Vaulting & Acrobatic Arts Program

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• Vaulting is a beautiful combination of dance & acrobatics done on horseback. It is considered to be the safest of all equestrian sports. At Vendela Villanueva Performance Horsemanship we know from many years of experience, that it is much easier to teach people to ride well, when they have first developed their balance through our vaulting program. The physical conditioning, balance & agility training we teach our vaulting students, not only makes riding easier and safer for them, but it also  ensures that our horses stay comfortable in their work through the systematic set of exercises that we teach our vaulters. The side benefit is that it helps our students get strong, flexible and improves their confidence in themselves and in their ability to flow with the horse's movements. This is also an excellent program for children who wish to be involved with horses, but who do not have their own horse. Sessions consist of training on a vaulting barrel (the best place to rehearse the movements before trying them on the horse), training on the horse, and Acro Fitness training on the mat & gymnastics equipment to develop the strength, flexibility and motor skills to advance as a vaulter and athlete. It is a fun, social sport and the participants get to take part in the care of the horses, which they all seem to very much enjoy. We have both a rec division and a performance program.

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• I am Acrobatic Arts Certified, which is considered to be the gold standard training for this type of programming & is recommended by dance competition adjudicators around the world. It is similar to gymnastics training as the participants develop strength balance, flexibility, limbering & tumbling skills, however Acro has a little different look and style from gymnastics. It has a more seamless flow from movement to movement as it was designed with dancers in mind. The Acrobatic Arts syllabus is based on safe and effective progressions. Acrobatic Arts is very beneficial for creating riders and vaulters who are strong, agile have excellent balance and core control and superior body awareness. I strongly believe that equestrian athletes should cross train and Acro is a fun method that students love participating in!

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• I fell in love with gymnastics when I co-founded a large non-profit gymnastics club in Grand Forks BC where I re-started gymnastics training as an adult. To enhance my coaching skills I took courses to become a Gymnastics BC trained artistic gymnastics coach. Most recently, I've been working at a large gymnastics studio in Penticton BC (as well as assisting Acro classes put on by the City of Penticton's Recreation Centre), coaching a wide variety of participants in both gymnastics and Acro styles of athletics as well as working as an assistant dance teacher. Working with advanced coaches in this field has been invaluable experience and I consider it a huge benefit for my vaulting students. 

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• My 1st vaulting assistant Violet is a very experienced and popular gymnastics coach in Penticton and she is also a certified dance teacher with the IDTA. She is a large part of what makes our program so awesome and fun. The kids love her and I value her contributions to the vaulting program. She's been working her way through the Equine Canada Rider levels and is very skilled horse-woman. 

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