the bull dancers of ancient Crete. Even in the Classical Olympics in Greece "Artistic Riding" was part of the competitions. It evolved to horses and was how one general in Ancient Greece trained horses. He even wrote a book called The Act of Horsemanship. His men were expected to "vault" up using their lances to mount their horse (much like a pole vaulter). Later vaulting was used to train soldiers, since they needed to have their hands and arms free to hold and use weapons. Vaulting was first done in a straight line, but much later it was realized that the horse and rider had better balance if the horse moved in a circle. The earliest roots of horse vaulting date back to the Pre-Romanic Ice Period in South Scandinavia in 1500 BC . Stone paintings give an impression what these people thought of "Artistic Riding". These pictures depict horses with persons standing on them. Also there was vaulting at Roman games, people where performing acrobatic and dance-like movements on the backs of cantering horses about 2000 years ago. Julius Cäsar mentioned the excellent riding skills of the Germans in his famos "De Bello Gallico".
      During the Middle Ages vaulting was part of the education of knights and noblemen. In Baroque Times this kind of sport was more regarded as a means of expressing personal wealth and good taste. The present name of the sport comes from the French "La Voltige" during this period.
      Every graduate from a higher military education in cavalry troops regarded vaulting as a prephase for an advanced equestrian education. They were already familiar to the so called "wooden horse" for training purposes. In our days vaulters use a "vaulting barrel" to practise the movements they will perform on the horse.

      Vaulting was included as "Artistic Riding" by cavalry officers in the Olympic Games 1920 in Antwerpen. The team gold medalist was Belgium followed by France and Sweden.
     Today the horse is lunged in a circle as the vaulters perform. In the 1900's it became a popular children's sport in Germany and throughout Europe, and in the 1960's it was introduced in the United States in California. The American Vaulting Association was organized in 1968. And in the 1980's the first world Championships was held."
       In 1983, vaulting became one of the equestrian disciplines recognised by the FEI. The first European Championships took place 1984 in Ebreichsdorf, Austria and the first World Championships 1986 in Bulle, Switzerland.

     Equestrian vaulting is one of the seven disciplines that are recognized by the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI). Vaulting competitors are invited to compete at the World Equestrian Games with other FEI disciplines. The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) and the United States Equestrian Team Foundation (USETF) also recognize equestrian vaulting