A group of local horse vaulters are looking to fly to the moon – or at least to a good showing at an upcoming expo.
The Blue Moon Vaulters, consisting of competitors from the Clarkston and Davisburg area, will be traveling to East Lansing March 7-9 for the Michigan State University Stallion Expo. The local team will demonstrate their talents along with the Agape Team from the southwestern Michigan area and the Victory Team from the Rockwood area.
Local students participating in the event include Kat Metzger (a regional unrated trot champion), Chris Broughton, Emily Vandermeer, Liz Stroh, Kristin Binning, Theresa Gorecki and Laura Noveck. The team is coached by Karen Rach, who has been involved with vaulting as a participant and coach since 1979.
According to Rach, the appeal of vaulting is its blending of different disciplines. “It has so many elements that I love,” she said. “It has dancing, and it has horses and gymnastics. It has all these elements in one sport. I enjoy it for that reason.”
Metzger, a senior at Clarkston High School who will be attending Michigan State University next year and hopes to become a horse trainer, has been involved with vaulting for about three-four years. “I like being able to do gymnastics on horses,” she said. “It’s fun.”
Another member of the Blue Moon Vaulters, Holly High School freshman Theresa Gorecki, has been vaulting for about three years. Her friend Metzger was a big influence in her getting involved with the sport.
“Kat and I went to a clinic together with a couple of friends that heard about it,” she said.
Gorecki enjoys vaulting because “it combines horses and gymnastics, and those are two of my favorite things.”
Show times during the weekend are: a barrel demonstration/clinic at 1 p.m. Saturday, March 8, and the groups vaulting show at 4:30 p.m. that day. In addition, the vaulters will also perform at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, March 9 before an expected crowd of more than 1,000 people.
Future competitions and performances for the vaulters include a March 22 competition sponsored by the University of Findlay; a regional competition in the Washington, D.C. on May 8-11; and a national competition in Colorado Aug. 7-9.