp 21, Rocky Mountain House,
ALB Canada T4T 2A2
Phone: 403-845-5311, Contact: Becky Marland
First Year: 2008, Colors: Forest Green, White
www.sprucevalleyaction.com
February 2008
Call for Nominations
Amy McCune
The AVA General Secretary has announced that nominations are now
open for the board of directors and officers of the AVA. Nominations to the
board of directors may be offered to any
current AVA sustaining member except
board members with another year to
serve. Any current AVA adult member
may be nominated for an officer position.
The following board members
whose terms are valid until November
2009 should not be nominated for the
board, but may be nominated for officer
positions: Megan Benjamin, Carol Beutler, Rosie Brown, Sue Detol,
Priscilla G. Faulkner, Katie Flannagan,
Virginia Hawthorne, Devon Maitozo,
Yossi Martonovich, and Bob Weber.
The following board members’
terms expire in November 2008 and
they may be nominated for board or
officer positions: Jessica Ballenger,
Carolyn Bland, Bill Brown, Merry Cole,
Sydney Frankel, Connie Geisler, Rick
Hawthorne, Marianne Rose, and Karin
Schmidt.
The following officer positions
expire in November 2008 and are open
for nomination: President, Secretary, VP
Development, and VP Membership.
Position Responsibilities: Those
elected will take office at the November
Board meeting and will serve a two-year
term. Term includes attending board
meetings (annual meeting, national
championships, conference calls, etc.)
and serving on at least one committee.
President - Serves as the chief
executive officer of the Association;
responsible for ensuring that the business
of the AVA is conducted; serves on the
executive board.
Secretary - Responsible for accurate
and timely minutes of all AVA Board
and Executive Board meetings; prepares
agendas and reports for each meeting;
oversees the Nominations and Ballot
committees; serves on the Executive
Board.
Vice President Development
- Responsible for growing the sport of
AVA Medal Exams - Oct. 6, 2007 - Oct. 28, 2007
October 6 - Petaluma, California
Toni Amoroso (AVA R)
Morning Star
Brigitte BaradatTrot........................5.333
Kylen Dix.......... Bronze Com..........6.060
Athena GuinardTrot........................5.417
Angelika Guinard Trot....................5.667
Hope Kraus....... Trot........................6.133
Andrea Meislin.. Trot........................5.650
Leah Sache........ Bronze Com..........6.110
Robin Todd........ Bronze...................5.680
Tambourine
Julia Bell........... Bronze Com..........6.450
Nick Fujii.......... Trot........................5.100
Lystra Hobby ... Bronze...................5.760
Olivia Merino.... Bronze...................5.970
Clare Sitzer........ Trot........................5.533
October 13 - Castle Rock, Colorado
Jennifer Williams (AVA r)
Albuquerque
Loretta Gallegos Bronze Com.......6.200
Golden Gate
Mikalah Bowman Bronze Com.....6.310
Rachel Bublitz... Silver Com............7.083
FI
Kelly Moore...... Bronze Com..........6.630
Mile-High
Chelsea DodsonBronze...................5.770
Courtney Madden Bronze..............5.630
Dena Madden.... Trot........................5.333
Daneel Nelms.... Bronze...................5.490
Sydney Poole.... Novice (trot)..........4.500
Western Slope
Kayla Meagher.. Trot........................5.033
October 21 - Newberg, Oregon
Adrienne Stang (FEI O)
Flying Star
Neal Iversen...... Trot........................6.083
Haley Vlastelicia Trot....................5.683
Britta Vlastelicia Trot.....................5.567
Mt. Rainier
Hailey Haugen.. Novice (walk)........5.167
October 27 - Saratoga, California
Emma Seely (AVA r)
Gold Rush
Laura JassowskiBronze Com..........6.710
Mackenzie Jassowski Bronze Com6.110
Morning Star
Marie Scarpa..... Trot........................5.933
vaulting through successful publicity,
promotions, and sponsorship ventures;
oversees marketing and fund raising
related committees; serves on the Executive Board.
Vice President Membership - Responsible for growing the sport of
vaulting through the development of
all categories of membership; oversees
the planning of the Annual Meeting and
Conference; oversees the Regional
Supervisors; oversees membership
related committees; serves on the
Executive Board.
Board of Directors - Ensures the
vision and mission are appropriate,
relevant and vital to the U.S. vaulting
community by striving for effective organizational planning and implementation.
Eight positions open.
The Nominating Committee must
receive all nominations by April 30,
2008. (The Secretary will accept nominations until the nominating committee
is appointed at the Annual Meeting in
March.) All nominations must be made
with the full knowledge and consent of
the nominee.
Mt. Eden
Tabitha Rosenblum Trot.................5.517
Phoenix
Emily Goss-Kelly Bronze..............5.780
Megan Grove.... Bronze...................5.610
Audrey Mora..... Trot........................5.533
Grace Mora ...... Trot........................5.167
Topaz
Alexander Thomas Trot.................5.950
October 28 - Leesburg, Virginia
Adrienne Stang (FEI O)
Topaz
Abigail Arft....... Novice (trot)..........4.117
Natalie Catir...... Trot........................6.333
Morgan Dalby... Bronze Com..........6.530
Kelley Hecker... Trot........................6.567
Kelley Hecker... Bronze Com..........6.810
Whitney Hoff.... Trot........................6.000
Elle Krueger...... Novice (trot)..........4.533
Madison Lee...... Bronze Com..........6.680
Margaret McLain Bronze Com.......6.900
Rachel Sykes . .. Bronze Com..........6.580
Karen Taylor..... Novice (trot)..........5.200
Katharyn Tupitza Trot....................6.350
Katharyn Tupitza Novice (canter).. 5.550
Vaulting Music Tip Anna de la Motte Having a hard time finding the perfect vaulting music? An online music listening
service might be the solution for you and your club. They offer members the ability to listen to endless amounts of music from any
genre from a massive music catalog, without paying for each song. Visit www.Rhapsody.com to try it out.
Vaulting World
17
February 2008
By Any Other Name
Nancy Stevens-Brown
Despite Shakespeare’s renowned
musings on a rose, what we call something truly shapes our understanding.
Today we define vaulting as a dance
on horseback so it is logical, whenever
possible, to expand our knowledge by
borrowing generously from the world of
both dance and music.
Bridge: to Link
Sometimes just hearing a different term
for something that we have already defined will help fine-tune our insight
and eventual success. One such useful
word to adopt from both dance and music is the term “bridge”. In dance a
bridge is the link between two sections
of choreography. It serves many purposes
for the dancer but, most significantly,
creates cohesive choreography by eliminating any awkward transitional intervals
within the performance. Likewise in music, a bridge/passage is used to delineate
separate sections of an extended work
and smoothes what might otherwise be
an abrupt transition, such as the passage
between two themes. For many years
we have called the phase between two
vaulting exercises a transition. Yet if you
consider the word “transition” it is rather
weak and vague with little suggested tangible form. But think “bridge”, and you
easily can imagine something designed
by an architect and built to hold up!
Against the city’s gleaming spires,
Above the ships that ply the stream,
A bridge of haunting beauty standsFulfillment of an artist’s dream.
Excerpt from Brooklyn Bridge: Nightfall
By D. B. Steinman, Bridge Architect/Poet
Transition: to Switch
It is important to understand that the
bridges between every vaulting exercise
are the glue that allows the entire routine
to become unified and fluid. The quality
and arrangement of these passages are
the keys to harmony, individuality and
flow.
In both dance and music, bridges
may be infrequently used throughout
a performance, but in vaulting every
exercise must somehow switch to the
next one. For this reason, designing
well thought-out exercises along with
precise transition bridges is essential to
Vaulting World
Bridge over Multnomah Falls
Photo: Nancy Stevens-Brown
composing a truly seamless, smooth and
memorable vaulting performance.
Link: to Connect
The need to bridge begins when
the vaulters move from the longeur to
the horse. Are they carrying their own
weight with excellent posture, alignment,
spring and timing with the horse or are
they merely a shuffling out without correct
carriage and alignment? This first bridge
will make or break the quality of the
vault-on and sets the stage for the success
of the rest of the go.
Compulsory Bridges
Once beside the horse, in order to
receive good compulsory scores, vaulters must now display exact technical
and mechanical standards as defined by
the rules. Consequently, by-the-book
compulsories ought to look “cookie
cutter” when completed correctly. Yet
the bridges between each exercise allow
vaulters the opportunity to display the required faultless form along with finesse!
Here, with no creative flair, but instead
with the emphasis on perfect posture,
carriage, poise and controlled progression, clear-cut smooth bridges between
each compulsory serve to enhance the
vaulters’ consistent form throughout the
entire presentation. Correct compulsory
technique combined with finely honed
form during each compulsory bridge is
the secret to perfect compulsory goes on
18
the horse. This valuable habit can forge
finesse that will carry over to freestyle.
Connect: to Join
Next, when vaulters begin planning
their freestyle, previous attention to each
bridge can now become creative, stimulating and fun. Like a bridge on a roadway, first and foremost, freestyle bridges
serve the basic need to connect. Beyond
sound structure the quality, originality,
and aesthetic of each bridge will help
to establish the next move and maintain
visual and emotional appeal.
Most of us know that there is a big
difference between a common utilitarian cement bridge, a nostalgic wooden
covered bridge, a romantic footbridge or
the glorious Golden Gate Bridge! The
bridges that capture our imagination transcend function and were designed with
unprecedented form! The same is true for
well-designed vaulting transitions!
They never just shift from one position
to the next, but serve to span the space
with thoughtful structure, contour and
personal flair!
Remember always that you not only
have the right to be an individual,
you have an obligation to be one.
Eleanor Roosevelt
Shift: to Move
When you think about a bridge, you
know they are meant to pass over: some
at speed, others at a stroll, or perhaps
lingering to enjoy the view. No matter
what the pace, in any case you think of
motion. Vaulting bridges should serve to
provide pace and fluid motion between
exercises and to create emotion as well,
literally transporting vaulters and audiences to another place! If vaulters are
conscientious with the choice and shaping of their bridges they will insure that
their vaulting moves the crowd!
Failure Proofing the Form
To build the best vaulting bridges,
athletes must maintain meticulous
body tension and display deliberate
form throughout their entire routine.
Like a real roadway bridge spanning a
void, vaulting transitions require more
strength, timing, tension and control than
the static pose (road) they originated
from. A set exercise such as prince,
shoulder stand or needle, by necessity,
must be correctly aligned with the horse.
February 2008
By Any Other Name
But once vaulters begin to shift to a new
exercise they encounter the greatest risk
for loss of balance and form. Further, if
vaulters are not fully supporting their
own weight during the bridge phase,
their horse is more likely to be adversely
effected by the movement.
Connection to the Horse is a Bridge
No matter how experienced or
inventive a vaulter may be, the goal
in vaulting is for the horse and vaulter
to connect in harmony and with trust.
Building this bridge of confidence
between horse and vaulter is critical in
order to practice great vaulting. In the
ideal world, if horses are steady and
accepting, vaulters can explore
unlimited ranges of speed, elevation,
scope and uses of space. Yet, to take full
advantage of the endless creative opportunities that are possible in transitions,
vaulters must first consider their horses’
level of training, trust, gait, balance and
temperament. Every horse is an individual and some may not readily accept or
adjust well to random variations of
tempo, extreme reach, or to certain
moves that pause or land on sensitive
parts of their body. But with patience and
careful practice beginning at the standstill, or walk, many horses will eventually accept a greater variety of moves
and learn to quietly carry the vaulter.
Plank bridge
Modify: to Change
Besides modifying a routine to fit
the horses’ experience and tolerance, the
most varied and exciting freestyle must
always take advantage of what the music
implies. The music will be first to connect (bridge) the vaulter to the audience.
Every song insinuates mood and creates
expectation while suggesting different
speeds, direction, contours and intensity
of repositioning in and out of a pose.
Each musical choice will ultimately be
Vaulting World
instrumental in shaping each move and
in moving to each shape.
The Ultimate Bridge
No discussion of bridges can be
complete without mentioning the most
meaningful bridge of all: the bridge
between the athlete and their audience!
If the gap between spectator and vaulter
is not bridged then, at best, the vaulting will be monotonous and forgettable.
Whenever vaulters perform with no
connection to the audience, they have
ignored the essence of performing. A
performance is a gift that should equally
engage the athlete/artist and the audience
– emotionally and intellectually.
“Let every man praise the bridge
that carries him over” English Proverb
Architect For Artistry
Since every opportunity to move
from one exercise to the next is a chance
for perfection, it is not possible here to
list every way a vaulting bridge may be
built. Below is just one fun exercise to
explore ways of moving from “point A”
to “point B”.
First, assemble various items for
vaulters to use. Have them then pick up
and work with each item. As they do,
each new thing will require a different
body placement, reach and approach.
Example: lifting a shovel and shoveling
rocks, or sand or shavings, versus holding a house broom and sweeping, versus
using a push broom.
Next, have vaulters do the identical
performance but, this time, without the
object. They will discover that each tool
creates different potential movement and
body language. This activity is excellent for helping to develop individuality when it comes to building bridges
and enhancing any individual or team
performance. The music and the theme
selected will further suggest what objects
to which the vaulter may be relating.
As you can imagine, reaching out to
open a window, leaning down to pick up
a golden key or touching a solid wall will
prompt a different touch and look. That
reach, dip or turn can help purposely
move and place vaultes onto their next
mark. This drill is a really fun rainy day
activity and quickly helps to expand
creativity and movement.
19
Stone Bridge in San Antonio
Transition to Bridge a Move for
Excellence
I have written much about vaulting transitions because, quite frankly
for me, they are the most fascinating
and creatively diverse opportunity for
vaulters to personalize their presentation.
Unfortunately I still see that transitions
often remain the most underdeveloped
element of many vaulting routines. In the
end any poor bridge will weaken an entire performance, and great bridges will
make it strong. In renaming a transition
something concrete like a bridge, more
vaulters may find ways to perfect their
work insuring that each go will display
harmonious flow, highlighting unity with
the horse, the music, the mood and the
audience.
February 2008
AVA Regional High Point Results
Bronze is Now USEF
Each Region has its own qualifications and rules. Please contact the Regional Supervisor for that region if you have any questions. Note: Regions IV and X have no high point programs. Regions I and III
High Point results may be published in the April issue of Vaulting World.
7. Hope Krause, MrngStr..... 5.944
10.Ruby Robinson, PacCst .. 6.531
Region II
8. Andrea Meislin, MrngStr.. 5.939
11.Kayla Marchini, Mt. Eden 6.478
Suzanne Detol
At the 2008 USEF Annual Convention held
the first full week of January, the rules for Individual Bronze Event were adopted. This inclusion of bronze into the recognized USEF classes
was approved by the AVA Board of Directors and
membership at the 2007 AVA Annual Meeting.
The rules will become effective April 1, 2008.
What does this mean to you?
First and foremost, if you are a bronze competitor at a USEF Recognized Competition held
after April 1, 2008 and are planning on competing
in the individual bronze event, you must be a current USEF member. Joining is easy. Simply go
to the USEF website (www.usef.org) and click on
“membership” and follow the prompts.
If you are only competing at an AVA Recognized Competition, there is no change to past
requirements. You do not need to join the USEF
or be a member of the USEF to compete at AVA
competitions. However, the USEF/AVA National
Championships are USEF recognized and you
will need to be a member at that time.
What are the benefits of becoming
a USEF member?
The USEF funds our sport to a certain extent.
Up until this point in time, any money budgeted
for vaulting has been spent on the silver and gold
competitors because they were the only members
of the USEF. In the future, with the inclusion of
bronze, and with your memberships, we anticipate that money will be made available for camps
at the AVA level – camps that will help develop
“young riders/vaulters,” and hopefully help them
progress up through the levels more quickly.
Grants may be available for bronze competitors
to travel to USEF competitions away from their
particular region. Opportunities will open up for
all of us.
This is just a short synopsis of what we may
expect in the future. The complete rules and more
information will be available at the AVA Annual
Meeting. The USEF rules for bronze will be published in the April 2008 issue of Vaulting World.
Clubs: Brookside, Creekside,
Elkhorn, Gold Rush, Half Moon
Bay, Morning Star, Mt. Eden,
Nu Balance, Pacific Coast,
Starlite, Tambourine, Willow Tree,
Woodside
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Gold - Women
Elizabeth Osborn, Wdsd.. 8.331
Mary McCormick, Mt.Edn 8.242
Katharine Wick, Wdsd...... 7.638
Megan Lanfri, Woodside.. 7.598
Kimberly Palmer, HfMnBy7.548
Florence Rubinger, PCst 7.491
Leticia Solorzano, Nu Bal7.085
Gold - Men
1. Johnathan McCollister,NB6.882
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Silver - Women
Elizabeth Ioannou,Mt.Ed 7.131
Alexandra Thrasher, PCst6.830
Laura Yelavich, Mt. Eden 6.793
Karly Frankel-Newman,
Pacific Coast ................... 6.261
Kyra McCarty, Pacific Cst 6.205
Stephanie O’Neill, Cksd... 5.814
Brittany O’Leary, PacCst 5.728
Silver - Men
1. Eric Garcia,, Creekside ... 6.451
2. Patrick Stevens, Cksd...... 5.182
Bronze Comp. - Women
1. Karey Markham, Cksd .... 6.404
2. Grace Robinson, PacCst 6.254
3. Kathryn Jaggers, Wdsd.... 6.171
4. Jaylyn Babitch, Mt. Eden 6.121
5. Merina Rainville, Mt. Edn 6.080
6. Leah Sache, Morning Star5.938
7. Rebecca Hambly, MngStr5.771
8. Molly Gould, Woodside.... 5.721
9. Lauren Hyver, Woodside.. 5.696
10.Minda Newhouse, PCst .. 5.646
11.Laura Jassowski, GldRsh 5.550
12.MacKenzie Jassowski,
Gold Rush ....................... 5.542
13.Sarah Flax, Pacific Coast 5.530
14.Emmy Weiner, Nu Bal...... 5.484
15.Miranda Prints, Nu Bal..... 4.600
Bronze Freestyle - Women
1. Karey Markham, Cksd .... 6.873
2. Kathryn Jaggers, Wdsd.... 6.847
5. Leah Sache, Morning Str 6.380
6. Jaylyn Babitch, Mt. Eden 6.333
7. Minda Newhouse, PCst .. 6.269
8. Lauren Hyver, Woodside.. 6.227
9. Molly Gould, Woodside.... 6.040
10.Julia Plungy, Woodside.... 5.847
11.Yvonne Greenen, Wdsd... 5.760
Gold Rush ....................... 5.720
13.Sarah Flax, Pacific Coast 5.713
14.Grace Robinson, PacCst 5.613
15.Emmy Weiner, Nu Bal...... 5.496
Copper Comp. - Women
1. Hope Krause, Mrng Star.. 5.688
2. Makayla Clyne, Mt. Eden 5.638
3. Tasha Thorner, Mt. Eden 5.617
4. Katrina Nibbi, Woodside... 5.496
5. Grace Koz, Creekside ..... 5.488
6. Andrea Meislin, MngStr.... 5.359
7. Ariana Barrett, Mt. Eden 5.359
8. Elizabeth West, Tamb...... 5.221
9. Ellie Gifford, Woodside..... 5.188
10.Kayla Marchini, Mt. Eden 5.084
11.Adria Revell, Mt. Eden .... 5.071
12.Cate Steidle, Tambourine5.050
13.Ruby Robinson, PacCst .. 4.900
14.Emily Hogye, Brookside .. 4.325
Copper Compulsories - Men
1. Joey Gadd, Mt. Eden ...... 5.388
2. Kyle Marchini, Mt. Eden .. 5.279
3. Colton Palmer, HlfMnBay 4.584
Copper Freestyle - Women
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Makayla Clyne, Mt. Eden 6.817
Tasha Thorner, Mt. Eden 6.589
Ellie Gifford, Woodside..... 6.506
Grace Koz, Creekside ......6.117
Emily Hogye, Brookside .. 6.028
Adria Revell, Mt. Eden .... 5.950
Vaulting World
9. Kayla Marchini, Mt. Eden 5.344
Copper Freestyle - Men
2. Colton Palmer, HfMnBay 5.617
Trot Compulsories - Women
1. Amanda Thomas,Mt.Edn 5.725
2. Kate Morse, Mt. Eden ..... 5.463
3. Marie Scarpa, Mrng Str.... 5.388
4. MacKenzie Thurman,MtE 5.363
5. Sarah Dunn, Woodside.... 5.329
6. Tabitha Rosenblum,MtEn 5.296
7. Clare Sitzer, Tambourine.. 5.296
8. Morgan Lambert, Mt.Edn 5.209
9. Isabella Marmer, MngStr.. 5.142
10.Megan MacInnes,Mt.Edn 4.904
11.Cassie Dufond, Tamb....... 4.850
12.Christine Herrmann, Wds4.829
Trot Freestyle - Women
1. Morgan Lambert, Mt.Edn 6.242
3. Sarah Dunn, Woodside.... 5.775
4. Mackenzie Thurman, MtE 5.575
5. Amanda Thomas, Mt.Edn 5.500
6. Megan MacInnes, Mt.Edn 5.458
7. Tabitha Rosenblum, MtE 5.442
8. Marie Scarpa, MrngStr..... 5.342
9. Isabella Marmer, MrngStr5.275
10.Christine Herrmann, Wds5.125
Prel. Trot Comp. -Women
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Janie Salisbury, Wdsd...... 4.992
Siddartha Kreaden, Wds.. 4.738
Marcella George, MngStr4.567
Alena Orth, Starlite........... 3.725
Jenna Bell, Tambourine.... 3.688
Prel. Trot Comp. - Men
1. Nick Fujii, Tambourine...... 4.938
2. Jesse Traskin, Starlite...... 3.617
Prel. Trot FS - Women
1. Siddartha Kreaden, Wds.. 5.633
2. Janie Salisbury, Wdsd...... 5.217
3. Marcella George, MngStr4.967
Tiny Tots Comp. - Women
1.
2.
3.
4.
Katherine Salisbury, Wds4.796
Jacklyn Hawks, Nu Bal.... 4.300
Caroline Morse, Mt. Eden 4.284
Bali Solorzano, Nu Bal..... 4.204
Barrel
Gold Barrel FS - Women
1. Emily Reed, Nu Balance...7.711
2. Jami Pressley, Nu Bal...... 6.977
Silver Barrel FS - Women
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Alexandra Thrasher,PCst 8.132
Helen Ewing, Nu Balance7.978
Laura Yelavich, Mt. Eden 7.878
Kyra McCarty, PacCst ..... 7.478
Ashlyn Hooper, Nu Bal......7.411
Elizabeth Ioannou,Mt.Ed 7.355
Bronze Barrel FS - Women
1. Sarah Flax, Pacific Coast 7.688
2. Minda Newhouse, PCst .. 7.628
3. Laura Jassowski, GldRsh 7.493
6. Emmy Weiner, Nu Bal...... 7.217
7. Grace Robinson, PacCst 7.189
8. Sandra Rogers, Tamb...... 7.127
9. Kylen Dix, Morning Star... 7.089
10.Leah Sache, Mrng Star.... 6.744
Gold Rush ....................... 6.633
12.Robin Todd, Morning Star6.467
Bronze Barrel FS - Men
1. Colton Palmer, HlfMnBay 6.744
2. Kristian Roberts, HfMnBy 6.689
Copper Barrel FS - Women
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Hope Krause, MrngStr..... 7.333
Tasha Thorner, Mt. Eden 7.278
Emily Hogye, Brookside .. 7.267
Julia Bell, Tambourine...... 7.167
Elizabeth West., Tamb..... 7.095
Kelly Sattler, Nu Balance 7.089
Kiersten Carlson-Headley,
Starlite.............................. 7.058
8. Andrea Meislin, MrngStr.. 7.022
9. Nicole Gorman, Brksd ......7.011
12.Tessa Divita, Woodside.... 6.467
13.Sunni Hooper, Nu Ba....... 6.422
14.Ariana Barrett, Mt. Eden 6.366
15.Cate Steidle, Tambourine6.315
16.Delany Altman, Nu Bal..... 6.058
17.Lystra Hobby, Tamb.......... 5.922
18.Hannah Mattingly, Nu Bal..5.911
19.Kimberly Jassowski,
Gold Rush ........................5.811
20.Emma Kohlbacher,NuBal5.371
Copper Barrel FS - Men
Trot Barrel FrS - Women
1. Marie Scarpa, MrngStr..... 7.367
3. Mackenzie Thurman,MtE 6.922
4. Morgan Lambert, Mt. Edn 6.878
5. Isabella Marmer, MngStr.. 6.833
6. Amanda Thomas,Mt.Edn 6.633
7. Tabitha Rosenblum, MtE ..6.611
8. Christine Herrmann, Wds6.489
9. Cassie Dufond, Tamb........6.411
10.Clare Sitzer, Tambourine.. 6.400
11.Sarah Dunn, Woodside.... 6.400
12.Megan MacInnes, Mt.Edn 5.822
Prel. Trot Barrel FS - Women
1. Siddartha Kreaden, Wds.. 7.078
2. Janie Salisbury, Wdsd...... 6.478
3. Riamei Ruebush, Tamb.... 6.267
4. Gianna Moretti, Tamb....... 6.189
5. Holly Kuhn, Woodside...... 6.144
6. Giulia Corno, Mt. Eden . ...6.011
7. Alena Orth, Starlite........... 5.689
8. Emma Hewitt, Nu Bal....... 5.500
9. Hayley March, MngStr..... 5.387
10.Marcella George, MngStr5.333
11.Jenna Bell, Tambourine.... 4.687
Prel. Trot Barrel FS - Men
1.
2.
3.
4.
Nick Fujii, Tambourine...... 6.622
Andrew Tapia, Willow Tree6.255
Jesse Traskin, Starlite...... 6.155
Robert Dykstra, Elkhorn... 6.120
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Caroline Morse, Mt. Eden 6.367
Carrielyn La Franche,NBl6.189
Natalia Myers, Elkhorn......6.110
Katherine Salisbury, Wds6.022
Jacklyn Hawks, Nu Bal.... 5.978
Bali Solorzano, Nu Bal..... 5.521
Kristen Kuhn, Woodside... 5.367
Lola Robinson, PacCst ... 5.167
Tiny Tots Barrel FS - Women
Tiny Tots Barrel FS - Men
1. PJ Solorzano, Nu Bal....... 5.732
Region IX
Clubs: Flying Fillies, Great Falls,
Image, Mt. Tabor, Shea Rose,
Shooting Stars, Topaz, Vaulting
Visions
Gold - Women
1. Annalise Van Vranken,
Shooting Stars................. 7.468
2. Elizabeth Brigham, GrtFls7.068
3. Katie Gieschen, Visions... 6.989
Silver - Women
1. Alissa Feudo, Great Falls6.564
2. Stephanie Harris, Image.. 6.416
3. Christine Beauchene,MtT5.916
Silver - Men
1. Ted Dapper, Mt Tabor....... 5.676
Bronze - Women
1. Lucie Jacobson, Image.... 5.682
2. Patricia Gallagher,Visions5.437
3. Margaret Mclain, Topaz.... 4.998
4. Morgan Dalby, Topaz....... 4.499
Copper - Women
1. Mariah Cline, Shea Rose 5.379
2. Amanda Minix, Visions..... 5.283
Trot
1. Miranda Marcantuno,
Vaulting Visions................ 5.592
Preliminary Trot
1. Courtney Macker, ShRs... 5.269
2. Walker Abbott, FlyFillies... 4.778
20
The American Vaulting Association presents
an exciting interactive horsemanship program
for vaulters and coaches designed to stimulate
and educate participants in order to enhance our
relationship with our most important
teammate: THE HORSE.
EARN A CERTIFICATE
AND PATCH!
To participate in this motivational
program, request an application and
guidebook from:
Marge Oakes, 732 Camino Del Bosque NW,
Albuquerque, NM 87114, Email: [email protected]
February 2008
2007 Annual Judges Forum
AVA Camp
Suzanne Detol
The 2007 Annual Judges Forum
was held at Osierlea, J. Ashton Moore’s
and Elizabeth Searle’s beautiful training
facility in San Juan Bautista, California.
The forum was a two-day training
session attended by 15 of our 17 judges
and apprentices in the AVA judges program. I was the director of the forum.
The topics covered during the
weekend were: responsibilities of a
judge, ethics, comportment; compulsory
exercises – the essence of each and
methodology for judging; content and
composition methodologies; performance
score; degree of difficulty – how to
assign the DOD of a new exercise;
methodology, etc.; technical test
exercises – how to judge the technical
test; and the horse score during
competition and the Horse of the Year
score (compiled at AVA recognized
competitions).
Other topics discussed were: D-style
compulsories; medal test issues and
protocol; and vet check protocol (at
national championships). Toni Amoroso
(AVA R) gave the presentation on D-style
compulsories, and I would like to thank
her for her time and work on this topic.
On Saturday, we were fortunate to
be able to watch a riding demonstration
with Laurel Bruun. Laurel is an excellent
rider/trainer who trains at Osierlea. She
and the horses she rode demonstrated a
correct 3-beat canter as well as an unclear canter. The horses had different
colored leg wraps on their diagonals so
the differences and variances in the gaits
were easier for all to see. J. Ashton
Moore asked Laurel to have the horse
demonstrate a four-beat canter or a threebeat canter balanced on the circle or not,
and Laurel communicated to the horse
what was desired.
We were also shown many different
training aids for the vaulting horse
– much like the schooling horse shows
that the AVA Circle of Friends sponsors
at Osierlea. I would like to express our
appreciation to both Laurel and Jeff for
their generosity of time for our forum.
Noel Martonovich
Looking for the most exciting
vaulting experience of the year? Mark
your calendars for June 23 – 29, 2008.
Destination: Nebraska! The American
Vaulting Association is once again hosting a one-week long residential vaulting
camp. Live and breathe vaulting for
a full week in beautiful, historic Fort
Robinson, Nebraska, western Nebraska’s
premier state park.
There is still space available for
MALE vaulters and for coaches. Families of vaulters are invited to share
the experience by contacting Fort Robinson State Park for lodging, camping, and dining information at
402/471-1414.
For more information see page
seven of the December issue of Vaulting World or contact Noel Martonovich,
[email protected] or Katie Flannagan, [email protected].
This extensive training session for
all judges was an overview of all
judging aspects of our sport.
Vaulting World
I am pleased to announce
that we now have three new “r”
judges: Isabelle Parker, Kelley
Holly and Kendel Edmunds.
We also have accepted two
new apprentice judges: Steve
Bertling and Anna de La Mott.
Congratulations to you all!
This extensive training session for
all judges was an overview of all judging
aspects of our sport. The weekend also
served as a practical exam for three of
our apprentice judges to ascertain their
readiness for promotion to AVA r.
As with any endeavor of this size, it
cannot be accomplished by just one person. I would personally like to acknowledge Adrienne Stang for her help in
organizing the handouts, her assistance
during the presentations and especially
for her hospitality. Adrienne singlehandedly took care of the hospitality
- snacks, beverages and lunches for both
days. This was an immense job and the
forum would not have been successful
without her help. In addition, Adrienne
housed both Toni Amoroso and myself
for the weekend and arranged transportation to and from the Forum. This was
an incredible help to me. Thank you,
Adrienne.
I would also like to thank Deborah
Harrison for her assistance with setting
up the conference room and bringing
fresh water for coffee and tea, and for her
professional input regarding our horses
and the vet check at Nationals.
Finally, I would like to thank
Elizabeth Searle and J. Ashton Moore for
allowing us to use their facility and all
which that entails. We descend on their
home, and Jeff is precluded from conducting any other business that may actually be his livelihood. It is a tremendous
donation of time and facilities that both
Liz and Jeff have given the AVA Judges
Program for decades. Thank you.
I believe it was a successful forum,
and I hope it will set the training course
for 2008. Again, thank you to everyone
who helped me with this project. Thank
you to all of the attendees. It would not
have been a success without all of you!
21
REGISTRATION
One form for each registrant.
Registration includes: lodging, meals,
instruction, and field trip.
Space is filled on a first come basis.
Last year camp was filled prior to the
early bird deadline!
Name: ____________________________
Phone: ____________________________
Address:____________________________
__________________________________
City: _____________________________
State: ________ Zip: ______________
Club/Affiliation: ____________________
Email: ____________________________
Vaulter:
Vaulting Level: __________ Age: ______
Coach ____________________________
Numbers of years coaching:___________
Meal selection:
[ ] Regular [ ] Vegetarian
Early Bird Registration
(Due March 1, 2008) ...................$700.00
Registration after March 1, 2008...$750.00
Shuttle service from the airport ......$50.00
TOTAL REGISTRATION: ___________
Make checks payable to
American Vaulting Association.
Mail payment and registration to
Noel Martonovich, 5016 Crawford Gulch
Road, Golden, CO 80403-8112.
February 2008
USEF/AVA National Women’s Gold Champion - Mary McCormick
Alex Thomas
Many vaulters have interesting
stories of how they first discovered the
sport. For Mary McCormick, 2007 AVA/
USEF Gold Women’s National Champion, the “aha!” moment came when she
was a horse-obsessed nine-year-old.
“A girl sitting next to me on my
school bus told me that she stood up on
horses while they were moving,” remembered Mary. “I knew right then that I’d
found my destiny.
She offered to take me to a practice
with her, and that’s where the fun began!
I’d always been a crazy kid who climbed
on anything and everything in sight, so
my friends and family knew I’d found
my place in the world when I found
vaulting.”
Within five months of her first
vaulting lesson at
Tambourine Vaulters
in 1992, Mary had her
trot medal with honors
and began working at
the canter, progressing
at an impressive pace
and being awarded
10 year old Mary
her bronze medal with snuggles up to her
honors two years later, vaulting horse.
vaulting on her first
Photo: Carolyn
Conner
horse, Camper.
A Tennessee Star
In 1997 she moved to Tennessee
to live with her dad, a decision that,
although very difficult, allowed her the
leisure of owning a horse for the first time.
“Having the opportunity to have a horse
in my own back yard was too cool to
pass up! Upon arriving in Tennessee I
bought Star, a wonderful Quarter Horse
gelding.”
Although Mary finally had her own
horse, she missed vaulting. “Star and I
had a fantastic run in the show circuit,
but something was missing in my life.”
It was vaulting. With the encouragement
and support from long-time friends like
Julie Keville, she decided to try vaulting
on Star and brought the sport to life in
Tennessee.
In 2002 she founded the Silver Star
vaulting club. “We pulled together as a
team, won championships, helped the
sport of vaulting grow, and made memories to last a lifetime. It was building that
team that made me realize I wanted to go
to the very top in vaulting.”
Vaulting World
Making It Happen
That goal would dominate all aspects
of Mary’s life going forward. In 2004, her
goal was to be one of three American
women to vault at the 2006 World
Equestrian Games, and she decided she
would need the help and guidance of the
West coast teams, horses, coaches, and
longeurs to do so.
“I decided I would do whatever it took
to make that happen,” explained Mary, “I
was labeled as everything from stubborn
to crazy, but those who knew me knew
this was no joke. I had some amazing opportunities offered in northern California
and decided it was time to chase my dreams
and go for it.”
With Star in tow, Mary headed west
and began her new life. “It was a bittersweet time for me. I knew that I was following the path I needed to be on, but
it broke my heart to leave the life that I
had built in Tennessee. I left Nashville
and cried all the way to Arkansas! I
never doubted my decision to move but
constantly struggled with the feeling that
I’d abandoned my team and my family.”
Mary was named one of three US
vaulters to compete at WEG in Aachen,
Germany in 2006, where she faced stiff
competition. She missed the second
round by a narrow margin, placing 18 in
an international field of 51, but she came
out of the situation as both a stronger
individual and vaulter.
Marking her 15th year in the sport,
although Mary had competed at the AVA/
USEF National Championships many
times (winning the Women’s Silver National Championship in 2002 and placing
3rd and 2nd in the Gold division at the
2004 and 2006 National Championships,
respectively) in the past, a first place
gold title at national championships had
remained elusive – until 2007 .
“This Nationals was like a dream,”
Mary explained, “and it’s not just winning
that made it so. Being a part of Mt Eden
Vaulters is like being in a big, loving
family. The encouragement and support
that I got from everyone made my Nationals experience the most fun ever.”
As is the case with any equestrian
sport, the bond between horse and rider
(or in our case, vaulter) is something
champions can spend their whole life
22
searching for… a partnership which
vaulting athletes might be lucky enough
to experience a handful of times in their
entire life. Searching out this perfect
equine counterpart with whom you feel
safe is a task that is just as important to a
vaulter’s success as personal conditioning or practice, perhaps even more-so.
This is a concept with which Mary is
very familiar, and has placed particular
importance on throughout her vaulting
career.
An Amazing Team
“Rosey Ross and I vaulted on her
amazing horse, Prinz Pilot, this past
year,” she explained. Prinz is a 17.1hand 16 year-old Westfalen. “We called
ourselves ‘Team Prinz’ at Nationals, and
gave 100 percent in everything we did.”
Finding a coach in whom Mary
could place as much confidence as she
had with Prinz was just as challenging,
yet every bit as important. Mary discovered the perfect combination of the two
with her coach and longeur Emma Seely;
a discovery for which Mary is deeply
grateful. “The bond that I had with Prinz
and Emma was what made winning so
sweet. We spent the whole year figuring each other out and everything came
together in Denver. To me, that is what
vaulting is all about: truly being one with
your horse and having complete trust in
each other. He was totally there for me
and did his job perfectly so I could do
mine.”
Mary riding Nobel in the Cooper-Garrod
Photo: Alex Thomas
Vineyards.
February 2008
Mary McCormick
Mary was part of a particularly successful season for Mt. Eden vaulters
and their team of longeurs, horses, and
coaches out of Saratoga, California.
Emma Seely, who also saw 11-year-old
Elizabeth Ioannou to a Silver Women’s
Championship title in Denver, Colorado
also coached the now-retired Megan
Benjamin to her 2006 FEI World Equestrian Games World Champion
title. Emma shared her enthusiasm
working with Mary throughout their
journey to Nationals 2007.
“She’s one of the most motivated
individuals I’ve ever met,” commented
Emma. “It makes my job so much easier
as a coach; to have the ability to mention
something to her and know that she’ll
do whatever it takes to understand the
issue and correct it as quickly as possible
without any complaints. It gave us time
to really run through all aspects of her
performance and perfect as much as we
possibly could.”
Starting with an impressive win at
the Region II Championships in July at
which Mary received an overall score
of 8.23 and a competition high score of
8.56 in her Round II freestyle, Mary’s
success continued with a second place
finish at CVI** Krumke in Northern
Germany. With only days to spare, Mary
headed to Denver, Colorado for the AVA/
USEF National Championships.
Loss, Win and a Near Miss
Mary’s road to success in 2007
may have looked like smooth sailing but
that was anything but true. Less than a
month and a half before her Nationals
win, Mary lost her horse Star, whom she
had raised, trained, and partnered with
for more than a decade. The loss of Star
was sudden and mysterious, making the
situation even harder to bear. (The cause
of his death was later discovered to be
lymphoma.)
Mary’s friends, teammates and
coach helped her through the loss of Star,
but fate would throw her another curve
ball when she least expected it. Moments
after experiencing the very peak of her
vaulting career with a win at Nationals,
Mary faced the possibility of losing yet
another one of her cherished horses; this
time it would be the very horse that carried
her to a win only a day earlier.
“Nationals was a total fairy tale, up
until the last day. Prinz had been acting
Vaulting World
one of the most competitive vaulting
team prospects in the world and would
like to point out that this team is also representing the United States, and in many
ways, is doing so at a larger level (and
with far more team, horse, and longeur
preparation involved) than an individual
effort of hers would offer alone.
“Vaulting is my life, and going as far
as I can go with my career is my ultimate
goal. The team that I am now a part of
shares my dreams and hopes to win the
gold at the World Championships this
year!”
Mary flew
high above
Nobel at
Mt. Eden’s
Halloween
Fest.
Progression
of a
Champion
Photo: Alex Thomas
strange and started to show signs of
colic. His symptoms continued to worsen
and we ended up having to take him to
the hospital.
To say that I was scared is an understatement! I had just gone through the loss
of my beloved Star and remember looking
Prinz in the eye and saying ‘you are not
allowed to die on me!’
I held a braid from Star’s forelock in
my hand for strength while Prinz was in
surgery, and laughed, cried, and celebrated when he came out and we heard the
good prognosis. I’m happy to report that
Prinz is now back in vaulting action after
a great recovery. He’s a champion!”
After such success last year, Mary
not only developed a new appreciation
for the bonds of a close-knit team, but
also began thinking about ways she
could challenge herself looking forward
to 2008 and beyond. Today Mary is part
of FACE: The Dark Side of The Moon;
a newly-formed composite team (FACE,
Mt. Eden and Albuquerque) that was
developed with the ultimate goal of representing our country at the 2008 World
Vaulting Championships in Brno, Czech
Republic in August.
A New Challenge
Team competition at this level is
new and exciting for Mary, who feels
that she’s a valuable asset to arguably
23
Medals:
1992– Trot medal with honors
1994– Bronze medal with honors
1995– Bronze and Trot medals
to right with honors
1996– Silver medal commended
AVA National Championships:
1992– Champion Trot Team
1993– Women’s Trot Champion
1994– Open Pas De Deux Champ.
1995– Bronze 2-Phase Champion
1996– National Champion A-Team
2002– Silver Champion
2003– Coach C-Team Champions
2007– Gold Champion
Corrections/
Changes
Jane Egger has a new email address:
[email protected]
Julie Divta has a new email address:
[email protected]
Devon Maitozo has a new email address:
[email protected]
Photos of the Region IV Fest on Page
23 of the December issue of Vaulting
World were taken by Cher EnglandCzyzewski.
The photo of Haley Hansen on page
24 of the December issue of Vaulting
World was taken by Cher EnglandCzyzewski.
February 2008
USEF Annual Meeting in Louisville
Linda Bibbler
As the new
Chair of the
Vaulting High
Performance
Committee I also
sit on the USEF
Board of Directors. I am also
planning to serve
as the liaison between the VHPC
and the AVA. I will update the AVA
Board at our Executive Board Conference calls and submit material to be
published in Vaulting World and online
about any upcoming High Performance
activities.
Rules for the Bronze division of
competition as submitted by the Vaulting Technical Committee were passed
by the USEF. They will be published in
the April issue of Vaulting World, will
be posted online on the AVA and USEF
websites and will be distributed at the
AVA Annual Meeting. The important
facts: Bronze is now a USEF event; only
one judge will be needed (unlike Silver
and Gold and A teams which require two
judges); Bronze vaulters will need to
become USEF members to compete in
a Bronze event at the upcoming USEF
competitions.
The USEF Technical Committee
approved the Guidelines for Vet Checks.
This material will be available on the
AVA and USEF websites and at the
Annual Meeting. The Budget for the
Vaulting High Performance Committee
will be $94,000 for this fiscal year. This
is an increase of approx. $20,000 over
our 2007 budget. The bulk of this will
go to competitors at the 2008 World
Championships; the balance will go for
training camps, grants for participation in
foreign competitions and for the leasing
of a horse(s) for Americans training and
competing in Europe.
The Committee has agreed in principle to have a ranking list for Bronze
vaulters. Details will be worked out. I
am hoping we can present more information at the Annual Meeting. TheVaulting
High Performance Committee will have
an open meeting/forum during the AVA
Annual Meeting, The exact date and time
has not yet been decided.
Vaulting World
We are still awaiting the final draft
of the Selection Criteria for the 2008
World Championships. Essentially, team
selections will be as in the past (average
of top three scores; two must be from
designated selection trials). Individuals
will be selected off the ranking list. The
ending date of selection period is June
9, 2008. The 2008 Team Selection Trials
are: FACE-Off Vaulting Challenge on
May 3-4; Great Falls/Topaz Spring Fest
on May 10-11; Garrod’s Spring Classic
on May 17; and Woodside Spring Fest
on June 8. The Individual Ranking list
has been changed to include only scores
from an 18-month period.
Both the Vaulting High Performance
Committee and Vaulting Technical
Committee approved a basic proposal
to develop a Horse of the Year (HOTY)
program for vaulting horses. The USEF
Awards Committee also supports the
concept. Jan Weber, Kathryn Dennison
and I have been working on this proposal
based on the three highest horse scores
from USEF events. Horses must compete
in all parts of an event (compulsories as
well as freestyle) to be eligible. Separate
awards will be given for team horses and
individual horses. Our goal is to get the
program refined this year and develop
the rules proposal. We hope this will
program will encourage and further the
improvement of the quality of horses
in the U.S. and encourage owners/
coaches/vaulters to use the same horse
for all parts of the event. The latter will
become important as we approach WEG
2010.
The first 2008 USEF vaulting
training camp will be held in February.
Applications were sent to all Silver and
Gold vaulters last week.
The organizing committee for vaulting at WEG 2010 met during the USEF
Annual Meeting. Kersten Klophaus,
who was vaulting discipline director for
WEG Aachen, is the discipline director for 2010. A short overview will be
presented at the AVA Annual Meeting.
In 2010 we will need approximately 120
volunteers (clerks, ring crew, runners,
etc.) for the vaulting events. During the
next few months, we will be compiling a
list of all persons interested in volunteering, including name, contact information,
and areas of expertise.
24
USEF Youth
Sportsman
Charter Award
Program
Jan Weber
The AVA Youth Recognition
Committee is proud to recommend
Katie Barrett of Fiddler’s Green
Vaulting Club for the USEF Youth
Sportsman Charter Award. Each
USEF affiliate will nominate a
candidate for this scholarship
program. Lois Dennison of
Renaissance Farm has received
Honorable Mention from the committee and is our alternate nominee.
The Committee is also pleased
to recognize:
Mary Garrett of Valley View
Hannah Horsmon of Agape
Brittany O’Leary
of Pacific Coast
Kelsy Trainor
of Diamond Bar
This program is in its second
year at the USEF. Last year our
nominee was Annalise VanVranken.
As a result, Annalise was invited to
attend a career workshop in Lexington, Kentucky and she participated
in programs developed by USEF
this summer.
We would like to thank all the
coaches who made nominations to
the committee. Congratulations to
all the vaulters for their exemplary
service, sportsmanship and accomplishments. The AVA is a better
community with your participation.
We applaud you all. Best of luck to
Katie as she moves forward in this
USEF sponsored program.
February 2008
USEF High Performance Camp
Mary McCormick
On December 9-10 the USEF hosted
its very first high performance team
training camp. The Mt. Eden Sun Team
and the FACE the Dark Side of the Moon
Team were selected to participate. Although there were only two teams, there
was an impressive audience turn out
and the camp was beneficial to all who
attended. Our feature clinician was Alex
Hartel from the Ingelsberg Club in Germany. Alex is a renowned coach, longeur
and judge. He led his teams to capture
both the Senior and Junior European
Championship titles this year.
The first day of the clinic was held
at the Pacific Coast Vaulters facility in
Woodside, California. We started the day
with a group warm-up and barrel session
with Alex. After the group activities we
separated into our teams for the rest of
the day. Each team worked with Alex
separately and had sessions with our two
other clinicians: Letita Bartlett, an acting
coach from the San Francisco Circus
Center and Katie Peuvrelle, a fantastic
sports psychologist/performance coach.
She taught us the importance of facial
expression and interaction between teammates in a performance. Her extensive
knowledge and experience made her a
great asset to the camp.
Katie is no stranger to the vaulting
world. We have had the pleasure of
working with her at the individual high
performance camps in the past. She
brings awareness of the power of the
mind and the process of finding trust
in yourself and your teammates. Katie
understands the physical and mental
demands of vaulting and has broadened
our horizons on how to meet those challenges. At the end of the day, both teams
had lots of new ideas and processes.
The pyramid was great fun.
Photo: courtesy Mary McCormick
Alex Hartel coaches Rosey Ross
Photo Mary McCormick
The second day was held at Garrod
Farms in Saratoga, California. Again,
we started with a group session in the
morning but this time it was led by two
amazing acrobat instructors from the
Circus Center. The morning session was
fun and educational. With the help of
our instructors we were able to stack
ourselves into seemingly impossible
pyramids. We learned about safety and
USEF Longeing Clinic
Alex Hartel watches Devon toss a vaulter.
Photo: Mary McCormick
how to adequately spot one another as
well as the most effective handholds and
building techniques. It was a lot of fun
for the teams to work together! Once
the morning session was over, we split
into our teams to work separately on the
horse with Alex and on the ground and
barrel with the acrobat instructors. It
was a busy day. We were exhausted yet
inspired.,
These camps wouldn’t be possible
without the volunteer hours and generosity of so many vaulting supporters.
A big thank you goes to Isabelle Parker
and Pam Lane for successfully putting
the camp together, the Frankel family
for once again opening their home and
graciously hosting us, Jan Garrod and the
Mt Eden Vaulting Club for sharing their
wonderful facility with us and to the
countless others that worked to make this
happen. Our first team camp was a great
one and hopefully there will be many
more in our future!
Participants and auditors listen in on
Carolyn Bland’s riding instruction.
Photo: Briana Olsen
Devon Maitozo longes his horse, Palatin,
through pole work as they receive instruction
from Alex Hartel. Photo: Briana Olsen
Carolyn Bland on FACE’s Paxton
during a riding training session.
Photo: Briana Olsen
Vaulting World
25
February 2008
Cool Nationals in Watsonville
Marianne Rose
Housing in Watsonville
www.watsonville.com
Motel chains in and nearby Watsonville include: Best Western, Economy,
Motel 6, National 9, Red Roof Inn plus
numerous independent motels. RV
sites and camping are available at the
Santa Cruz Fairgrounds and at four state
beaches and a couple of private facilities.
There are lots of outdoor activities
in the area from kayaking in Elkhorn
Slough to whale watching to surfing to
hiking at the wetlands nature center.
Restaurants in the area range from
the regular chains to unique local favorites and upscale culinary delights.
Special Activities
•Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk
– the ultimate California beach experience with rides, thrills, food,
fun - www.beachboardwalk.com
•Henry Cowell Redwoods State
Park – ride your horse through
beautiful redwood groves www.parks.ca.gove/?page_id-546
•Roaring Camp Railroad – fun for
kids - www.roaringcamp.com
•The Monterey Aquarium – a must
see! - www.mbayaq.org
•Carmel Village – picturesque artists
village, great art and gifts www.carmelcalifornia.com
•Moss Landing – quaint fishing village – great antique shopping
www.mosslandingchamber.com
The Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds
www.santacruzcountyfair.com
We will be using the large back
arena (plenty of room for the competition and warm-up circles). There will be
some grandstands in place. There is a
second arena right next to that one which
can be used for horse warm-up (room for
two or three circles). Two more arenas
on the other side of the barns have room
for at least two circles each for horse
warm-up. There are approximately 40
permanent stalls and over a hundred
portable stalls. Also available are several
roomy, very sturdy pens.
Food will be available on site.
Camping and RV spaces are available.
There are ‘real’ toilets. Several tents will
be set up. One will be for judges, VIPs
and horse owners to relax and enjoy
refreshments. We are planning to set up
other tents and plenty of computers for
people to check out the scores as they
happen. The best party planners in our
organization will be working on décor
and other amenities to make this the most
exciting and enjoyable Nationals ever!
Communicate
Please attend the Competitions
Meeting at the Annual Meeting in Cupertino to let us know what you would
like to do to help. Any comments are
welcome at [email protected] and/or
[email protected].
A Nationals 2008 page will soon be
set up on the AVA website, so watch for
updates and news.
Colleen Kelly Clinic
night before. The vaulters’ balance and
posture changed completely as did the
horses’ way of going – more relaxed and
round for the vaulters. Colleen also gave
riding lessons for vaulters and riders and
they all saw changes in their horses’ way
of going.
Colleen will be back in the States in
2008 and we look forward to learning
from her again. Don’t miss this opportunity.
Right to Ride
Colleen Kelley addresses the audience.
Photo: courtesy Rosie Brown
Rosie Brown
Colleen Kelly, world-renowned
instructor in the field of biomechanics,
stopped in Austin, Texas while on US
tour. She traveled halfway across the
world (literally) to speak at Equine Affaire and Equine Extravaganza, as well
as work with many riders, vaulters and
therapeutic riding programs.
We hosted her lecture at a therapeutic
riding center as a fundraiser for the club.
She spoke on the concepts and methods
for improving seat and balance, and how
the position of your body parts affects
your control and strength.
She gave the team a clinic on the
barrel and horse at our barn. She implemented the concepts we had learned the
Vaulting World
26
The competition arena.
Photo: Marianne Rose
Carol Dwinell
Do you want to preserve your right
to ride/pack our horses on government
lands. More and more land across the nation is being closed to horse use every
year. Speak up now or soon you may lose
access to public lands with your horse.
Just click on the website: http://
www.washingtonwatch.com/bills/
show/110_SN_2283.html#toc3.
When it comes up, the voting box
will be on the right of your screen.
Vote yes to preserve our right to
ride, pack, etc., on public government
lands like National Forests and State
Parks. Many groups like bike clubs and
hiking clubs don’t want our horses to
share the public spaces with them. We
don’t try to stop other groups from enjoying the trails – go figure!
This bill is for all of the USA, not
just Washington State. So vote – not later
– do it now. It takes only a minute. If
you are more dedicated, email or call
your representative. The information is
on the website. I did it and it took less
than three minutes. It’s easy.
February 2008
WEG 2010 Update
WEG 2010 Tickets
Press Release
World Games 2010 Foundation
Excitement for the Alltech FEI
World Games is building.
67,000 tickets were reserved in the
two weeks that reservations were available to USEF members in November
2007. The yield was approximately $3.2
million in deposits (half of the ticket
price). The final number of tickets to be
sold is estimated at 500,000 to 600,000
for the 16 days of competitions at the
Kentucky Horse Park that will determine
eight world championships.
The most popular events were dressage (approximately 22,000 tickets) and
jumping (approximately 20,000 tickets).
Tickets will be offered to members
of other key equestrian groups beginning
early next year and will go on sale later
to the general public.
So far, 125 of the 350 vendor
booths planned for the games have been
reserved by 76 businesses and other entities, yielding $312,500 in deposits. The
price of the average booth is expected to
be $15,000.
January 2008 to begin working full-time
in Lexington, Kentucky as the Competition Director of the 2010 Games. Her
duties will include all logistical arrangements for the importation, quarantine,
stabling, veterinary and training facilities for more than 900 horses, as well as
overseeing and coordinating the production of the competitions.
Ms. Jackson currently serves as an
FEI Executive Board Member and FEI
Bureau member. She served as Competition Director of Equestrian Sports
and the Modern Pentathlon for the 1996
Atlanta Olympic Games; as a Technical
Advisor for equestrian sports at the 1988
Seoul Olympic Games; and as Director
of the Equestrian Three Day Event competition for the 1984 Los Angeles
Olympics. She has also served as the
Director of International Competitions
for the National Horse Show Association, and was Executive Director of the
American Horse Shows Association.
(now USEF).
“I am greatly honored to be selected
for this position and am eagerly looking
forward to the opportunity to work with
such an excellent team of Discipline
Managers,” said Ms. Jackson. “Together,
I am sure we will be able to produce
the finest World Equestrian Games ever
on the finest possible site for them, the
Kentucky Horse Park.”
Housing for WEG 2010
Event Home Leasing will be the
official private property rental provider
for WEG 2010. “As the owner of Event
Home Leasing, I am honored to have the
opportunity to provide private property
rentals for two of the largest international
sporting events in Kentucky’s history,
the 2008 Ryder Cup and the 2010 Alltech
FEI World Equestrian Games,” stated
Dana Martin. “We will assist in providing accommodations for event vendors,
visitors and participants and are looking
forward to presenting them with an opportunity to experience the ambiance
of southern living in Kentucky.”
Anyone interested in private property
rental for the 2010 Alltech FEI World
Equestrian Games should contact Dana
Martin of Event Home Leasing at 502592-8921 or dana@eventhomeleasing.
com.
New Competition
Director
Ms. Kate Jackson will relocate to the
World Games 2010 Foundation office in
Vaulting World
27
February 2008
CVI*,** Sao Paolo, Brazil
Beautiful facility, gracious and generous hosts, wonderful horses. What more could a vaulter ask for!
Rick VanVranken
Colorful Photo:
barns Rick Van Vranken
The Half Moon Team
Photo: Susan Frankel
Awards
6.
7.
Fenix Uol, Brazil............... 5.332
Royal Golden, Fabian Guida
Team 1* Equador............. 4.245
Stuart, Priscila Botton
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Half Moon, USA............... 6.873
Amazonas P, Brazil.......... 6.729
Charlie’s Angel, Brazil...... 6.658
Team 1* Argentina............ 6.373
Centauro, Brazil............... 6.138
Fenix Uol, Brazil............... 6.093
Team 1* Equador............. 5.469
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Centauro, Brazil............... 6.509
Half Moon, USA............... 6.451
Team 1* Argentina............ 6.373
Fenix Uol, Brazil............... 6.320
Team 1* Equador............. 5.469
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Half Moon, USA............... 6.314
Centauro, Brazil............... 6.099
Team 1* Argentina............ 6.090
Fenix Uol, Brazil............... 5.915
Team 1* Equador............. 5.200
One Star Freestyle RI
One Star Freestyle RII
One Star Overall
Individual Events
Two Star RI - Women
Photo:
Susan Frankel
CVI2*/1* - Sao Paulo
Sao Paulo, Brazil
Judges: Jean Michel
Pinel, Anita Flamand,
Luciana Ferrara
Participating Nations: Argentina,
Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador,
Germany, Switzerland, USA
Team Events
1.
2.
3.
1.
2.
3.
Two Star Compulsories
Dasvol Uol, Brazil............. 6.258
Royal Marchand, Flavia Themudo
Apolo, Brazil..................... 6.045
CS Grandioso, Priscila Botton
Gambas Japoneses Uol,
Brazil................................ 6.006
Coriolan Duzi, Fabian Guida
Two Star Freestyle RI
Apolo, Brazil..................... 7.919
Brazil................................ 7.469
Two Star Freestyle RII
1.
2.
3.
Apolo, Brazil..................... 7.564
Brazil................................ 7.464
1.
2.
3.
Apolo, Brazil..................... 7.176
Brazil................................ 6.980
Two Star Freestyle Overall
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
One Star Compulsories
Quatrilho Itapua,
Thais Tavares Paes
Half Moon, USA............... 5.618
Jadida, Fabian Guida
Kricati, Carla Lombardi Massenzi
Centauro, Brazil............... 5.649
Diamante do Piratininga,
Priscila Botton
Team 1* Argentina............ 5.499
Butia, Priscila Botton
1. Anja Barwig, Germany..... 7.929
Olegario Mangaratiba,
Eva Tavares Paes
2. Thais Tavares Paes,Brazil7.443
Olegario Mangaratiba,
Eva Tavares Paes
3. Flavia Themudo Guida,
Brazil ............................... 7.424
Lasaro, Fabian Guida
4. Antje Hill, Germany.......... 7.365
Jemumu, Eva Tavares Paes
5. Nicole Oleszak, Germany7.185
6. Annalise VanVranken,USA6.980
Bambina, Fabian Guida
7. Annemarie Lunow,
Germany.......................... 6.900
8. Cassidy Palmer, USA....... 6.425
9. Kathryn Gieschen, USA... 6.280
Jumumu, Eva Tavares Paes
10.Natalia Perroni, Brazil...... 6.105
Butia, Prscilla Botonn
11.Larissa Paukner,
Switzerland...................... 5.684
Two Star RII - Women
Brazil ............................... 7.718
5. Thais Tavares Paes,Brazil7.105
8. Annemarie Lunow,
Germany.......................... 6.873
10.Larissa Paukner,
Switzerland...................... 5.398
Two Star Overall - Women
Brazil ............................... 7.571
4. Thais Tavares Paes,
Brazil................................ 7.274
7. Annemarie Lunow,
Germany.......................... 6.887
11.Larissa Paukner,
Switzerland...................... 5.541
1.
2.
3.
Two Star RI - Men
Lukas Klouda, CzechRep8.154
Priscilla Botton
Daniel Kaiser.................... 6.756
Izac Araujo....................... 6.410
Priscilla Botton
Two Star RII - Men
1. Lukas Klouda, CzechRep7.803
2. Daniel Kaiser.................... 7.283
3. Izac Araujo....................... 6.120
Two Star Overall - Men
1. Lukas Klouda, CzechRep7.978
2. Daniel Kaiser.................... 7.020
3. Izac Araujo....................... 6.265
One Star RI - Women
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Amadine Jamar, Brazil..... 6.307
Lisa Larraguibel,Argentina5.565
Giulia Gam, Fernanda Shaw
Maria Paulina, Ecuador.... 4.385
Ana Francisca, Ecuador... 4.327
Carla Martinez, Ecuador.. 4.263
Xibalta Bi, Izac Araujo
1.
2.
3.
4.
Amadine Jamar, Brazil..... 6.620
One Star RII - Women
South African Championships
Barbie Gertzenbach
The vaulting champs this year were
characterized by a lot of rain, a good
spirit, excellent facilities, and lame
horses. The first lame horse was KwaZulu Natal’s (KZN) Flashdance, who
failed the initial vetting. The KZN vaulters were immediately offered space on
the Western Province and Riba Stables
horses. The following day Fantasy, the
bigger of the Riba Stables horses, was
lame — fortunately for that day only.
Some vaulters moved onto Boet, Riba’s
smaller horse, and the judges arranged
for the two biggest vaulters to be accommodated on the two privately owned
vaulting horses, Admiral and Palue for
Vaulting World
Nicole Masson on Boet
Photo: courtesy Barbie Gertenbach
that day’s round.
Brett Lattimer offered the vaulting
venue, a huge and beautiful indoor arena
at Cambridge Fields.
As vaulting in South Africa develops
28
Anna Van Vranken on
Bambina.
Photo: Rick Van Vranken
5. Ana Francisca, Ecuador... 3.981
One Star Overall - Women
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Amadine Jamar, Brazil6464.000
Ana Francisca, Ecuador... 4.154
1.
2.
3.
Miguel Olio, Brazil............ 6.239
Coriolan Duzi, Fabian Guida
Gustavo Modinos, Brazil.. 5.570
Alejandro Pinzon,
Colombia.......................... 5.435
Rascal, Carla Lombardi Massenzi
1.
2.
3.
Alejandro Pinzon,
Colombia.......................... 6.023
1.
2.
3.
Alejandro Pinzon,
Colombia.......................... 5.729
One Star RI - Men
One Star RII - Men
One Star Overall - Men
and the standard becomes higher, indoor
competition arenas become more and
more necessary. Seeing that it rained for
three of the four days of the vaulting in
Shongweni, the indoor venue was doubly
appreciated.
Championship classes offered were:
C-grade Individual Children’s Team and
D-Grade Mixed Team.
Various non-championship classes
were also run including E-grade Mixed
Team and Pairs at the walk.
The vaulting was judged by Shelley Paveley of Gauteng (GHS), Hilde
Ocenacikfrom the Western Province
(WP), Gillian Elston (KZN), Silke Ceruti
(GHS), and Helen Anderson (KZN); the
February 2008
South Africa
Vaulting in Israel
international judge was Frank Spadinger
(Austria), who also ran a judging and
coaching clinic prior to the show.
It is good to see that vaulting is
now healthily established in three of our
provinces with increasing numbers of
vaulters being trained by young coaches
from overseas with international experience. For some years now our rules have
required us to use an international judge
at championships and the input from
these visitors is improving the quality of
our local judging and coaching.
The Hosts
Maria Ruhwedell Gadnaor
This winter our club, Red Mountain Therapeutic Riding Center, situated
in the southern Arava desert of Israel,
enjoyed a breath of fresh air from Colorado. It all began in June 2007 when the
Yossi, Noel, Erik and Matthew Martonovich from Colorado visited Israel
and miraculously found their way to our
center. The family has been looking for
a way to develop vaulting in Israel and
our team has been seeking a way to learn
vaulting at our Center so it came to be.
In November 2007, 22-year-old Veronica Turner, a Gold level student of the
Matonovichs, arrived for a three-week
stay with us. A tall, beautiful, wonderful
person, full of energy, she always wore
a big friendly smile. She is an expert
teacher and an amazing horsewoman.
Our horses can now canter calmly
around in circles while we jump on an
off, stand, turn, dance and lie on them.
Ami, one of our riding instructors, even
does handstands on the back of the cantering horse! Who would believe that all
Red Mountain Therapeutic Riding Center
Photo: Veronica Turner
this could be accomplished in just three
weeks?
In addition to the horse vaulting
sessions we have learned how to do
team-focused warm-up and stretching
through fun games and exercises to build
confidence, trust and balance which leads
to personal growth and improved life
skills.
Before Veronica brought in her
flow of fresh ideas, I was not aware that
all this goodness would be attainable
through vaulting. It will remain with us
for the rest of our lives.
Continued
www.illusionsactivewear.com
Vaulting team uniforms
and practice wear
measured to fit
Winners of the D Grade Open Individual
Siyabonga Ramodibe, Khensani Maluleke,
Ofentse Makgatle (all from Gauteng) and
Patrick Xosa (Western Province)
design your own or
use our artists
Photo: courtesy Barbie Gertzenbach
prototype and
sizing kit available
This year there were classes offered
in four grades at our national championships, from training to international level
– all run indoors. Obviously we have a
long way to go. We need more horses.
There are still some regions that have
not yet sent vaulters to a championships.
But it was made very clear at Shonweni
that vaulting in South Africa is beginning
to settle down as an established discipline.
[email protected]
For more information about
vaulting in South Africa, visit
www.vaulting4africa.piczo.com
Vaulting World
29
February 2008
Vaulting in Israel
The Guest
Veronica Turner
Desert is all around me, as far as
one can see. A hot red sun drops down
behind the Jordanian mountain range,
changing the cliffs from brilliant reds
and pinks to cool blue and purple. Great
bats begin to come out and hunt for the
night, their chirping a constant song.
Farther off, along the Red Sea, Eilat becomes a city of lights, while in the desert
Bedouins tend to their goats and camels.
This is Israel. I am here.
I went to Israel for the month of
November thanks to Yossi and Noel
Martonovich who introduced me to the
Red Mountain Therapeutic Riding Center by Kibbutz Grofit in southern Israel.
Kibbutz Grofit rests in the desert next to
the Jordanian border, thirty minutes from
Eilat and the Red Sea. The Negev desert
is beautiful country. The Red Mountain
riding stables is a therapeutic center for
all kinds of people - a safe haven for
anyone and everyone to come and learn
about horses, riding, and now vaulting.
I was touched by all the instructors
and volunteers. Every day they give their
whole hearts and more to this stable and
the people who learn there and still have
an eagerness to learn everything they can
about vaulting.
The therapeutic horses were fantastic and warmed up to vaulting right
away. People of all ages tried our sport
and loved it! We had everything in freestyles from cowboys to cabaret dancers,
belly dancers to Samurai warriors to
Sponge Bob Square Pants! Everyone
was so creative. I turned around one day
to see instructor Ami having the kids do
cowboy mounts on Ketem. Each horse
has a heart of gold and will put up with
anything.
I gave lessons every day to kids of
all ages and watched lessons given by
the therapeutic instructors. I even got to
help in a few. Riders bowled from horseback, played catch, fought with foam
swords, threw hula-hoops over cones,
played silent communication games, and
played red light green light in Hebrew.
Vaulting World
To Compete or Not
The therapy was amazing and, at times,
a little emotional. I watched a non-communicative autistic kid hold eye contact,
lead a horse, and blow into a harmonica
(when he couldn’t quite get it, he held
it up to his instructor’s mouth). This is
a kid who, in this world, would never
have been able to put ideas and thoughts
together to get reactions. Pull on the rope
and the horse follows. If the harmonica
doesn’t work for him, put it to the mouth
it does work for.
One weekend we held a clinic for the
instructors - they were great! We worked
on basic exercises and games for trust
and team work, exercises on the horse
and compulsories, freestyles, music,
and performance. At the end of my stay,
everyone was amazing! Ami was even
standing at a canter on good ‘ol Ketem.
I learned so much out there and am glad
I could introduce the sport of vaulting to
a group so eager to be creative. I made
many friends out there as well - volunteers, instructors and students. This felt
like a once in a lifetime experience, yet I
hope to visit again soon.
Vaulting is for kids of all ages.
Photo: Veronica Turner
Veronica is a gold level vaulter who
started vaulting with Golden Gate Vaulters at the age of 13. Her vaulting has
taken her to many adventures. She had
her own vaulting club, Rolling Clover
Vaulters for several years. She formed a performance group with Nicole Czyzewski and went on the road with a
Renaissance Faire troupe for two years.
She is now 22 and, after returning from
Israel, is off on her new adventure performing with the world famous Kambarov Riders from Kyrgyzstan.
30
Pam Fleurant
If your new club is deciding whether
or not to begin competition, this article
is for you. I have a fairly new club. We
mostly vaulted for fun and performed at
various community events.
Our first competition was an unrated
barrel fest. To our surprise we did fairly
well. My vaulters had so much fun, they
wanted more. I do not think it was the
competitive venue that drew them in as
much as it was the whole experience
from start to finish – getting routines just
right, the teamwork at home and at the
event, the sleep-over in the hotel and the
chance to display their talents. After all,
competition is all about showing off. If
you score well, that’s the icing on the cake.
The next year our club decided to
host its first unrated barrel fest. It was a
success. This year we hosted our second
annual barrel fest. We also attended
our first horse competition - a regional
championship event! We were a bit
nervous. I read over the rules. Some
were clear, some were not. I emailed
the regional supervisor endless times
for clarification and she always set me
straight and answered my questions.
I am a dressage/event rider and have
done many competitions in my years, but
this discipline was foreign to me. I certainly did not want to look like a country
bumpkin from New England.
I was pleasantly surprised at the
kindness of other coaches and clubs.
Sometimes I asked another coach for
clarification of a rule or change. I was
never disappointed.
The classes ranged from tiny tots
to the higher-level canter vaulters. My
vaulters watched top-notch vaulters
perform and were inspired. I was able
to compare equipment, which changed
a few things for my horses. The vaulting horses were such a mixed bag of
equines — some were seasoned and well
mannered, others were young, new and
overwhelmed.
We now have two regional competitions under our belt. The vaulters and I
are learning new things every year and
our scores are improving. In 2008 we
will be hosting our first horse fest. In a
year or two it will become an AVA recognized New England competition. We also
plan to go to the Nationals in California.
Overall, competing is a great experience and I would encourage new clubs to
take the leap. It is not about the prize, it
is about the journey.
February 2008
Renaissance Farm
New Ad Rates
Pam Fleurant
Renaissance Farm Vaulting Club performed at
the Green Mountain Horse Association’s “Horses
and Courses” Gala. Top Level riders performed FEI
Level Dressage Freestyles and Renaissance Farm
Vaulters were the last to go.
“Show stopper”, “the hit of the show” were few
of the many comments from the crowd of over 350
spectators. Although still a little green, Avalon, a six
year old, 17.1 hand Belgian mare, did not let the girls
down. Performed to Greased Lightning, Macarana,
and Hip Hop, our vaulters did their first triple stand
on stand at the canter which was spectacular. They
also “wowed” the crowd by performing a double
stand while doing the Mararana.
Coach Pam Fleurant hopes they have inspired
another vaulting group to get started in New England.
Marianne Rose
As of the April 2008 issue:
$15 per columnar inch (2-1/4” wide)
$125 for 1/3 page ad
$150 for 1/2 page ad
$250 for full page ad
Any advertisers who pre-pay for six
issues by April 1, 2008 are offered our
current rates (see page 2 of this issue).
For an additional $50 any advertiser
who pre-pays for a full year may have a
link for one year on the AVA’s website in
the “Vaulting Store” page. Links for all
others are $100 per year per link.
Please contact Marianne Rose at
[email protected] or
phone/fax 408/867-1789 if you are interested in any of these offers.
Photo: courtesy Pam Fleurant
AMERICAN VAULTING ASSOCIATION DIRECTORY
National Office: 8205 Santa Monica Blvd., #1-288, West Hollywood, CA 90046-5912 • Email: [email protected]
Office Hours: M-F - 8am - noon PST • Phone: 323/654-0800, Fax: 323/654-4306 • www.americanvaulting.org
2007 AVA BOARD OF DIRECTORS
EXECUTIVE BOARD MEMBERS
AVA PRESIDENT - Nancy Stevens-Brown 831/476-5901, [email protected]
EXEC. VP - Kelley Holly 707/665-9281, [email protected]
VP DEVELOPMENT - Charlie Bittenbring 703/956-6450, [email protected]
VP MEMBERSHIP - Sheri Benjamin 408/872-1562, [email protected]
VP COMPETITIONS - Linda Bibbler 650/851-7751, [email protected]
VP EDUCATION - Wendy Ware 503/628-0918, [email protected]
TREASURER - Jan F. Garrod 408/741-1191- [email protected]
EXEC. SECTY - Amy McCune 864/888-8649, [email protected]
BOARD MEMBERS
Jessica Ballenger, Megan Benjamin, Carol Beutler, Carolyn
Bland, Bill Brown, Rosie Brown,
Merry Cole, Suzanne Detol, Priscilla G Faulkner,
Katie Flannagan, Sydney Frankel,
Rick Hawthorne, Virginia Hawthorne,
Devon Maitozo, Yossi Martonovich, Karin Schmidt
Marianne Rose, Bob Weber
REG. SUPERVISORS: I - Connie Geisler 909/861-1564, [email protected]; II - Fran Hoke 707/778-8707, [email protected];
III - Penny Maydak 503/703-9177, [email protected]; IV - Jodi Rinard 303/931-7072 [email protected];
IX - Alison Gieschen 856/467-4511, [email protected]; X - Jane Egger 269-782-3206 [email protected]
AVA STAFF
NATIONAL OFFICE MANAGER: Craig Coburn 323/654-0800, [email protected]
VAULTING WORLD EDITOR: Marianne Rose 408/867-1789, [email protected]
COMMITTEE CHAIRS AND SPECIAL PROGRAM DIRECTORS
ALUMNI: Patti Reschar 408/356-8660, fax 408/356-3435, [email protected] • ANNUAL MTG: Amy McCune 864/888-8649, [email protected]
AVA HIGH POINT: Toni Amoroso 805/493-2268, [email protected] • AWARDS: Carol Beutler 650/366-7527, [email protected]
ATHLETES COUNCIL: Jessica Ballenger 831/ 688-4330, [email protected] • CHA: Noel Martonovich 303/277-0356, [email protected]
COACHES: Connie Geisler 909/861-1564, [email protected] • COLLEGIATE: Nancy MacIsaac 505/ 867-3367, [email protected]
COMPET. SECTY: Suzanne Detol 503/357-9651, [email protected] • CONSTITUTION/BYLAWS: Charlie Bittenbring 703/777-1743, [email protected]
EDUCATION: Wendy Ware 503/628-0918, [email protected] • FRIENDSHIP TEAM: Priscilla G. Faulkner 770/786-7283, [email protected]
GRANTS: Jan Garrod 408/741-1191, [email protected] • GRIEVANCE: Suzanne Detol 503/357-9651, [email protected]
HISTORIAN: Nancy Stevens-Brown 831/476-590, [email protected] • HORSES: Yossi Martonovich 303/277-0356, [email protected]
INSURANCE: Kelley Holly 707/665-9281,[email protected] • Chronicle of the Horse: ChrisAppel-Bucierka 703/378-5987, [email protected]
MEDAL TEST SECTY: Suzanne Detol 503/357-9651, [email protected] • NARHA: Rachel Markels-Webber 978/952-6787, [email protected]
NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR THERAPEUTIC VAULTING: Rick/Virginia Hawthorne 818/302-0153, [email protected]
NATIONALS 2008: Marianne Rose 408/867-1789, [email protected] • PUBLICATIONS: Jan Weber 978/448-4193, [email protected]
PUBLICITY: Lynn Stevens 925/229-5344, [email protected] • RECREATIONAL: Joann Crell, 207-288-9506 [email protected]
SAFETY: Kim Deaver 419/ 354-3997, [email protected] • TECHNICAL ADVISOR TO AVA: J. Ashton Moore 408/623-4446, [email protected]
TECH. COMM. CHAIR: Suzanne Detol 503/357-9651, [email protected] • TRADESHOWS/EXHIBITS: Jan Weber 978/448-4193, [email protected]
VOLUNTEER RECOGNITION: Carol Beutler 650/366-7527, [email protected]
YOUTH ORGANIZATIONS: Nancy MacIsaac 505/ 867-3367, [email protected] • WEBSITE: Sheri Benjamin 408/872-1562, [email protected]
FEI Vaulting Committee Member: Emma Seely 408/868-9476, [email protected] • USEF/Dir. of Vaulting: Pam Lane 908/326-1153, [email protected]
USEF High Point Com. Chair: Linda Bibbler 650/851-7751, [email protected] • USEF HP Com.Vice Chair: Craig Coburn 323/654-0800, [email protected]
USEF Board Members: Linda Bibbler 650/851-7751, [email protected] and Jan Weber 978/448-4193, [email protected]
USEF Board/Elected Athlete: Devon Maitozo 818/429-2115, [email protected] • USEF Athlete’s Council Memb.: Megan Benjamin 408/605-8447, [email protected]
USEF Vaulting Technical Committee Co-Chairs: Craig Coburn 323/654-0800, [email protected]; Suzanne Detol 503/357-9651, [email protected]
USET Foundation Executive Director: Bonnie Jenkins 908/234-1251, [email protected]
Vaulting World
31
February 2008
TIME VALUE MAIL
DO NOT DELAY
AMERICAN VAULTING
ASSOCIATION
8205 Santa Monica Blvd. #1-288
West Hollywood, CA
90046-5912
April Issue - Annual Meeting - Deadline March 5
CALENDAR OF VAULTING EVENTS
2008
May 17-18 Garrod’s Spring Classic and May Fest, Saratoga, CA.
Contact Marianne Rose, [email protected]
May 23-24 CVI*,** Wien Freudenau, Austria, Contact Pam Lane,
[email protected]
Jackpot Vaulting Show, Delta, CO, Contact Kat Metzger,
May 24
[email protected]
Woodside Vaulters Spring Fest, Woodside, CA. Contact
Jun 8
Linda Bibbler, [email protected]
Region IV Championships, Albuquerque, NM. Contact
Jun 7-8
Lee Thomas, [email protected]
Jun 14-15 CVI** Sala, Slovakia, Contact Pam Lane, [email protected]
Jun 20-22 CVI**, * Krumke, Germany, Contact Pam Lane, plane@
usef.org
Jun 23-24 AVA Summer Vaulting Camp, Fort Robinson, NB. Contact Noel Martonovich, [email protected]
Jun 26-29 CVI** Aachen, Germay, Contact Pam Lane, [email protected]
Jun 29-Jul 5 Warm Beach Camp (age 10-18), Stanwood, WA. www.warmbeach.com
Jul 10-13 Region II Championships, Grass Valley, CA. Contact Kelley Holly, [email protected]
Jul 31-Aug 3 World Vaulting Championships, Brno, Czech Republic.
Contact Pam Lane, [email protected]
Aug 9-12 USEF/AVA National Championships, Watsonville, CA.
Contact Marianne Rose, [email protected]
Aug 23-25 CVI** Wien, Austria, Contact Pam Lane, [email protected]
CVI* Bogota, Colombia, Contact Pam Lane, [email protected]
Oct 1-3
CVI* Sydney, Australia, Contact Pam Lane, [email protected]
Oct 3-5
October 5 Morning Star Harvest Fest, Novato, CA. Contact Carolyn Conner, [email protected]
Oct 10-12 Spirit of Vaulting in Region X, Grand Rapids, MI. Contact
Karin Schmidt, [email protected]
Oct 26
Mt. Eden’s Halloween Fest, Saratoga, CA. Contact Marianne Rose, [email protected]
Region II Clinic/Meeting/Awards/Dinner, Petaluma, CA.
Nov 22
Contact Kelley Holly, [email protected]
Feb 16-17 Region IV Winter Barrel Fest/Clinic, Albuquerque, NM.
Contact Lee Thomas, [email protected]
Feb 16-18 USEF Vaulter Training Camp, San Francisco Bay Area,
California. Contact Pam Lane, [email protected]
Valley View Barrel Fest, Lake View Terrace, CA. Contact
Feb 23
Virginia Hawthorne, [email protected]
Feb 23-24 Meadow Creek Clinic with Nancy Stevens-Brown, Alberta, Canada. Contact Jeanine van der Sluijs, [email protected]
Feb 28-Mar 2 AVA Annual Meeting, Cupertino, CA. Contact Sheri
Benjamin, [email protected]
Mar 8-9 Northwest Spirit of Vaulting Conference, North Plains
OR. Contact Wendy Ware, [email protected]
Mar 15-16 Great Lakes Barrel Fest/Clinic, Watervliet, MI. Contact
Jane Egger, [email protected]
Mar 21-23 CVI** Saumur, France, Contact Pam Lane, [email protected]
Mar 30-Apr 4 Warm Beach Camp (age 10-18), Stanwood, WA. www.warmbeach.com
CVI*,** Casteren, Netherlands, Contact Pam Lane,
Apr 4-6
[email protected]
Apr 11-13 CVI*,** Portoguaro, Italy, Contact P. Lane, [email protected]
Apr 11-13 Warm Beach Camp (age 7-18), Stanwood, WA. www.warmbeach.com
Celebration Competition Series, Augusta MI, Contact
Apr 19
Judy Ruggles [email protected]
May 3-4 FACE Off Vaulting Challenge, Moorpark, CA. Contact
Carolyn Bland [email protected]
Renaissance Farm Fest, Pepperell, MA. Contact Pam
May 4
Fleurant, [email protected] www.renaissancefarminfo.org
May 9-12 CVI** Wiesbaden, Germany, Contact Pam Lane, [email protected]
May 10-11 Great Falls/Topaz Spring Fest, Herndon, VA. Contact
Tom Haynie, [email protected]
Dec 5-7
CVI*,** Sao Paulo, Brazil, Contact Pam Lane, [email protected]
For more information on USA competitions, memberships, etc. visit www.americanvaulting.org
Vaulting World
32
February 2008

2007 Club Reports - American Vaulting Association

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