October 14, 2010–Precision, balance, connection with the horse and with the music. Strength, story, fluidity. All these things came together for Team USA in the 2010 WEG vaulting team competition. The culmination of a year of four Selection Trials, National Championships (they won) and travel to Europe, the U.S. team effort successfully captured the judges, the audience … and the gold medal! It was the first team gold for vaulting. How appropriate it was on home turf.
It’s been a monumental journey for the members of the F.A.C.E./USA team. Palatine, their Westfalen partner carried the day, actually days, in more ways than just basing the vaulters. Owner/vaulter/coach Devon Maitozo says that his horse possesses, with quantities to spare, the temperament needed for this demanding sport. The chestnut gelding is reliable, calm and trustworthy; his canter is the kind that vaulters dream of; and he loves his job. All traits an integral part of any victory. With the careful and consistent training provided by team lunger Carolyn Bland, Palatine’s horse scores from the two judges responsible for that equine critique gave the gelding and the team the top spot for the Round I Compulsory effort.
This first position was a prime example of the importance of the horse score. For that compulsory effort, Judge M. Eriksson/Sweden and R. Boehlen/Switzerland were the judges responsible for watching only the horse. Keeping watch on the movement, suppleness, fitness and obedience of the horse during compulsories, with competitors going up one at a time, can be a bit less demanding than watching the horse during freestyle. It is nonetheless one of the most important aspects of international scoring. The scores for Palatine, (7.500 and 7.200) were the highest combined scores for the team compulsory event. Only two other horse scores reached the 7.000 level. They ranged from 2.700 to Palatine’s 7.500.
For the Round I Team Freestyle, the expertise and experience of J. Schilffarth/Germany and E. Fournaise/France were severely challenged as they judged each horse on the beauty and risk of Freestyle. It would be difficult for anyone to not be engaged in what was happening on the horse rather that what was going on with it. In this round, the horse score was not high enough to keep Palatine and the team in the top spot but not low enough to knock them out of the medal race.
Scores of 6.200 and 6.600 were a possible reflection of Palatine’s reaction to a video camera. Or maybe it was from a nerve wracking trip from the warm up arena, where he went through his carefully orchestrated pre-competition warm-up, through the crowds, competitors and media, flags, tents, and all the other activities that were going on between the two locations. Whatever the cause, the team had a fall from a triple. However, they were immediately back up on the horse performing as if nothing had happened. It was only after they were finished, backstage, when the disappointment surfaced. Third place. But there would be another–only one–opportunity to shine.
In the Round II Team Freestyle, again “… all the world’s a stage …,” the players were totally integrated with the horse. If ever there was a combination of choreography, music, pathos, and fluid presentation, the FACE/USA Vaulting Team orchestrated it to be one of the most memorable moments of the entire competition. Flawless from start to finish in the last round, each vaulter put heart and soul into it. The team came back from that uncharacteristic fall in Round I, and with a combination of their own desire, disappointment, determination and fears, gave the most human of presentations. Their passion swept the entire stadium with the dreamscape of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and made it theirs. As they portrayed all that tale’s bright love, then agony, the nuances, and the tragic end, the audience was silent throughout. All the elements were there to make this performance more than a competition, more than entertainment for the sake of entertainment. Star crossed lovers, a dreaming young girl, a lost romance and, of course, the final scene that resonated with each person watching and reminded us all of the capriciousness of our own fates. Yeah, it was that good.
And … it was also good for the Gold.
