Clutching tightly onto the saddle of her galloping horse, senior Maddie Hubb focuses her eyes on a point while kicking her legs up to lock into a steady handstand position, holding it for a few seconds before returning to a steady stance. As the horse continues trotting, Hubb swings her arms to coordinate a graceful leap on the horse, landing with her arms spread in a T-position to maintain her balance.
Hubb, who started Equestrian vaulting at 4 years old, is one of the few students in the school who compete in vaulting — commonly described as gymnastics and dance on horseback. Vaulters like Hubb and senior Vidhi Patel, who compete as partners, have dedicated a portion of their time to competing in this sport in various local and national competitions.
Hubb started equestrian vaulting after her preschool teacher — a vaulting coach at the time — introduced her to the sport. After participating in a “demo day” at a school club, Hubb discovered that she enjoyed watching others perform tricks on horses. Soon enough, her father enrolled her in a beginners’ class.
“As I got older, it was a way for me to be involved in a community and build really close relationships with the girls who were on my team,” Hubb said.
Currently, Hubb vaults competitively at the Mount Eden Vaulting Club in Saratoga and has competed in various international and national competitions, such as the 2023 USA National Championships, both individually and as doubles with her partner, Patel. From August 2022 to January 2023, Hubb trained intensively in Denmark with world-renowned coach Lasse Kristensen in preparation for the 2023 FEI Vaulting World Championships, which selects a vaulting pair from each nation to represent their country to compete.
“It would be my last World Championship [because the age limit is 12-18 years] so I was like ‘I’ll go all out’,” Hubb said. “My goal was to enhance my individual skills in Denmark so when I returned to work with my partner, our routine would be even stronger.”
Unfortunately, Hubb injured her foot shortly before the World Championships, so she and Patel were unable to qualify. However, they were both able to compete in the 2023 USEF/EVUSA national championships in August, where they placed first in the doubles category.
Though Hubb enjoys vaulting as a fun childhood sport, she doesn’t see herself pursuing it in the future due to the difficulty of establishing riding as a steady profession. However, she plans on coaching vaulting at Mount Eden Vaulting Club in the next few years.
Patel, who also vaults at Mount Eden, started the sport in fifth grade after attending a horseback riding camp. She enjoyed gymnastics, but she didn’t want to pursue it as a sport. Meanwhile, Hubb, her best friend, also vaulted at the time, and so she began to pursue it too.
“I like the community there, my coaches and my team,” she said. “I like being able to work with them and I’ve already built a relationship with them.”
Patel also vaults competitively both individually, as a team and in doubles. In the past year, she competed in various local competitions such as Woodside Vaulters Spring Fest, Garrods Spring Classic and CVI Pacific Cup where she placed top five for both individuals and doubles.
Patel and her teammates are working on building a freestyle routine, meaning that the vaulters have more creativity to perform any movements, ranging from a handstand to a cartwheel on their horses. Additionally, Patel is also retraining her horse, Johnny, since he recently recovered from an injury.
“My most difficult move right now is a handstand, but I think my favorite is this move where I stand backwards and jump forward [on my horse while it’s moving],” she said.
Due to the difficulty of performing gymnastic-like movements on moving horses, Patel said mental blocks are challenges to overcome for all vaulters. When training for different techniques, she has found ways to combat the mental aspect, as she always practices on a stationary horse before actually practicing on a real horse.
“When I’m actually on the horse, I tell myself to fully commit before going to [complete the movement],” Patel said.
Aside from the technicalities of vaulting, Patel feels that she has also formed a much stronger bond with her partner Hubb.
“We’ve traveled a lot together because of vaulting and we’ve always been close before that regardless, but vaulting has allowed me to travel to different states and countries with her,” Patel said.
