Equestrian vaulting comes to Hollister

Daniella Kovalerchik has displayed a preternatural talent in everything she’s tried, whether it was ballet, dancing, gymnastics, trampoline or painting.
None of things, however, could capture Kovalerchik’s attention the way equestrian vaulting has.
“I tried a bunch of things, but I couldn’t find something to hook me until I found vaulting,” said Kovalerchik, a San Jose native who is an eighth grader at Discovery Charter School in San Jose.
Kovalerchik, 13, competes in the Pacific Cup Concours de Voltige International (Pacific Cup CVI), which starts today and runs through Sunday at Hollister’s Gilroy Gaits, the second straight year the facility is hosting the international equestrian vaulting competition.
Vaulting combines elements of gymnastics and dance performed to music on a cantering horse. Vaulting involves teamwork between the vaulter, horse, and lunger, who controls the horse in a circle using a lunge line.
The athletes are judged on a variety of factors, including technique, form, performance, level of difficulty, and harmony with the horse. The horses are scored on a variety of factors, including stride, balance, and consistency.
Although not well known in the U.S., vaulting — which can best be described as dance and gymnastics on horseback — has a solid niche following in the Bay Area, and a more fervent following in Europe.
Kovalerchik competes for the Mount Eden Club in Saratoga. Like many Americans, Kovalerchik had never even heard of equestrian vaulting until she was at one of her friends’ dressage competition two years ago.
“I was walking around the facility and saw some vaulters performing, and I thought, “Oh my God, this is so unique,’” she said. “I’ve always liked horses, but I found horseback riding really boring. Vaulting was so cool, and there are always challenges because it’s kind of a crazy sport.”
Once Kovalerchik started taking lessons, she quickly rose up the ranks, going from the beginning level — where one walks the horse — to the canter, a more advanced level.
In vaulting, athletes compete as individuals, pairs or six-person teams. Kovalerchik will be competing in the team event — at the highest level, vaulters can be seen carrying, lifting or even tossing one another in the air — and she said there’s a little more pressure at a competition like the Pacific Cup.
“It’s a little more nerve-wracking, I guess, because there are people from other countries competing,” she said. “We really have to get in the zone and pay more attention to even the smallest of details, because the judges deduct points for certain things. So it’s a pretty big deal.”
Speaking of a big deal, Kovalerchik did all the illustrations in “I Am Not A Bear,” a book that was featured at the 2013 San Francisco Zoo Teddy Bear Festival. Kovalerchik started drawing when she was 5, and it was one of her main passions before she discovered vaulting.
Now, she can’t get enough of it.
Note: The Pacific Cup CVI is open to the public and admission is free. The event begins today at 3 p.m. Competition will be held all day Saturday and Sunday. Gilroy Gaits in located at 7777 Frazier Lake Road.