The three members of the recently formed Diamond Willow Vaulting Club based in Eagle Hill are heading to B.C. for a prestigious competition this week.
The Canada Cup CVI & Future Champions competition takes place in Chilliwack, B.C., east of Vancouver, on May 26 to 29.
Club member and coach Brooke Boyd, 19, will be competing in the senior one star category and will be riding a horse named Xena borrowed from a friend from Denver, Colo.
Club member Claudine Jeaurond, 12, will be competing in the Canter D future champions category.
Club member Jaydee Fluet, 9, will be competing in the Walk C and Trot D future champions category.
Both Jeaurond and Fluet will be riding a horse named Yellow Storm borrowed from a friend in Washington State.
Coach and lunger Diane Boyd explained that vaulting can be described as “gymnastics and dance performed on and in harmony to music on a moving horse. It can be performed at three different gaits: walk, trot and canter competing as an individual, in pairs (pas de deux) or as a team of six, where no more than three can be on the horse at one time.
“The horse is guided on a long rein by a lunger standing on the ground who ensures that a steady gait is maintained on a circle with a minimum diameter of 15 metres.”
Diamond Willow club members train and ride at the Back to the Ranch arena northwest of Camp Harmattan.
The horses that club members use at Back to the Ranch are Diamond Sysco, an 11-year-old Warmblood gelding that is used for walk, trot and mainly canter, and Lucasia Major, a nine-year-old Percheron gelding that competes in walk, trot and does pairs and team, says coach Boyd.
Club members took part in their first competition at the Meadow Creek Vaulting Club in Rimbey April 9-10.
Club members will be attending the Spring Into Summer Competition at the Horse in Hand Ranch in Blackfalds on June 10-12.
