Daisy and Dancer (3 page)

Lara asked about her special saddle and Kate explained that it's called a vaulting saddle, and that her show has developed from her training and background as a vaulter (vaulting is a kind of gymnastics you do on horseback). In an actual vaulting team there are 8 people, and they do all the tricks Kate did, as well as making human pyramids and throwing the littlest one (who's called the flier) up in the air a lot!

Kate said she started off as a flier when she
was only 7, which is younger than we are now! Stephanie said she must have been really brave to be thrown in the air from the back of a cantering horse and Kate replied, “A lot of it is about trusting your teammates. If you really believe they'll catch you, you can do amazing things – it's true that you still need all your courage, though.” Too right! There's no way I would dare do anything like that!

Then Kate explained that you train for vaulting on a lunge rein and she got Sally to lunge Starlight while she showed us the basics. You have to run next to the horse and vault on and then there are these moves, including the handstand and hands-only Round the World from her display, that you need to show in any competition. Apart from that, you can just make up whatever incredible things you like. Kate
showed us her signature trick, a flying twist in mid-air, which made us all gasp and go
wow
again! When she vaulted off in front of us we all gave her another huge clap. I really wanted to ask for her autograph, but I felt too shy, and anyway I didn't have anything with me for her to write on.

I wish I could learn vaulting, because Kate also told us it gives you confidence and
self-esteem
, and improves balance, strength, poise and grace – exactly what I need! She also told us how important it is to be fit and flexible, and got us up doing exercises in the arena! That was so much fun – we did things like slow jogging mixed with short bursts of fast sprinting, then circling our arms, touching our toes and side stretches, running backwards and sideways (that was really funny because we kept banging into each other and falling over!) and even leapfrog.

While we were getting our breath back,
there was a chance to ask some more questions. I got up the courage to say something then, because I was just so desperate to find out the answer and I didn't want to miss my chance. “Doesn't it make you nervous, performing in front of people?” I asked shyly. “Because I could never do it.”

Kate gave me a big smile. “A few nerves beforehand are good, because they keep you on your toes,” she told me, “but I know that during the performance I have to be calm and confident for Starlight. My stomach usually does a big flip just as I mount up, but we always enjoy it once we get out there!” I smiled back – I thought she'd say she doesn't get nervous at all, so it was amazing to think that even
she
does!

And I'm so glad I have her advice about that because…

We're doing our own riding displays at the barbecue party on Friday!

Sally had been keeping it as a surprise and she announced it on the yard before our lesson this afternoon! She and Jody are going to help us make up fun five-minute displays in pairs (well, me, Rosie and Isabel will be a group of three).

Millie asked if she could do a handstand on Magic and then backflip off like Kate did and of course they both said, “No!” Millie went “Oh boo!” to that, which made everyone giggle.

We're going to use our lessons to work on our routines. I was excited about it, but I was also thinking,
how on earth am I going to perform in front of all those people?! And
Mum and Dad are picking my bros up from cub camp on the way here, so my whole family will be watching.

Although we'll only have our normal saddles and we can't do anything that daring (because you need to train for years and years to become as good as Kate and Starlight) Sally says there are plenty of things we
can
do. She told us to get thinking about themes too, to make our displays different from each other. Lara and Brooke are doing cowboys (well, cow
girls
!) and they're going to ride in checked shirts and jeans, and have cowboy music, and do a bit of line dancing at the beginning of their display before they mount their ponies.

Millie's pairing up with Stephanie, and they're being clowns and doing some juggling. Millie wants to do it while cantering, but Sally says that's not very likely!

Sasha and Libby are doing a dance theme and they're going to try and get their ponies to walk together up the school and halt and turn
at the same time, and maybe even do some rein back, so it looks like
they're
dancing too.