Australia’s vaulting team takes this enthralling discipline to new heights at Herning for the 2022 FEI World Championships. Let’s zoom in on our team in this popular yet little-publicised sport.
Australia is represented by a full squad of seven members plus two individual competitors. Stephanie Dore and Ginger Kennett are the two to watch in the Female Individual competition as they go up against 34 vaulters from 16 countries. The members of our Vaulting Squad are Arabella Read, Eloise Tate, Lydia George, Poppy Loveland, Sabine Osmotherly, Willow Vitu, and Zoe Caddis. The squad is being lunged by Germany’s Christine Enders. Sadly, our leading Male Individual vaulter, Jamie Hocking, is not at Herning, having to withdraw from selection contention due to injury.
Our nine women are led by Chef d’Equipe Tristyn Lowe, whose experience in the discipline dates back more than 30 years. We catch up with Steph, Ginger and Tristyn to find out more about what we can expect to see from the Aussies when they enter the Jyske Bank Boxen from 6 August.
TRISTYN LOWE
Tristyn Lowe has been involved in Australian vaulting for 30 years. She quickly became passionate about the sport and progressed to competing internationally for a decade, training and competing in Europe for long stints and ranking as high as sixth in the world. During that time, Tristyn competed at three World Equestrian Games (WEG).
Tristyn has also been very involved in lungeing and horse training, competing as a lunger with the Aussie team at the 2010 WEG in Kentucky. She continues to coach and judge at national and international level, and created and ran a National Vaulting Workshop in Australia for 13 years.
Through her vast experience, Tristyn believes vaulting is a great sport for all riders and one that provides an understanding of a horse’s movement in a way no other equestrian sport does – and also requires athletes to develop a strong trust in their equine partners to achieve the higher levels of competition.
EQ LIFE: You have a wealth of experience in the sport; for those who are unfamiliar, can you explain what we’ll be watching at Herning?
TRISTYN: Most people think of vaulting as acrobatics on horses, but I like to think of it more as creating a form of dance with the aid of the movement of the horse. In vaulting, you are always working as part of a team: the vaulter, lunger and horse. There are also Squad and Pas de Deux (doubles) categories.
Vaulting is a sport that requires both horse and vaulter to be in peak physical condition. From a horse’s perspective, they are scored on the quality of their canter as well as their accuracy on the circle. This takes a huge amount of training to develop. The horse needs to be able to adjust to the changing weight positions of their vaulter(s) and keep a cool head in a high-pressure situation. The lunger is an integral part of a great team and coordinates to take care of both the horse and vaulter.
From a vaulter’s perspective, high levels of strength, flexibility and artistry are required. This takes a huge amount of ground and barrel training even before you get to training on a horse. The truly amazing vaulters have as little impact as possible on their horse. This requires strong body control in order to maintain a stable balance point. The less we impact on our horse, the better our horse’s scores will be.
At the lower levels of vaulting, it is about learning to move your body in harmony with the horse and to appreciate what magnificent creatures we are able to work with. This can be as simple as learning how it feels to sit in different positions on the horse.
EQ LIFE: Tell us about the horses that will be competing in Herning.
TRISTYN: One of the disadvantages in vaulting is there is very little funding, so we can’t generally bring our own horses from Australia. It is up to the competitors to find and fund the use of a horse based closer to where the competition is. This takes time to adjust to the different horse and adjust the performance to optimise both horse and vaulter scores.
EQ LIFE: It’s a shame that we don’t have a Male Individual vaulter on the team this time around.
TRISTYN: Jamie Hocking is a long-term competitor with a huge amount of experience in both team and individual vaulting. He has a lot to offer Australian vaulting. Making a decision to not compete due to injuries can be difficult, but for long-term outcomes sometimes these difficult decisions need to be made. Australia does currently have a low number of male vaulters, hence why we have none attending Herning.
STEPHANIE DORE
For Stephanie Dore, this is her second FEI World Championships after Tryon in 2018 (then called WEG), placing 21st overall. The 26-year-old from Melbourne has been training hard in Picton, NSW, for the past four years to try and build on that result. Stephanie will be partnered with horse Qiun AF Osterholm and lunged by Denmark’s Nanna Klinge at Herning.
EQ LIFE: How did it feel when you were told you were heading to Herning?
STEPHANIE: I felt extremely excited and proud to represent Australia again at another World Championships.
EQ LIFE: Where are you based – is there anyone in particular you are training with there?
STEPHANIE: Typically, I am based in Australia in Picton and train with my lunger, Georgie Kennett, on Donati 3 with my training partner Ginger Kennett. This year in the lead-up to Herning I have completed two trips to Europe to prepare. My first trip was in March to Holland where I competed at Greta Brogel CVI in Belgium and Ermelo CVI in Holland. These competitions I competed on Golden Wonder, a Dutch horse lunged by Maurits de Vries and competed alongside Ginger Kennett.
In June, I then travelled to the USA for 10 days to train with my coach, Alicen Divita, on a variety of horses. I then made the journey to Denmark with my USA training partner, Tessa Divita, on 9 June. Upon arriving, I was preparing for CHIO Aachen and Flygine CVI, on Skovlunds May Dancer with my lunger Allan Laudrup. Unfortunately, the day of departure Skovlunds May Dancer pulled up lame and I had to swap onto Corazon Gran, a German horse lunged by Maurits de Vries (who is teammate Ginger Kennett’s equine partner for Herning). The following weekend I vaulted on Qiun AF Osterholm (Hopsi), lunged by Nanna Klinge. Following this competition, I decided that I would be vaulting on Hopsi at the World Championships.
I have since been based in Denmark at Lasse Kristensen’s facility, Thommysminde, and training with my fellow competitors Tessa Divita and Sheena Bendixen while vaulting in Billund (Denmark) with Nanna and Hopsi. My training base, training partners, lungers and supports in Denmark have provided an incredible base in the lead up to Worlds, and I am excited to compete with such a great team.
EQ LIFE: How and when did you get involved in vaulting?
STEPHANIE: I started vaulting 13 years ago. My mum was listening to a local radio station and they were advertising local businesses, one of which was for a vaulting club. I had competed in low-level gymnastics when I was younger and had always wanted to ride horses, so vaulting was the perfect combination. My mum took me along to a session and I have loved it ever since.
EQ LIFE: What are some other major comps that you’ve been to and titles you’ve won?
STEPHANIE: Big events I’ve attended include the 2018 WEG in Tryon as an individual; 2022 CHIO Aachen; and the 2022 Flyinge CVI, where I placed fourth. I am also a three-time Australian National Female Champion; Australian National Pas de Deux Champion with my partner Ginger Kennett; three-time NSW State Champion; and twice NSW Senior Vaulter of the Year.
EQ LIFE: What is your game plan for Herning and what can you draw on from your last World Championships?
STEPHANIE: Having now competed at two major events, being 2018 WEG and CHIO Aachen earlier this year, I am feeling less nervous about the crowds and excited to compete. I am hoping to show three clean rounds at Herning, working on moving in harmony with my horse by breathing through my routines and enjoying the experience.
EQ LIFE: What are you looking forward to the most at Herning?
STEPHANIE: I am excited to see the venue and run into the arena when competing. It would be incredible if Australia qualified for the Nations Cup. At the 2018 WEG, Australia did not have a squad; it would be amazing to compete as an Australia team in this event.
EQ LIFE: Can you give any hints on your theme?
STEPHANIE: My Technical Test has a jungle theme and my Freestyle is performed to Zero Gravity, by Kate Miller-Heidke. Kate performed this song at the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest.
I am very excited to continue working with my coach, Alicen Divita. Alicen is from the USA and has been coaching me for the past eight years now. She has been an amazing support and incredible coach over these years and I am excited to be entering another championships with her!
I will also be bringing my reserve horse to the championships, Hornbeck’s Crixus, who is a Danish horse and will be lunged by Allan Laudrup. I have been lucky to train a handful of times on him over the past few weeks and feel very fortunate that Crixus and Allan will be joining me at the championships.
GINGER KENNETT
Hailing from Picton in NSW, 19-year-old Ginger Kennett began vaulting 10 years ago. With an equestrian background that helped her excel, she has been training in Germany since June in order to prepare for her first FEI World Championships. Ginger will be partnered with horse Corazon Gran and lunged by the Netherlands’ Maurits de Vries.
EQ LIFE: How did it feel when you were told you were heading to Herning?
GINGER: I was completely thrilled and excited to be selected as part of the Australian team; it was a very proud moment. I am thankful for the support of Vaulting NSW and Vaulting Australia, who have made this possible for me with their dedicated collaborative effort.
EQ LIFE: Where are you based and who are you based with or training with there?
GINGER: I have been based in Hamburg, Germany, since the end of June, where I am training independently with the support of my mum, Georgie. I am fortunate to be using Christina Huburt’s horse, Corazon Gran, aka Crozzie. I train frequently with Benita Golz, who is also my groom for Herning, and my excellent lunger, Maurits de Vries.
EQ LIFE: How and when did you get involved in vaulting?
GINGER: I started vaulting recreationally when I was nine. My passion for the sport of vaulting has just grown from there. Coming from an equestrian background has helped me over the years, and together with my mum who lunges for me, and the support of my family, we committed to the sport and developed an independent facility where I train and compete on my horse, Donati 3.
EQ LIFE: What are some of your proudest achievements, other than making the team for Herning 2022?
GINGER: Gaining significant international experience at the 2019 Junior World Championships in Ermelo, Netherlands, and winning at Flyinge CVI, Sweden in the J2* division the same year were highly memorable moments for me. My standout achievement would be having the comfort and confidence in my mum as my lunger; this makes me very proud as I couldn’t have done any of this without her.
EQ LIFE: Tell us a little bit about your equine part for Herning, Corazon Gran.
GINGER: Big, grey Crozzie has got plenty of character and he’ll follow you anywhere if you have treats. It’s been a pleasure to train on him the last six weeks. We’ve built a special bond together through training and hanging out together. He is pretty quirky, just like me!
EQ LIFE: What is your game plan for Herning?
GINGER: I am setting out to feel prepared, to feel relaxed and to be highly present for such a world-class event for my first year as a senior. The most important part of my plan is to just be myself and enjoy the moments of being in the competition ring in harmony with Crozzie.
EQ LIFE: What are you looking forward to the most at Herning?
GINGER: I am looking forward to being part of and spending time with the whole Australian equestrian team, being side by side with vaulters from other nations and having lots of fun and laughs.
EQ LIFE: Are you able to give us any hints on your theme?
GINGER: My freestyle theme is Spanish! The theme is associated with traditional styles of classical guitar and percussion. It’s about feeling the love, expressing the love and being in love through the sound of the music. EQ
Game on at the Championships (our show jumping team) – Equestrian Life, August 2022
Marking Their Mark in Denmark (our dressage team) – Equestrian Life, August 2022
From Half-Halt to Herning (our para dressage team) – Equestrian Life, August 2022
