First comes a handstand, then the splits. All the while Kat Metzger compliments her dancer’s grace and gymnastic flexibility with a performer’s flair as her smile brings her audience along for the ride ? and make no mistake she is going for a ride.
Each contortion Metzger makes comes from the back of Inky, a towering horse whose dead-of-night black coat is interrupted across his back and neck by a swath of cool white.
Metzger is a horse vaulter. As Inky’s hoofs retrace one another in a circle, she performs feats most people are accustomed to seeing on a balance beam.
‘Vaulting is gymnastics on moving horseback. A lot of people compare it to figure skating because skating requires the same finesse needed for vaulting ? except we have a horse underneath us,? said Metzger, who has been vaulting since she was 13.
‘It was exciting and a little scary when she started doing the different moves. It’s always the same thrill. Every time I watch her perform, it’s amazing. Just to see what she does, what she can do on (Inky). Her dad and I just totally amazed at how far she’s come and the level she’s reached,? said Linda Metzger, Kat’s mother, who along with her father Gary have cheered her on each step of the way.
Raised on a steady diet of 4-H riding competitions, Metzger found new challenges and possibilities in vaulting. She has now vaulted for over ten years.
‘I had done every other sport in the horse world and vaulting was so fun and so different. It’s fun to perform in front of people, much less in competitions,? Metzger said. ‘I don’t really like being the center of attention when I’m by myself, but it makes me more confident when I’m on a horse. You feel more powerful when you’re on a horse, like you are on top of the world.?
Feeling like she is on top of the world comes easily when Metzger is atop Inky, a Percheron crossed with a Spotted Saddlebred, who at 19 hands stands six feet, six inches. Inky’s massive proportions are augmented by Metzger’s contrasting diminutive figure.
‘He’s a show stopper. A lot of people like to vault with smaller horses because they make a lot of things easier and I use smaller horses too, but I like him because he looks so cool. He kind of amazes people,? said Metzger.
A typical Percheron, the mount used by the bulk of vaulters, stands 16 hands tall.
While Inky’s table-like back gives Metzger an ample stage from which to perform, but when he starts to cantor the wide expanse moves like a ship in stormy waters
‘He has this really rocking horse movement, which is really cool but it is so hard to do stuff with. A lot of horses move more flat and smooth. But he’s just too cool not to vault on,? Metzger said.
Inky and Metzger have been together for over two years now. As an individual, Metzger has come a long way since she was a 13-year-old novice vaulter.
‘Kat has always had a ton of drive and talent. I knew she would not have any limits because of that. Vaulting is a performance sport. It not only involves athleticism and horsemanship and gymnastics, but also requires the ability to be a showman and a performer – that part comes natural to her,? said Karen Rach, who coaches the Michigan Vaulting Team as well as several other vaulting teams in Michigan.
For competition purposes, vaulting is broken down into categories starting with speed and finishing with skill. The first level is performed with the horse in a controlled walk, the next step up is a trot, followed by the cantor. There are three levels of cantor: bronze, silver and gold. On her way to becoming certified as a bronze level competitor, Metzger was a champion in the freestyle trot and a reserve grand champion on the trot level overall.
‘When I first started, I was not competitive. Some kids, especially if they have a gymnastics background, catch on really fast. It all depends on what they want to learn and what they want to do. Some of our kids just want to go to performances and have fun,? said Metzger, who now helps Rach coach several teams.
The top level vaulters still impress Metzger.
‘Some of the gold medalists can do a back tuck and land back on the horse at the cantor. It’s just amazing what they can do,? Metzger said.
Vaulting has grown significantly as a sport over the last decade. Since Metzger began, both the trot and bronze levels of competition split and now feature two internal skill levels.
While the sport has grown, vaulting is by no means widespread, so those who practice the sport tend to stick together.
‘At competitions, I help whoever I can. A lot of sports are really competitive and you don’t talk to your competitors, but with vaulting, if you go to a horse show and your horse is lame someone will be right there saying, ‘Here borrow my horse.? People don’t do that at other horse events,? Metzger said. ‘We’re so few and far between, unless you go out to California. We coach pretty much all the teams in Michigan.?
Metzger estimated she competes three or four times a year, but along with the Michigan Vaulting Team performs between 10 and 15 times a year.
‘It’s so much fun to see people’s reactions, especially when we go to non-horse events. We go to a lot of expos that are at parks ? people are amazed. But when we perform in front of horse people, they know how hard it is to even sit on a horse, much less throw yourself around,? Metzger said.
Having graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in horse management this past summer, Metzger is currently planning on moving to New Mexico in the near future. She is currently evaluating several positions, all of which should keep her around horses and possibly allow her to continue coaching and engaging in vaulting.
‘Which is where it comes in handy to have vaulting people that will let you borrow their horses,? said Metzger who will make the trip without Inky.
For now, Metzger continues to work at her father’s business, The Print Shop in Clarkston on Dixie Highway, and perform with the Michigan Vaulting team.
The Michigan Vaulting team appears next at the North American Horse Spectacular at the Novi Expo center from Nov. 11-13.