Vaulting is one of those mystical sports that embraces the power of gymnastics, the balance of figure skating, the grace of ballet, the coordination of acrobatics and the skill of riding. Moving in harmony with the steady, smooth gait of a horse, vaulters perform exquisite, skillfully choreographed movements, sometimes singly but often in team combinations.

Vaulting, or acrobatic riding, is an ancient sport and has its origins in classical Rome. From the writings of Vegetius, a Roman military horse breeder, it's known that acrobatics on horseback were part of cavalry training on Campus Martius, or the Field of Mars. The area, which was a low lying plain next to the River Tiber, was dedicated to Mars, the Roman God of War, and was traditionally the focus of military activity and conditioning.

Equestrian acrobatics remained part of cavalry training for centuries but in the 16th century it crossed over into the spectator realm as a circus attraction. The oldest textbook on acrobatics was written in Germany and published in 1657. Vaulting achieved an historical highlight when it was an Olympic sport in 1928. Vaulting as an equestrian sport enjoyed a European renaissance in the 1960s and arrived in Canada some 25 years ago. Today, it is a vibrant competitive sport at the international level.

Central to vaulting, of course, is the horse.

"When we acquired Cetoma, he had been a packhorse and he hadn't been lunged before last December (2003)," explained Nancy Walter, spokesperson for the newly formed Chilliwack Vaulting Club. "A horse has to be a minimum of six years to do vaulting. Cetoma is eight and he's a bay Percheron/Morgan cross. He's the friendliest horse and really loves people, especially children."

A steady, rhythmic gait and a quiet, dependable, trusting character are essential qualities for a vaulting horse that will spend its career on a lunge line. They must be unflappable, steady, and comfortable with the feel of vaulters sitting or standing anywhere from the withers to the croup.

Vaulters, too, are uniquely versatile.

"There are so many layers of sports in this," stressed Mrs. Walter. "There's figure skating, dance, choreography, gymnastics. We have six members from six to fourteen years. Many vaulters start in gymnastics. The majority of our children have done gymnastics or are doing it."

Coaching the club is Melanie Zeisler who rates among the top six vaulters in Germany. As she brings along the vaulters, working on choreography and movement, so Cetoma is progressing from the walking stage into canter.

The levels of competition in vaulting include walk, trot, canter, silver and gold and these divisions are further broken down. In some ways, vaulting is judged rather like figure skating or gymnastics in terms of technical accuracy and presentation. And just like those sports, some movements are compulsory.

"A judge will mark the vaulters individually and as a team," explained Mrs. Walter. "Judging is on precision and accuracy of movement and they must be in rhythm with the horse."

Vaulting is a sport heavily dependent on teamwork and six vaulters are required to form a team. Therefore, the commitment of not only the vaulter but also the parents is essential. The bonus, of course, is that parents don't have to own a horse for a child to participate. Within a club, they can contribute to the cost of care and maintenance of the one horse all the vaulters depend on. This really spreads the load and makes the sport affordable.

The value of the sport to young children is immeasurable. Through the cross-over sports disciplines, vaulters quickly develop self-confidence, physical (and mental) flexibility, goal setting and a sense of purpose. "When they start, they see results straight away," stressed Mrs. Walter. "Our six-year-old has only been in it a couple of months. There is a great love of movement as well as a love of animals."

There's a great love of competition too. More than a hundred vaulters from the Pacific Northwest attended the recent Funfest competition in Chilliwack and, in September, they will meet again for the western provincials.

Read Margaret Evans' column "In The Shadow Of Equus" each month in The Pacific & Prairie Horse Journal