Snow dusted the tops of the mountains near the Peppermill Hotel Casino in Reno, Nev., as members of the American Vaulting Association gathered
for their annual meeting.

From March 3-6, while dedicated gamblers wagered on the first floor, vaulters, coaches, parents and members of the board deciphered new FEI rules, learned how to write and apply for grants, celebrated the past year’s heroes and prepared for this year’s challenges.

Nancy Stevens-Brown, AVA president, had members in tears as she unleashed an amazing new DVD about the historical link vaulting shares with other horse disciplines. Using photos of ancient cave paintings, old prints, and even 19th century cartoons, Stevens-Brown made a fantastic, 10-minute prototype electronic slide show of equine history.

Dissolves of an ancient “vaulter” from Crete slowly changed into a modern display of gold-level vaulting talent, while in another sequence, the use of vaulting techniques for cavalry were documented, then morphed to current exercises. Backed with music and commentary, this new marketing tool should bring new participants to the sport.

Emma Garrod Drinker earned the Mentor of the Year Award. Having paid her dues as a vaulter during the early years of the sport in the United States, Drinker has worn all the hats. As a vaulter, coach, judge, horse trainer (her 12-year-old Dutch Warmblood captured the 2004 Horse of the Year Award), and chef d’equipe at the 2002 World Equestrian Games, she has earned praise and respect not only in the United States, but throughout the world.

Instrumental in setting up some of the first international vaulter exchanges, she has given clinics in Europe, South Africa, Australia and South America as well as sharing her expertise here in the United States. She also coached a world champion gold medalist, Devon Maitozo.

Maitozo was one of many to stand at the microphone and emotionally relate how the teaching methods and the caring effort to find and develop the best within each of her students had inspired him and others. It is a testimony to her love of the sport, that when she was the chef d’equipe for the bronze-medal team at the 2002 World Equestrian Games, she was shepherding the very team that edged her own club out of the competition to represent the United States at those Games.

New Moves

It’s now a different world, and the 2006 WEG will present new challenges. For the international vaulter, the required compulsories to the right have been replaced by a set of required freestyle exercises. These may be done in any order and combined with other freestyle moves for a one-minute creative routine. Difficult moves, they include a reverse stand, a roll-up from the ground to rear facing on the neck of the horse, a side needle, reverse hand stand, and cartwheel from neck.

The moves must be precisely executed at FEI competitions for the next two years. Following the 2006 World Championships, they will be replaced by a new set. Similar to the short routine of figure skaters, the required exercises must be performed by each vaulter, interspersed with their own choreographed moves. Scores will be based not only on the execution of those moves but on performance and choreography of the whole routine, music, harmony with the horse, configured with the horse score.

From the very top of the WEG ladder to those first steps into the sport of vaulting, it will be easy for newcomers to the sport to become a member after March 31. A “recreational youth vaulter” category will be available from the new website. In addition to that new non-competitive level, Charley Bittenbring, a former president of the organization, put together a revised membership plan with two categories–youth and adult. This will bring the AVA’s membership descriptions in line with other equine organizations.

Also increasing the AVA outreach to the public, the new website (www.americanvaulting.org) launched at the beginning of the year will soon have a password-protected membership area in addition to the extensive amount of information that has been added. The new website should inform, attract and confirm vaulting as an excellent introduction to horse sports as well as an internationally recognized discipline.

More Growth

Sue Detol, an FEI O-rated judge, was one of many AVA members attending the USEF Annual Meeting in Louisville, Ky., in December. She reported that vaulting has three members who work for the sport on the USEF Board of Directors. Devon Maitozo (active athlete), Jeff Ashton Moore (chair-
man of high performance) and Jan Weber (AVA liaison) are a part of the 54-member USEF Board.

In her report to the membership, Detol, a member of the FEI Affiliates Working Group, reported on a slide show presented by David O’Connor that represented the successes of all the breeds and disciplines in 2004, including our bronze-medal team from Stadl Paura, Austria. Lisa Maxwell, representing the U.S. Team (Coast Line Vaulters, Santa Cruz, Calif.), was at the athletes recognition luncheon to receive the award.

Denver, Colo., will host the 2005 National USEF/AVA Championships in August, and the site has been confirmed for the 2007 Championships as well. Saratoga, Calif., will host a CVI*/**, and additional AVA- and USEF- recognized competitions on both the East and West coasts will give vaulters an increasing opportunity to develop. The year 2006 should show unprecedented growth for the sport of vaulting.