By Kim Hilsenbeck.
It’s a cold December Saturday. Melanie Schaubhut, a lungeur, is standing in the middle of a large dirt riding ring, fenced in on all sides. In one hand she holds a sizeable whip. In the other hand is a tether, officially called a lungeur, attached to Tank, a large five-year-old white horse.
Schaubhut leads him in a circle around the ring at a slow trot, warming him up for the equestrian vaulting demonstration about to begin.
The next logical question is, of course, what is equestrian vaulting?
It’s gymnastics and dance on the back of a moving horse.
Yes, we’re serious.
Schaubhut runs Lone Star Vaulters, an equestrian vaulting club, out of her Manchaca-based firm, September Song Stables.
At top, Melanie Schaubhut, a lungeur, leads Tank around a circle to warm up for a demonstration. Schaubhut runs the areas’ only equestrian vaulting club in the area out of September Song Stables in Manchaca. Here, members of Lone Star Vaulting practice performing gymnastics while on horseback. The team hopes to compete in the 2014 World Equestrian Games in France. (Photos by Kim Hilsenbeck) |
Rewind several years and Schaubhut didn’t even know what equestrian vaulting was, let alone how to be a lungeur.
Her daughter, Alex, now 16, was on a gymnastics team for several years, spending about 20 hours a week in training.
“Alex came to me and said, ‘OK, I’m done. I’m done with that. I don’t need to go to gymnastics anymore,’” Schaubhut said.
A friend suggested her daughter do horse vaulting.
Alex took the suggestion and ran with it. She went online and found a blog and chat site about horse vaulting.
“One day,” she said, “Rosie Brown showed up at my barn and said she heard a job opening for a vaulting coach. She said, ‘I have an appointment with Alex Schaubhut for a job opening.’”
Schaubhut laughed at the memory of Alex being a nine-year-old girl and hiring a coach.
At the time, Schaubhut had just bought the property and had two or three horses.
But with Brown on board, Schaubhut set about learning all she could about vaulting. In the meantime, Alex worked with Brown training for several months on a horse barrel.
Schaubhut also trained a horse named Poncho.
“I thought he was the worst horse in the world. But all the others weren’t right for vaulting,” she said.
Poncho was, however.
“When someone is not a balanced rider, the horse knows it,” Schaubhut said. “It’s biomechanics. If the rider is not moving with the horse, the animal can get sore.”
Vaulting helps teach great balance and coordination.
Schaubhut said people sometimes think they know how to ride a horse, but she’ll hear about people who lean forward and press their heels into the horse’s side while pulling back the reins. The horse speeds up, but they don’t understand why.
“He did exactly what you told him to,” Schaubhut said.
In that situation, she said the rider should sit back, gently pull on the reins, lean back, and tell the horse to slow down.
While Schaubhut has only been involved with vaulting for about seven years, the sport is much older. In fact, it’s the oldest equestrian sport in history. Ancient Greeks and Romans watched equestrian vaulting for entertainment.
The technique was then used to train the soldiers and warriors how to balance while riding and fighting during battle. Drums were added later so the horses would keep the same pace.
Today, with no real fortresses to invade or protect, equestrian vaulting is a competitive sport, for both teams and individuals.
On this day, the Lone Star Vaulters are conducting a demonstration of their talents. Schaubhut wants to introduce the sport to new performers as well as find sponsors to help the team compete in France next year.
“Our current goal is to raise $10,000 for two of our vaulters to qualify for the World Equestrian Games in France 2014,” she said.
The 2014 Games will take place August 23 through September 7 in Normandy, France.
But Schaubhut acknowledges it’s not a sport for the faint of heart, or wallet.
Lessons can range anywhere from $50 each to $200 or more a month, depending on several factors.
But Schaubhut also explained that with six kids taking care of one or two horses, the cost is reasonable.
“It’s more affordable than other sports because there is a shared expense,” she said.
Just before the demonstration, a group of vaulters warmed up in the barn.
The Lone Star Vaulters prepare to demonstrate their equestrian vaulting skills. Equestrian vaulting is the oldest and safest equestrian sport, not even requiring helmets or pads. |
They entered the ring, their breath visible. Many were in constant motion, trying to stay warm. The outfits, tight fitting gymnastics leotards, didn’t do much to block the freezing wind.
Once on top of the horses, however, they seemed to forget the cold and just perform as they’ve been trained.
Schaubhut maintained the speed of the horse, offering control while the vaulters worked their routines on the horse’s back.
It was an impressive display of balance and coordination, with the horse, vaulter and lungeur working in concert.
