Sophomore excels at vaulting

The rush of adrenaline, the pre-competition nervousness, the rising excitement and the enthusiastic crowd—it is all the same as a typical soccer or basketball game. But in this case, there is one small difference—this is vaulting.

For sophomore Lizzie Ioannou, vaulting has become a major part of her life over the nine years she has participated in the sport at Garrod Farms. She first got involved in the sport when she took pony rides as a young child and saw vaulting classes in action. Ioannou then decided to try taking classes herself.

Ioannou described the activity as “gymnastics and dance on moving horses,” where she performs complicated motions such as cartwheels, handstands, flips, and jumps. Ioannou added that much of what she enjoys most about vaulting is her teammates and the trips to other countries that sport involves.

“I love the people [involved in vaulting], they’re basically my family [and] I love being able to travel and compete in Europe and cool places,” Ioannou said.

In the many years Ioannou has participated in this activity, she has had the opportunity to visit foreign countries while traveling for competitions.

“[Since vaulting is] very big in Europe, I am able to compete there a lot,” Ioannou said. “I’ve already been to Germany four times, Belgium, Holland, France, and Austria.”

Ioannou said she also enjoys the thrill of the activity as well as the challenges it presents.

“I love how it’s really fun and risky! It’s difficult to get every move right every time because you have a moving horse under you so it’s always different,” Ioannou said.

Although Ioannou said the sport is a good way to get P.E. credit for school, it also comes with some drawbacks, especially in regard to the amount of time it takes up.

“It’s very hard to manage classes and homework [… and] it’s really hard to have time to do everything,” Ioannou said.

Ioannou plans to continue vaulting through high school, but whether she vaults in college is still undecided.

“I’d have to do it outside of college [since] its not a college sport,” Ioannou said. “It looks good [on applications] because it’s a unique sport … and it helps because it differentiates you, but you can’t get a scholarship.”

Ioannou does partially own a horse in Denmark that she competes on when in Europe, but in competitions in other areas, she is forced to use other horses.

“[Horses are] all pretty different, so it’s hard to switch around,” Ioannou said. “I’ve competed on [my horse in Denmark] three times and I didn’t train at all. I got there the day before the competition so I only had one practice on him.”

Unlike other sports, Ioannou said falling is a regular part of the training process. The ground is “like tanbark,” she says and “pretty nice to land in.”

“You just naturally learn how to fall really easily because you fall so much that it’s not a big deal,” Ioannou said.

Ioannou said she usually wears thick black spandex when competing along with special leather shoes that make it harder to slip.

“You just can’t wear shorts and you have to wear spandex. That’s basically it,” Ioannou said. “Other than that is doesn’t really matter.”

Ioannou said she competes in regional competitions, national ones with the American Vaulting Association, and international with the Federation Equestrian International (FEI).

According to Ioannou, vaulting is not part of the Olympics, but instead the World Equestrian Games.
“World Equestrian Games is bigger for horse sports than the Olympics,” Ioannou said. “I went to that in 2006 in Germany and we got a silver medal. I was little and I was a flyer on the team—the person [the team lifts].”

When asked her advice for others considering vaulting, Ioannou said she recommends beginning the sport young.

“I was six [when I started], so I’ve been doing it for a while,” Ioannou said.
Over these many years, Ioannou not only improved her skills at vaulting but also grown to love the sport.

“It involves not only you and your teammates, but your horse too because the horse’s score is counted [also]. It’s more than just a sport,” Ioannou said.