In May 2020, we caught up with FEI Equestrian Vaulting Judge Alison Rimaud, the following is the Interview with Alison and what she shared about this beautiful and challenging sport.
Do you come from an Equestrian background?
I grew up in Co Kildare, my father worked for the Irish Turf Club and yes we had horses! Broodmares and ponies! I hunted with the Kildare Foxhounds and the Naas Harriers (at the time), was a member of the Kildare Pony Club.
What first attracted you to Vaulting and how did you become involved?
I shall turn this question around!!! I became involved in vaulting thanks to my eldest daughter, Charlotte; she discovered this sport at a pony camp in France at the ripe old age of eight. In France every pony club practicing vaulting must have a judge if they want their team to compete. These apprentice judges are usually the unsuspecting parents! As I knew nothing about this sport this was an opportunity for me to learn, so I volunteered for the judge’s education course without realising where it would take me!!!!!!
The first thing that comes to mind is the wonderful way squad members work together old and young, it is a squad sport at first (6 members in a squad) this builds up self confidence in the members. At competitions, there is an amazing friendliness between competitors no matter the nationality. In vaulting should your horse not pass the trot up you can be sure that another vaulter/nation will offer you a place on their horse. What other equestrian discipline does that?
When did you become an FEI Judge for the sport?
I became a lower level judge in France in 1998 and slowly worked my way up becoming an FEI 2* judge in 2016 and FEI 3* in 2019, I needed my children to leave the nest before I was 100% free to follow my sport.
What do you love about the sport?
The beauty of the sport! It is graceful, artistic, challenging and a pleasure to watch. The different themes, the imagination of the vaulters and their coaches can be really amazing, yet staying very technical.
Alison Rimaud – FEI Equestrian Vaulting Judge
Does the sport require a particular breed or type of horse?
A vaulting horse needs to be sensible not sensitive! The horse score is 25% of the score so they need a good quality working canter. The vaulter needs to be able to move from the ears to the tail, on the outside and inside. There is no particular breed we see ponies, cobs, 18hh plus! A team horse needs to be able to carry a maximum of three vaulters at one time. Our vaulting horses are usually horses that do dressage, are driven and who are in general good all rounders!
Is training the Vaulting Horse a lengthy process?
It can be, all depending on the horse! In general a horse that has been training regularly can be vaulting proof and competing at high level within four years. This doesn’t mean that it takes four years for every horse there are horses on the vaulting circuit who did their first CVI competition after only three to four months training!
Does the rider require a lot of flexibility and balance training on a dummy horse prior to trying it on the real thing?
Like everything flexibility comes with training, a vaulter needs core strength. A vaulter will use a vaulting barrel to practise their routines but needs to have the real thing at the same time as when the base is moving that changes everything!! As the level increases the vaulter needs to do a lot of ground work (physical preparation/gym) in order to stay at the top in the sport.
If a young Equestrian is interested in becoming involved in the sport what is your advice?
Find a club with a qualified coach and go for it, try everything you can imagine, even if it makes the coach close their eyes!! Have fun because it is a fun sport!
What are your plans for growing the sport in Ireland going forward?
We currently have three established vaulting clubs in Ireland and our wish would be to develop the sport throughout the country. We would love to get the Irish Pony Club interested as we feel this would help promote our sport. We run competitions every year ending with a championship in October, though Covid 19 has put a stop to this for the moment. We do hope to be able to run a competition before the end of the year. We would also love to get to the RDS Horse Show as a demonstration sport…who knows, we can always dream!!
This Interview was originally published in the May 2020 Issue of Irish Sport Horse Magazine, NB**Please Note All Pictures in this Interview were provided by Alison Rimaud, all rights reserved. If you would like to find out more about Equestrian Vaulting, Contact Equestrian Vaulting Ireland through the details above.