Suffolk: Horseback gymnastics club launches fundraising appeal

The vaulting club has been training youngsters to perform gymnastic routines on cantering horses since November

A club which trains youngsters to perform gymnastics on horseback has launched a fundraising appeal.

Suffolk Vaulting Club, in Hollesley, near Woodbridge, is hoping to buy its own horse to help put its squad on the path to national success.

The team was formed in November and is just one of 10 in England.

"We need a horse to be able to expand - we want to bring the sport to a lot more children and young people," said club treasurer Anne Hardwick.

Club treasurer Anne Hardwick says the squad is now at the stage where it needs to buy its own dedicated horse

Ms Hardwick said the youngsters were already benefitting from their involvement.

"It's physical, it's outdoors, it's got a really good team spirit and it teaches the children about caring for the animal as horse welfare is top priority," she said.

"There are a lot of children who would love to ride but riding is quite an expensive sport, so this is a chance for them to combine all of those things.

"The commitment of our vaulters is second-to-none - they've all become such good friends and they have great resilience."

So far, members have learnt to perform their repertoire of choreographed routines on a cantering horse, Barney, lent to them by a local riding school.

Coach Annika Sievert says training will be limited to mainly using a static piece of equipment called a barrel if they cannot find enough funds to purchase a horse

The popularity of the club and its members' progress has meant the time has come for it to buy its own dedicated horse or training will be limited to mainly using a static piece of equipment called a barrel.

The animal will cost about £15,000 and an online fundraiser has been set up.

"They're developing so quickly that it becomes necessary for them to do more difficult things," said coach Annika Sievert.

"It will be a huge bonus for the kids to have another horse so that we can always train with a horse and not just on the barrel.

The vaulting club is currently using a riding school horse called Barney

"We need a horse very, very badly as we can't really carry on like this.

"Barney is really busy in the riding school as we can't always take him away."

The club said its sessions cost about a third of the price of riding lessons.

It hopes to enable children, from the age of five, from all backgrounds to spend time with horses and care for them.

It plans to offer sessions to schools and community groups as well as run open days.

Although the club has only been running for a few months, it has already set sights on qualifying for the British Vaulting Championships later this year.

Internationally, the sport became a separate discipline at the World Equestrian Games in 1983 although it is currently more popular on the continent.

Suffolk Vaulting Club hopes it will be enter its team into a national competition this year