Gymnastics is already hard enough on solid ground, let alone performing on a 2,000 pound moving animal.
Eight years ago junior Maya Leseten was up to the challenge when she began horse vaulting, which is performing a gymnastics routine on a horse while it is in motion.
“I rode horses before, and I also did gymnastics, and when I saw trick riding in the rodeo I wondered if I could join a club and do that and then I found vaulting,” Leseten said.
Maya’s dad, Michael Leseten, wasn’t surprised when she began vaulting because it combined two of her favorite things.
“I wasn’t too surprised when Maya started vaulting because she loved horses and gym so it fit for her,” Michael said.
Although horse vaulters may make it look effortless, a lot of work goes into the sport.
“We go to the mats and barrels and start warming up, stretching and practicing in our barrels. Then, we run through our routines with music,” Leseten said. “Then we go to the horse and do a few walk-rounds to warm-up the horses, then we do writhing at a canter.”
The vaulters on Maya’s team, the Lone Star Vaulters, practice very hard on and off the horse, even on days they don’t have practice.
“We have practice every Tuesday and Sunday for two hours,” Leseten said. “We do weight training and different kinds of aerobics every night at home.”
Leseten and her team have competed in over five states as well as many competitions in Texas.
“Although we do demonstrations at rodeos sometimes, it’s definitely a competitive league that I’m in and there are teams in almost every state,” Leseten said.
Vaulting competitions agree with the old phrase, “If you fall off your horse, get back on” and that’s what horse vaulters almost always do if they mess up during a routine.
“It’s kind of like gymnastics, or any performance really, if you mess up you just try to keep going,” Leseten said. “You have one minute to get back on the horse if you fall off and you just try to work through it.”
Vaulters learn their tricks on a stationary horse, or a barrel, before they move onto a real horse.
“A barrel is kind of in the shape of a horse and has handles on it, and we just try different moves on that and work our way up from there,” Leseten said.
Although Leseten admits to being occasionally scared to try a new trick, she knows that you just have to try.
“Really, you’ve  just got to do it,” Leseten said. “If you’re scared to do it on the barrel there’s no way you’ll do it on a horse. But if you do it on the barrel and you feel comfortable, you just go to go and if it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work.”
Although the coaches are there to assist with routines most of the work put into the routines is done by the vaulters.
“We decide our moves and our music and our coaches can help us to work with transitions to make it all fit, but most of the vaulters can do it themselves,” Leseten said.
Although they compete in the spring and summer the vaulters are practicing year round to train for their competitions.
“We do a lot more in the winter because it’s not so hard on us, or the horses, but competition is the spring through the beginning of fall,” Leseten said.
Anyone interested in vaulting is encouraged to do so by Leseten, even people without prior gymnastics training.
“Definitely give it a try, you don’t have to have any prior experience or anything, you just have to work hard for it,” Leseten said.  “And you’ll get in the best shape ever.”
Sophomore teammate, Danielle Pounds, thinks people interested in vaulting should give it a try.
“It’s a challenge, but it keeps you fit,” Pounds said. “It’s also pretty uncommon, so it’s neat to tell people what you do.”
Leseten also encourages people to watch vaulting.
“If you ever get a chance to watch vaulting, I’d do it,” Leseten said. “It’s the most amazing, interesting and exciting sport to watch and will keep you on the edge of your seat the whole time.”