Vaulting! (by Emma)

VAULTING!

It’s gymnastics. ON A HORSE!

(read this while listening to Harder Better Faster Stronger by Daft Punk)


In the beginning of the day it was simple. Stretch, run in circles, stretch more, more circles. (I learned the German word for faster! schneller was yelled a lot as we ran.) but we also played games!
A great game we played is called Octopus. To play, the only set-up you need is a line cutting in half wherever you’re playing. One person is the octopus. They have to stand on the line, and the can’t move off of it. The other players all line up side by side on the edge of the court, and when go is called, everyone runs as fast as they can to the other end of the court while the octopus (staying on the line) tries to touch the runners. If you’re touched, you have to stay on the line and catch players! The more people the more fun on this game. Last person not an octopus is the winner, and if you play again, they’re the next octopus. (I learned how to count backwards in German from this game!)

tag

Another thing we played is race. You have to have an even number of players for this game.
Line up in pairs. When you and the person next to you are called, you race to the other side. Who wins and who loses doesn’t matter. Race so that when everyone has run once, you’re back in the same line as you were on the other side. (opposite side, of course)
We also played tag, but do I really have to explain how tag works?

Team Blue

When warm-up was done, we would split up into our teams (team red and team blue (I was blue)) and practice how to get onto the special saddle on a big blue horse dummy. Then, once we got on correctly (or just on at all) we would practice our tricks. On the very first day we each picked one single-person trick and one two-person trick to practice for the three days.
Once we had our tricks down on the dummy, usually team red would get first turn on the horse while we practiced more. But once they were done, it was our turn! And there’s something I forgot to mention. The horse is walking in a circle as you do your trick on it! But if you have a lot of trouble getting on, they might stop it. For a second. And that’s a MIGHT.

I'm on a horse!

But when you get up there, don’t hesitate to hold the instructor’s hand! It’s expected. There’s also a special way to get down from your trick and off the horse.
After tricks it was my favorite part of the day. LUNCH!!!!!! They made the most delicious food, and the drink from the cooler was amazing!
When you were done with lunch, if you hadn’t yet, you would go out to help clean the horses. You had to brush the fur, mane, and tail, clean the hooves, and get the shedding fur out (yes, that’s different than just brushing!). Then it’s back to tricks!

My 2-person trick (I'm in front)

At the end of the day they would put out some snacks like little cake slices, apple slices, and other things along those lines. We would play around and sit on the horse dummies. Sometimes some of us would organize a game to play, but it wasn’t often. After-class time was resting time.
But this was a four-day class! So why did I say “to practice for the three days”?  because the last day was a show! On the last day we put on a show for our parents. The arena was set up with benches so that  the parents could get close to the action, and ropes were put up so that nobody could get too close to where the horse walked.

Certificates!

While we were getting ready, one of the girls pulled me over and told me that I had to go get my hair done! (I got very worried.) We walked outside and I sat down and got my hair braided, sprayed, and tied up with a little blue scrunchie. I think I looked pretty good, personally.
After everyone had done our tricks and had our fun, we all got free food and drinks and pretty certificates!
BEST! CLASS! EVER!

After the show

Karen says - It was a lot of fun watching Em do her show. I'm very proud of her. It was even worth driving the 45 minutes each way twice a day. :)