Equestrian
Riding and Vaulting
Know your facts:
- Unified Sports? Yes
- Estimated number of athletes participating: 89 athletes + 19 Unified partners
Riding and vaulting are sports that take place on horseback. Important for both sports: the horse is the partner of the rider. One must always pay attention to the health of the horse and treat it well. The athletes determine the pace, direction, and gait of the joint movement.
At the National Games, there are various disciplines in English riding and vaulting:
- In jumping, horse and rider negotiate a course with several obstacles in a set order.
- In dressage, horse and rider move in unison. Dressage is the basis of all riding, because it depends on weight shifts as well as leg and rein aids.
- In English equitation, the rider's seat and action in the various gaits are judged. There are no set lessons, it is up to the judges what they want to see.
- In working trails, the rider and horse complete various obstacles (e.g. slalom, labyrinth) in a predefined sequence.
- In Unified Sports drill teams, the athlete and Unified partner perform a freestyle with music.
- In vaulting, one, two, or three athletes do gymnastics on a horse. The animal runs evenly in a circle and is led by a lunge.
In English riding, a total of 24 competitions are held in 3 different levels. In vaulting, there are 16 competitions in 4 different levels.
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