[ad_1]

“He was really good. We actually won a barrel for our team,” said Alice Brookston, 15, of Cotati. “Four of us got medals and Remi got recognized. He got a ribbon and got to walk in the parade.”

Holly’s vaulting students are not allowed to say they can’t do something. The penalty if they do? Pushups, the number determined by how many heard the remark.

“They may not be able to do it right now or they may say ‘I’m struggling with it,’ ” said Holly, a petite woman with a mane of chestnut hair pulled back from a girlish face. “But we don’t say ‘I can’t,’ because you can. You just have to figure out how.”

Jaw-dropping acrobatics

For nearly 40 years Holly has been keeping alive the art of equine vaulting, a mixture of acrobatics and gymnastics done on stationary vaults and on the backs of walking, trotting or cantering horses. She charges a nominal fee to her students to keep it affordable, drawing no salary and using the income to help defray the huge cost of feed and vet bills. Using rescue horses and training them herself allows her to charge less than other coaches.

She sinks half her paycheck as a teacher of honors biology and physiology at Casa Grande High School into supporting her animals and the Tambourine Vaulters team, which she organized as a young woman in 1983 so she could compete in a sport with few coaches and clubs compared to other equine activities.

Over the decades Holly has won the hearts of hundreds of young people, who gather in the covered arena at her farm off Liberty Road to learn acrobatics of jaw-dropping derring-do like something from a circus.

“Kelley is a super-caring person. She has such a huge heart and she always takes everyone under her wing and helps you reach your fullest potential,” said Amanda Neuweiler, 15, who has trained with Holly for eight years and is now working on advancing to international competition. “She helps everyone she can. If you have a goal, she’ll help you achieve it.”

Jaimee Modica, whose daughter, Frankie, 11, started vaulting at age 7, described Holly as “an amazing woman who has completely dedicated her entire life to this cause.”

Her attention to detail, Modica added, runs from the large to the small.

“If she even becomes aware somebody has a hole in her outfit, Kelley has her fanny pack and whips out her needle and thread and sews them up,” she said.

The 56-year-old Holly brings to coaching a lifetime of competitive riding, including Saddle Seat, Western, English and Basic Dressage. After a long career in classroom teaching, she also knows how kids tick.

A background in both human and veterinary medicine — as a teen, she took a three-year course in vet medicine through 4-H, working under a large-animal vet — helps her ensure the safety of her riders and administer basic care for her animals.

Safest equestrian sport

The sight of a child standing up or doing handstands on a moving horse is enough to make a mother’s heart stop. Holly has had students as young as 3. But according to the American Vaulting Association, it is, statistically, the safest equestrian sport and produces fewer injuries than riding a bike or climbing on playground equipment.

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

[ad_2]

Source link