EAGLES VAULTERS FLY HIGH?

An offshore support firm has helped turn a group of Scots school kids into champions representing Great Britain in the daredevil sport of equestrian vaulting.

The junior team from Eagles Vaulting Group came first at a contest in Holland where ten European nations had a clutch of clubs competing.

And the seven girls aged six to 14 pulled off their triumph in the sport – involving precision gymnastics and acrobatics on a cantering horse – on a horse donated by Ross Offshore.

The glory was all the more exciting because it was the first foreign competition for Fortuitous, affectionately known by the Eagles as Sam – and he got the top score in his class at the Dutch National Equestrian Centre in Ermelo on April 25-27.

Vaulters on the continent, where the sport is much bigger, also have the benefit of getting classes through the school curriculum as well as at club level.

Eagles coach Kathryn Jeffress, 26– a former International vaulter herself – was in charge of keeping Fortuitous cantering in a tightly controlled circle on a lunge rein for the entire four-minute performance.

Kathryn, who runs the club from their base at Easterton Farm, Blackford, Perthshire, said: “I’m very proud of the team – and of senior Club members Ricky Davies, Hannah and Harriet Nicol and Junior Louise Sinclair, who all did very well in the Individual classes.

“I believe we won the team event because our freestyle had a high degree of difficulty and the composition was strong.”

The girls had been practising hard for weeks on their routine – which is based on the theme song for the Robert de Niro movie Stardust inspired by the horses stopping over at Easterton Farm on the way to and from filming on the Isle of Skye.

Kathryn, whose mother Ann Hunt, 63, is Chairperson of British Equestrian Vaulting, added: “The kids can’t perform unless the horse goes well, and the horse can only go well if it’s lunged well. If you’re nervous your nerves will go straight to the horse – and it was my first time

lunging in a foreign contest.

“It was also hard for Sam because he’d never travelled that far before. There are bigger crowds and more hype at a foreign contest, but he handled the distractions well.

“Horses have to be specially trained for the rigours of vaulting and he’s been doing it less than a year, plus his first time carrying the team at a

contest was just the previous weekend.

“So all things considered, it was a brilliant result! The team looked fantastic in their costumes and they really went for it over the three days

of judging – and clearly they were very impressive.”

The vaulters – Stephanie Hunter, 14, Louise, Harriet Lawson, 12, Becky Hamlyn, 12, Eilidh Swan, 12, Hannah Young, 11, and six-year-old reserve Gabrielle Purves – were judged in two phases over the three days when they competed, and the scores are all added together at the end.

First there are compulsories – where they marked on technique for basic moves that everyone has to do the same.

Then there’s freestyle where points are given for performance, composition and degree of difficulty in a routine put together by the vaulters themselves.

Overall impression is also marked so vaulters and horse must all be immaculate.

Stirling-based Becky said: “We knew we were ahead after day one and day two but it was close.

“On the second day we were first on freestyle, which was tremendous, but we couldn’t see the scores on day three until they announced them at prize-giving. We’d been convinced we were going to lose.”

Team-mate Harriet said: “It was such a rush of emotion when we heard the result. It was brilliant being on the podium and hearing the national anthem.”

Director Sheena Ross of Ross Offshore is thrilled that the company’s investment in the club was reaped such rewards.

She said: “The job that Ann and Kathryn do with young people at Easterton is tremendous. As well as vaulting, they work with children in local schools and those with special needs so that appealed to us too.

“The commitment to their venture impressed me and I could see that they were just starting out – I know what it’s like at the start when you’ve got a dream but limited funding.”

When Sheena heard Fortuitous was going to Holland, she also provided kit for the horse as well as the squad of nine vaulters. Ross Offshore, a heat exchanger Consultancy firm that provides a 24-hour support facility for offshore rigs, allocates budget every year for charity.

Sheena added: “It’s been a successful venture for us as well as them. Now that the Group is going abroad our name is being seen there.

“But there’s also an onus on Scottish businesses to share some of the money around, particularly in schemes involving young people.

“I’ve seen a big difference in their self-belief, and they have gone from strength to strength. We have offered to give them continuing support and I’m certain they’ll do all that they dream of.”

Kay Cox