Vaulting on Horseback

A lone horse and single handler enter the arena as the announcer demands silence from the crowd. A strange and unknown sport called vaulting is introduced as a group of gymnasts arrive on the scene in a perfectly formed and unified line. They take their position on the side and the horse begins it's circular journey around it's handler at a beautifully balanced canter. The line of athletes is broken as one steps forward to enter the horses spherical path and stand at the center. Then the audience waits anxiously as they give the performers their attention. The vaulter raises his hand and all at once the room is filled with sweet melodic music. He approaches the horse in perfect unison with its gait. They glide in a half circle and finally meet. In an instant the vaulter and horse become one as the athlete is lifted by sheer momentum to land atop the creature without straining a single muscle. The show has begun and the crowd now holds their breath and sits at the edge of their seats as the excitement builds. In a perfectly fluid dance the gymnast contorts his body in ways that are both amazing and beautiful all while on top of his equestrian partner. All of the sudden, without any warning another vaulter appears on the horse. The music fluctuates to a dramatic series of notes and the second athlete is lifted high above the first. She is now flying and dancing all at once, always with precision, always with unison. Again, another gymnast appears and the music again becomes loud and exciting. Now, the three of them move in separate dances. Now, they join in movements. Now, they climb to impossible heights only to fly and roll and find the ground again. One vaulter leaves horse and another mounts to take his spot and join directly into the motions of the horse. By now the music courses through everyone in the arena and pulls them into a mesmerized state as they watch in horror to see the vaulters continually defy all laws of gravity and motion. The performance is terrifically beautiful, yet fearfully dangerous. Finally, in a grand and desperate last cry from the music the last three vaulters take flight in a series of flips, twists, and jumps and land in a dense fog of silence. Their feet find the ground firmly and they proudly and triumphantly raise their arms to conclude their victorious performance and a roar, more deafening than any music could be erupts and grows. This is what the sport called equestrian vaulting is all about.