Latest from Horse & Hound in Joanne-eccles

More updates from WEG online until Sunday; report on the vaulting in H&H magazine next week, out Thursday, 11 September.

WEG vaulting: Eccles sisters take bronze [VIDEO]

Pippa Roome — Fri, 05 Sep 2014 13:06:35 +0000

H&H caught up with the Eccles sisters after their bronze medal-winning vaulting performance in the pas des deux in Normandy.

Joanne and Hannah will both take part in the individual final later today alongside fellow Brit Lucy Phillips where a gold medal is a strong possibility for Joanne.

WEG vaulting: Britain’s Joanne and Hannah Eccles take pas de deux bronze

Pippa Roome — Fri, 05 Sep 2014 11:00:41 +0000

Britain’s Joanne and Hannah Eccles claimed Britain’s first Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games medal since last Sunday when they collected the bronze in the vaulting pas de deux this morning.

The Scottish sisters scored 8.580 for their Fire and Ice routine today for an overall score of 8.575. [View a video interview with Joanne and Hannah after their performance]

(Image credit: creditUnknown)

The pair were lunged by their father John (pictured on the podium, right, with his daughters), on the family’s veteran vaulting horse WH Bentley.

Joanne and Hannah were also third in the pas de deux’s first test last night, but there was a change around in the medal standings above them this morning.

Yesterday Germany’s Gera Marie Grün and Justin van Gerven held second after the first freestyle, but they were less strong today and finished fourth on 8.497. They handed the silver medal to their compatriots, Pia Engelberty and Torben Jacobs, who impressed with their lifts today (overall score 8.605).

The Austrian favourites, Jasmin Lindner and Lukas Wacha, were far and away the best again today and they claimed the gold with an overall mark of 9.059.

Joanne and Hannah Eccles both compete in the individual female class this afternoon, alongside fellow Brit Lucy Phillips. Joanne is in the pole position to take the individual gold.

Bluffer’s guide to vaulting

More updates from WEG online until Sunday; report on the vaulting in H&H magazine next week, out Thursday, 11 September.

WEG vaulting: Eccles sisters hold pas de deux bronze after first freestyle

Pippa Roome — Thu, 04 Sep 2014 19:41:42 +0000

Britain’s Eccles sisters hold third place after the first freestyle of the pas de deux vaulting competition at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.

“You wouldn’t believe how much harder work it is doing 2min of pairs compared to a minute individually,” gasped Joanne. “In pairs you are always lifting someone or balancing on someone.”

The sisters had one problem early in the routine today when Hannah lost her footing coming down from a lift. They scored 8.570.

“Maybe I came down too fast, I’m not really sure,” she said.

The soundtrack to the Eccles’ routine includes the Robert Frost poem Fire and Ice, which is Joanne’s favourite poem and provided the inspiration for the theme and costumes.

The pair have been doing this routine since Aachen in July, having changed the roller their horse WH Bentley wears for this class to enable them to show off more of their individual moves.

“The other one was just very thin circles and it was really old — people laughed at us because everyone else had changed but we didn’t because I was really good at standing backwards in the old one with Hannah on my shoulders,” said Joanne.

Using the individual roller meant Joanne had to find a new way to stand, but the highlight of their routine was still Hannah standing on Joanne’s shoulders, though with Joanne facing forward.

“It took us a while to do it, but it does set us apart — I used to do it competing in a team, but with someone supporting me from behind,” explained Joanne.

The sisters, who are lunged by their father John on 20-year-old WH Bentley, treat pairs as more of a fun competition than the individual. Joanne currently leads that contest after three of the four tests, while Hannah lies 10th.

“We’ve won four silver medals in pas de deux and if you keep trying to beat that you put the pressure on,” said Hannah. “We made the decision this year not to care about marks and results and just to show what we can do.”

The winners tonight were Austria’s Jasmin Lindner and Lukas Wacha, who pulled off an incredible series of lifts with confidence for a mark of 9.070.

Germany’s Gera Marie Grün and Justin van Gerven, the junior European pas de deux medallists last year, scored 8.631 tonight to hold second.

The pas de deux concludes with a second freestyle tomorrow morning.

More updates from WEG online until Sunday; report on the vaulting in H&H magazine next week, out Thursday, 11 September.

WEG vaulting: Britain’s Joanne Eccles extends her lead in female individual competition

Pippa Roome — Thu, 04 Sep 2014 15:57:36 +0000

Britain’s Joanne Eccles has extended her lead in the female individual vaulting competition at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games after today’s technical test.

Joanne was “thrilled” with her performance to score 8.513 (above). This round of the contest involves demonstrating five particular moves, but in any order the vaulters choose and to music, in the style of a freestyle.

“That’s the best technical score I’ve had this year, if not ever,” said Joanne. “From the very first technical move, which for me is the outside stand, it felt really solid and from then on I had a really good feeling.

“I knew there were more British spectators in the crowd today, so I wanted to put on a good show for them. I tried to have a sneak peek at them at the start, then I took my time at the end to look around. We appreciate them coming to watch vaulting and supporting us.”

The vaulting medals will be decided tomorrow when Joanne and her fellow competitors will take part in one final freestyle. Vaulters use the same music as in yesterday’s freestyle, but can vary their moves and costume.

“But I’ll be attempting to do exactly the same as on Wednesday,” said Joanne.

Joanne’s younger sister Hannah was also pleased with her performance for a score of 7.449 and ninth in today’s test, although she said the forward roll and shoot-up mount (a movement where the vaulters go from the ground, through a shoulder stand to sitting on the horse’s neck facing backwards) could have been better.

“I’ve just changed my technical test back to one I did two years ago as I prefer this one,” she said. “I wanted to do the one I’m most comfortable with for this competition.”

Hannah performed to Muse’s Exogenesis: Symphony. She now lies in 10th place overall, up one spot from last night.

The third British competitor, Lucy Phillips, scored 7.163 for her technical test, for 12th place in this round and the same position in the main leader board.

“I did a new move for the first time in competition today, a straddle lever handstand,” she said. “I’ve been trying to do it since I was a gymnast at the age of five and this year is the first I’ve managed it.”

Lucy performed to Beethoven’s 5 Secrets, a piece based on Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, with her moves including miming playing the violin during her test.

“It’s calming music and I can do pretty arm movements to it,” she said. “Also there are five movements in the technical test so that fits in well.”

Behind Joanne, Italy’s Anna Cavallaro has moved up into provisional silver, having been fourth overnight but improved her position by finishing second in the technical round. Denmark’s Rikki Laumann, who won the first day’s compulsory test and was second overnight, now sits in third place overall after a less strong performance, including a messy dismount, left her fifth today.

Switzerland’s Simone Jäiser, who has held the bronze position until now, has slipped out of the medals and is currently fourth.

In the male technical test, Erik Oese of Germany, vaulting on Calvador 5, took top spot, followed by the home side’s Nicolas Andreani and Jacques Ferrari.

The pas de deux competition starts this evening and the Eccles sisters are competing in this.

Britain is not fielding a squad or any male individual vaulters. The squads do not compete today, but also have their final freestyle tomorrow, when the pas de deux also concludes.

More WEG news online all this week; report on the WEG vaulting in the H&H magazine out next Thursday, 11 September.

Picture by Stephen Sparkes

WEG vaulting: Britain take the lead in female individual competition after freestyle

Pippa Roome — Wed, 03 Sep 2014 16:22:01 +0000

Britain’s Joanne Eccles has taken over top spot in the female individual vaulting competition at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.

Joanne, who took the gold medal at the last WEG in 2010, won today’s freestyle competition, scoring 8.888 for her routine (above), performed to I Dreamed a Dream from the musical Les Miserables. As usual, she was lunged by her father John on the family’s veteran horse WH Bentley.

“Music choice is difficult, it took a while to find something I was comfortable working to and which Hannah [sister and fellow WEG vaulter] and Dad felt worked,” said Joanne, who has been using this freestyle all year and added that it seemed appropriate for competing in France.

“I had one little wobble today when my foot didn’t come down in quite the right place, but it wasn’t big — I can’t really complain if that’s my only problem.”

Joanne’s score for round one (yesterday’s compulsory and today’s freestyle) is 8.619. This puts her 0.075 ahead of Denmark’s Rikki Laumann, who won yesterday and scored 8.652 to finish second to Joanne today. She wore an outfit covered in stars to perform her routine, which is about the “play between cold and warm”.

“I was happy — I felt my horse lost a step at the end and I lost two movements because of that, but the rest I was satisfied with,” said Rikki.

Switzerland’s Simone Jäiser holds third overall, after being fourth today behind Italy’s Anna Cavallaro, who still sits fourth in the full leader board.

Joanne’s younger sister Hannah has moved up to 11th in the overall standings after a strong performance today netted eighth. Her routine is performed to music from the film 300: Rise of an Empire.

“I haven’t actually seen the film, but I wanted something with a Greek goddess feel,” said Hannah. “I vault better to fast music and Joanne vaults better to slow music, so it makes a good contrast when we go after each other [vaulters on the same horse always perform consecutively].”

After today’s competition the top 15 vaulters go forward to round two, a technical test tomorrow and another freestyle on Friday. All three British vaulters have qualified to continue as Lucy Phillips sits 12th. She finished 10th today with her The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo freestyle.

“I’m really pleased,” said Lucy, whose outfit included a dragon tattoo (right). “I get a bit nervous for the first freestyle round, but I tell myself I’ve done it so many times and I just want to go out and enjoy it.

“I had one little slip, but I covered it up with a nice arm movement — that’s the nice thing about freestyle, you can just do a different hand or leg movement if something isn’t ideal.”

In this morning’s squad freestyle, Switzerland’s all-girl team put in a fantastic performance, with the only obvious blip being when the flyer touched down in a dismount. But they won the test with a score of 8.596, vaulting on the grey Will Be Good, lunged by Monika Winkler-Bischofbef. This means they have moved up to silver in the overall standings, with Germany (second today) rising to gold.

Last night’s leaders Austria slipped to bronze after finishing fifth today — their horse Alessio L’Amabile broke to trot at one point, which did not make it easy for the vaulters.

The squads do not compete tomorrow. The top 12 go through to the final freestyle on Friday, after which the medals are decided.

In the male individual freestyle, France’s Jacques Ferrari remains at the head of affairs after topping the freestyle today with 8.838. His compatriot Nicolas Andreani was second again, so stays in silver on the overall leaderboard. There are only 17 competitors in the male contest, so just two do not progress to tomorrow’s technical test.

Britain is not fielding a squad or any male individual vaulters, but the pas de deux competition, in which the Eccles sisters are competing, starts tomorrow.

Blog about squad freestyles

Results and times

More WEG news online all this week; report on the WEG vaulting in the magazine out next Thursday, 11 September.

Picture of Joanne Eccles by Stephen Sparkes

WEG vaulting: Britain’s Joanne Eccles holds second after compulsory test

Pippa Roome — Tue, 02 Sep 2014 15:25:51 +0000

Britain’s Joanne Eccles (above right) lies second after the compulsory test, the first part of the female individual vaulting competition at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games (WEG).

“I’m fairly pleased — I felt like there was one bit that wasn’t particularly smooth in the scissors, but it’s difficult to know. Sometimes I do something in training and I don’t think it’s good and Hannah [sister and fellow WEG competitor] and Dad [John, lunger and coach] say it’s fine,” said Joanne, who won individual gold at the last WEG in 2010.

The arena for the vaulting in Caen has a great atmosphere — the audience are very close to the action, which is under lights with the audience in darkness.

“Once you start you can’t see the audience as they are in the dark. It’s just you and the horse as one, which is how it should be,” said Joanne.

The final horse in the female competition, Landar, became quite upset and it was difficult for his Czech vaulter, Jana Bartonkova, to even make the leap onto him. But the Eccles’ WH Bentley is an old pro at 20 years old.

“He’s done so many competitions we knew he’d go in there and do his best,” said Joanne, who scored 8.35.

The leader is Denmark’s Rikki Laumann, with a mark of 8.435, who took the title at last year’s European Championships.

Joanne’s younger sister Hannah (above left) lies 16th having made one error where she touched down with her hands on the ground after dismounting.

“This is our weakest round — the next is my favourite,” said Hannah.

Joanne added: “We know we can improve from here.”

Today’s test consisted of each vaulter showing the eight compulsory moves in a set sequence for the eight judges, six of whom mark the vaulter and two the horse. Tomorrow the vaulters perform a freestyle to music and these first two days of competition constitute round one.

After tomorrow, the top 15 vaulters progress to the next two tests on Thursday and Friday (round two). The medals are awarded on an average score from all four days.

The third British vaulter, Lucy Phillips, is currently within the cut-off for round two after scoring 7.711 on Pitucelli, lunged by her mother Elizabeth.

“You feel like everyone’s watching you and getting excited when you run down the tunnel — it’s such an honour to compete for your country,” she said. “I’d like to get through to the second round. If I can do a personal best in each round I’ll be happy.”

Swiss competitor Simone Jäiser currently holds third, with Italy’s Anna Cavallaro fourth — Anna is another of the favourites after claiming individual European silver last year, but made a mistake in her dismount today.

Austria took the lead in the squad competition this morning, with a score of 7.873 for their compulsory test, performed on Alessio L’Amabile, who was lunged by Maria Lehrmann. Germany hold the silver position for now, with Switzerland in bronze.

The home side has the upper hand in the individual male contest, with European champion Jacque Ferrari heading world champion Nicolas Andreani. Victor Brüsewitz of Germany lies third.

Britain is not fielding a squad or any male individual vaulters, but the pas de deux competition, in which the Eccles sisters are competing, starts on Thursday.

Vaulting start lists and results

More WEG updates online all week; full report on the vaulting at WEG in the magazine out next Thursday, 11 September.

British vaulters ready for World Games

Amy Mathieson — Fri, 01 Aug 2014 08:00:47 +0000

Joanne Eccles (pictured above) secured another victory on her route to the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games (WEG) — winning at Aachen earlier this month.

Joanne took the female class at the show, taking her tally of Aachen wins to six. She partnered WH Bentley, lunged by her father John Eccles.

Joanne also came second with her sister — Hannah — in the pas de deux.

The pair, alongside English senior female champion Lucy Phillips, are now preparing for WEG (2-5 September).

Chef d’equipe Lucy Bell told H&H: “It was a great performance and a good final run before WEG as all her closest rivals were present.”

The girls will all be competing as individuals, as GBR is not sending a squad.

“Unfortunately no squad achieved the scores required in the 2014 British Equestrian Vaulting selection criteria for senior championship,” added Ms Bell.

First published in Horse & Hound magazine on 31 July 2014

Watch Europe’s top 3 vaulting pas de deux

Carol Phillips — Fri, 09 Aug 2013 11:21:28 +0000

The 2013 European vaulting championships saw British sisters Hannah and Joanne Eccles win their 4th consecutive European silver medal. They were narrowly beaten by Jasmin Lindner and Lukas Wacha of Austria, with Torben Jacobs and Pia Engelberty taking bronze.

Watch the top 3 performances below in reverse order of their placing. The British pair’s performance starts at 3:20min.

Freestyle results

Gold: Jasmin Lindner & Lukas Wacha (AUT) 8.289

Silver: Joanne Eccles & Hannah Eccles (GBR) 8.096

Bronze: Torben Jacobs & Pia Engelberty (GER) 7.803

Medals galore for British vaulters at Euros

Sophia Heath — Tue, 06 Aug 2013 10:00:47 +0000

British vaulters secured 4 medals at the senior and junior European championships in Ebreichsdorf, Austria (30 July – 4 August).

In the senior competition sisters Joanne and Hannah Eccles took silver on WH Bentley in the pas de deux — this is the 4th consecutive European silver for the duo.

Joanne, 23, also won a bronze medal in the senior female category.

In the junior pair competition Andrew McLachlan and Rebecca Norval won silver on Tylers Kernal. Andrew also secured bronze in the junior male category.

“They all did really well. It was a very tight competition with massive pressure,” chef d’equipe Lucy Bell told H&H.

“We knew that it was going to be very close this year so four medals was what we were hoping for.”

Competitors also had to deal with baking temperatures over the weekend.

“I think we were lucky it has been so hot at home recently.” Lucy said.

“It was recorded as being 37c outside but inside the arenas with the crowds it felt even hotter.”

Tenth British pas de deux title on the trot for vaulting’s Eccles sisters

Charlotte White — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 17:13:26 +0000

Sisters Joanne and Hannah Eccles leapt into the record books at the weekend by winning their tenth British pairs vaulting title on the trot.

The Eccles first won the pas de deux title in 2002 and have done so every year since, including at the British Vaulting Championships 2012 at the Bishop Burton Arena (22-23 September).

Chef d’equipe Lucy Bell said: “To show such consistency is spectacular.”

Joanne and Hannah also headed the senior women’s individual class, with Joanne taking the title for an eight year.

Hannah was second, with Lucy Phillips in third and Helen Anderson fourth.

Joanne Eccles, British vaulter

Horse & Hound — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 16:00:03 +0000

Joanne Eccles was born in February 1989 and started vaulting at the age of eight, encouraged by her neighbour.

She already owned her own horse and competed in Highland dancing and after trying out vaulting, she was hooked.

At the age of nine, Joanne was asked to join the Scottish Equestrian Vaulting Team, and at the same time competed as an individual.

She was with the team for nine years and was selected to represent Great Britain every year.

Joanne’s father John shares her passion for the sport. He is a vaulting and gymnastics coach and also a vaulting judge and works closely with his daughters Joanne and Hannah.

Hannah also competes and has been part of the British team since 2002.

The sisters were the first British vaulters ever to win a CVI* at Ermelo in 2008.

Joanne came first in the senior class and Hannah won the junior class.

In 2001, John decided to buy his own horse and the family started their own club, Wee County Vaulters. It started off with just one horse, three vaulters and John coaching and lunging. The club now has around 30 members, four horses and five lungers/coaches including Joanne who is a British level two coach.

In 2009, Joanne won Britain’s first ever vaulting gold medal at the European Championships in Sweden. She is the reigning European Champion.

Joanne won the female individual vaulting gold medal at the World Equestrian Games in 2010 on her horse WH Bentley, lunged by her father, John Eccles.

In February 2012 Joanne and Hannah took the first and second places at the FEI World Cup Vaulting final in Bordeaux.

And in July 2012 Joanne claimed her fourth Aachen title when she took the senior female class at the CVIO***.

Fourth Aachen title for vaulter Joanne Eccles

Horse & Hound — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 16:22:07 +0000

British vaulter Joanne Eccles has added a fourth Aachen title to her tally by taking the senior female class at the CVIO***(29 June-1 July).

Joanne and her sister Hannah also came first in the pas de deux class (pictured), with a new and “extremely difficult” routine.

The GBR Nations Cup team finished fifth in an exciting final round. The team was made up of George Cox, Joanne Eccles and the English Vaulting Squad.

The class was won by Germany I with Germany II in second place.

And South Scotland Select team finished third in the small team final, producing a smooth performance behind two Swedish teams.

British vaulters’ one, two, three finish in Saumur

Charlotte White — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 14:37:30 +0000

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Britain’s female vaulters dominated the podium in the senior female class at the Saumur CVIO** (6-8 April) to help push the British team into second place in the nations cup.

Joanne Eccles, Hannah Eccles and Lucy Phillips (pictured) kept the rest of the field at bay throughout all four rounds of the ladies’ class to clinch Team GB’s first one, two, three on the podium.

Joanne finished on 8.619 points, her sister Hannah on 8.105 and Lucy on 7.969.

Andrew McLachlan became the first British male to win a class at an international, winning the junior class.

And Stacey Macpherson finished sixth in the junior female class with team mate Elloise Cundy close behind in seventh.

Chef d’equipe Lucy Bell said: “Both teams also did a great job over the weekend.

“South Scotland Select produced a great compulsory round and were leading, but a very strong German team just pushed them into second after the freestyle.”

She added that the English Vaulting Squad produced solid performances to finish sixth in a strong senior class, which helped Team GB to finish second in the nations cup.

The nations cup was closely fought and eventually won by the French, with 0.24.

The British team was made up of Joanne Eccles, Hannah Eccles, Lucy Phillips and the English Vaulting Squad.

Joanne Eccles wins the first FEI vaulting World Cup

Charlotte White — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12:02:09 +0000

British vaulting sensations Joanne and Hannah Eccles took the first and second places at the first FEI World Cup Vaulting final, in Bordeaux yesterday (5 February).

The Scottish sisters both performed on WH Bentley, lunged by their father John.

Six athletes went through to the ladies’ final and the tension was high as Switzerland’s Simone Jaiser and her horse, Luk, posting an overall aggregate score of 7.870.

Italy’s Anna Cavallaro stumbled backwards on dismount, but still achieved a mark of 7.990 with Harley, while Germany’s Sarah Kay, also partnering Luk, maintained fourth place by putting 8.040 on the scoreboard.â€¨â€¨

Hannah Eccles, 20, who was only in the final due to the injury of another competitor, was next into the arena with Bentley.

She came through with a score of 8.227, to pile the pressure on the final two.

France’s Anne-Sophie Musset Agnus, with new horse Harley, posted a score of 8.214 to drop behind Hannah.

So it was Joanne’s turn to show which Eccles had the edge.

Stepping out in a marionette-style costume to a musical score from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, she exceeded the previous day’s high score to post 8.837 this time out and swipe the title from Hannah.

Joanne said her secret weapon is gentle giant Bentley.

“My own success and Hannah’s too – none of it would have happened without him!” she said. “He’s as steady as a rock and so trustworthy.”.

The men’s title was won by Switzerland’s Patric Looser, who retired from the sport on a high note.

Joanne Eccles wins her first vaulting World Cup qualifier

Horse & Hound — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 15:33:24 +0000

Vaulter Joanne Eccles started her 2011/12 season in high style by winning the FEI World Cup Qualifier in Salzburg (3-4 December).

Her sister Hannah was 8th in the same competition.

They both competed on WH Bentley – known as “Henry” – who was lunged by their father John Eccles.

The girls travelled home for a week at university before flying out to Paris for the next qualifier next weekend.

But John and the horse have gone directly to the Salon de Cheval show for the fourth World Cup round of the season (9-10 December).

The girls are chasing qualifying points to complete in the inaugural FEI World Cup Vaulting final in Bordeau, France (4-5 February).

Joanne Eccles and Ross Foreman reign at British vaulting champs

Horse & Hound — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 15:22:23 +0000

Joanne Eccles and Ross Foreman retained their individual titles at the British Vaulting Championships 2011 at Bishop Burton College, Yorkshire (22-23 October).

Both led their classes throughout, Ross despite making a recent return to vaulting having had most of 2011 off due to work commitments.

The second place in the female class was a close fought affair between Lucy Phillips and Hannah Eccles, with it changing throughout the rounds, but finally Lucy just inching ahead to claim reserve champion title and Hannah a close third.

The individual 14-18 years class again saw close results with Ellie Cundy finally claiming the female title ahead of Paige Brown and Stacey McPherson in third place.

In the mains Andrew McLachlan who is unbeaten this year claimed the title with George Cox second.

The under-14 titles went to Rebecca Kinghorn from the Reviers group and Atoll Pettinger from the Kinross group.

Joanne and Hannah Eccles retained their pairs title with a huge margin ahead of the rest of the field, with Lucy Younger and Izzy Kyle in second.

Advanced team champions were the South Scotland Select Team on Aspen Delicate, lunged by Rebecca Morgan.

The team pushed the reigning champions the English Vaulting Squad into second place in another very close final.

The junior team competition was won by the Scottish Equestrian Vaulting Team on Tylers Kernal, lunged by Amanda McLachlan and the SSS Junior team was second.

Intermediate Team: 1st Wee County Vaulters, 2nd EVS Juniors, 3rd Eagles Vaulting Group.

Novice Team: 1st Eagles Vaulting Group

PreNovice Team: 1st Moulton Vaulting Group

Vaulter Joanne Eccles wins senior female title at Le Mans

Horse & Hound — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 12:26:52 +0000

Vaulter Joanne Eccles, has successfully defended her senior female European title at the European Championships in Le Mans, France (16-21 August).

Joanne, aged 22, from Tillicoultry in Scotland, retained the title that in 2009 made her the first British vaulter to win an FEI Vaulting Championship medal.

Her final score of 8.553, one of her highest scores this year, came just 0.02 ahead of Germany’s Sarah Kay, who finished on 8.533.

Joanne said: “It was really good in there. It was a pretty much almost perfect test and was really hard to judge what the score would be at the end.

“It’s been a tough few days but I’m absolutely ecstatic with the result. I’ve had to fight so hard for it.”

As well as taking the individual title, Joanne and her sister Hannah, aged 19, took silver in the pas de deux, with a final score of 8.411, just 0.008 behind the eventual Gold medallists, Germany (8.419).

Bronze went to Austria, who finished on 8.245.

The sisters, who are members of the Wee County Vaulting Group, competed in both sections on their horse W H Bentley and were lunged by their father John.

Chef d’equipe for the vaulting squad, Lucy Bell said: “There was a lot of pressure going into the arena today but as always brilliant performances were delivered on both counts.

“It’s a fantastic result for both Joanne and Hannah and for British vaulting.”

British vaulters aim for medals at European championships

Horse & Hound — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 11:18:41 +0000

The British vaulting squad for the European championships has been named.

The FEI senior and junior European vaulting championships takes place in Le Mans, France from 16-21 August.

Joanne Eccles, Hannah Eccles, Lucy Phillips will be the individual senior women travelling to France.

Twenty-two-year-old Joanne from Glasgow is defending her European title that she won in 2009 when she became the first British team member to win an FEI vaulting championship medal.

Last year Joanne was crowned the Individual Female Vaulting World Champion at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games (WEG) in Lexington, Kentucky.

And Stephanie Hunter, Louise Sinclair and and Stacey Macpherson will contest the junior female section as individuals.

Andrew McLachlan and George Cox who both made their individual international debut at Saumur this year will be in the junior male championship.

And the teams are:

Senior team

Lunger: Julie Newell

Horse: Go for Gold

Vaulters: Sara Shortland, Stephanie Hunter, Lydia Barham, Paige Brown, Megan Bignell, Ellie Cundy, William Jenkins.

Junior Team

Lunger: Amanda McLachlan

Horse: Tylers Kernal

Vaulters: Andrew Mclachlan, Rebecca Norval, Emma Biggerstaff, Amy Gullen, Lisa Mercer, Victoria Campbell, Leigh Taylor.

Chef d’equipe Lucy Bell said: “In recent years the British equestrian vaulting squad has made a real impact on the international stage — particularly in light of Joanne’s inspiring wins at European and world level, all of which has helped raise the profile of the sport and bring vaulting to a wider audience at home.

“We now have a very strong squad for these championships and I am confident that they will raise the bar even higher to achieve even better results for British vaulting.”

Joanne Eccles proves to be unbeatable in Aachen

Horse & Hound — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 13:26:04 +0000

Britain’s Joanne Eccles won the individual class at Aachen for the third year running at the weekend with a typically stylish performance.

The world champion, vaulting on her top horse WH Bentley, finished on 8.206, ahead of Pia Engelberty (Germany) on 7.929 and Mary McCormick (USA) on 7.901.

Fellow brit Lucy Phillips finished in sixth, scoring a personal best in the freestyle round to end on a total of 7.774

Hannah Eccles also performed well to finish on 7.605

In the male class George Cox produced his best freestyle score to date, finishing in 17th in a strong field.

Joanne and Hannah Eccles also finished a close second in the pas de deux class, while Team GB finished sixth in the Nations Cup.

With the European Championships in Le Mans just under four weeks away, chef d’equipe Lucy Bell said: “Everyone did a great job but all have little things to work on to get even better scores in Le Mans.”

Winning start to the season for Team GBR vaulters

Horse & Hound — Fri, 06 May 2011 12:48:50 +0000

Britain’s vaulters got their international season off to a cracking start with two wins in Saumur, France (22-25 April).

The team — comprising world champion Joanne Eccles, Andrew McLachlan and the English vaulting squad — successfully defended their Nations Cup title, despite stiff competition from the French and Swiss teams.

In the individual female class Joanne and her horse WH Bentley trounced their rivals, putting in a peerless performance to dominate from start to finish.

“This was a fantastic competition for both our vaulters and horses,” said delighted chef d’equipe Lucy Bell. “All five horses posted some of the highest scores of the weekend, including some rarely seen eights.”

And while Joanne is the flagbearer for the sport in Britain, the team looked to have strength in depth with promising individual debuts in the male class from Andrew (ninth) and George Cox (12th).

As H&H went to press, the team was competing in Holland ahead of a busy few weeks of competition. All roads now aim at the European Championships, which take place in France in August.

“After Holland we’re off on to Belgium where we have a huge squad entered in May and hope to build on the success we had in Saumur,” Miss Bell added.

This news story was first published in the current issue of Horse & Hound (5 May, 2011)

Vaulting gold winning WH Bentley is half Dales pony

Charlotte White — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 14:18:36 +0000

It’s hard to believe but WH Bentley, the 17.2hh horse that took British vaulter Joanne Eccles to gold at the World Equestrian Games is half Dales pony.

Bentley was bred by Yorkshireman James Grant as an eventer for his son and was sold to the Eccles family in 2001.

“My son was dabbling in eventing and needed a horse but we did not have the money,” Mr Grant told H&H.

“Our Dales mare Lambton Rose had had twins that survived in the past, so we thought she’d probably be able to breed a big foal and put her to a 17hh warmblood, Arlequin des Artes.

“We named him Wormpton Henry Bentley — Wormpton is my Dales prefix and Henry Bentley was my wife’s great-grandfather.

“Bentley turned out to have more of a pony gait than a galloping one so when we saw that Wee County Vaulters [the group Joanne’s father John set up in Scotland] were looking for a horse we suggested him.

“He’s big, with a broad back and seemed ideal — as he has proved to be. But it seems amazing that he came from a 14.2hh pony!”

British vaulter Joanne Eccles wins individual gold at WEG

Horse & Hound — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 23:06:29 +0000

Britain’s Joanne Eccles won the individual gold medal in the female individual vaulting competition at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games today.

(Image credit: creditUnknown)

Joanne received the second highest score in today’s final freestyle round with her Candle in the Wind routine, which was enough for her to secure the top spot having led after yesterday’s technical test (left).

“I’m a little stunned — I was pleased with my performance today, but the other girls are so strong,” she said after learning she had won. “It’s going to take a while to sink in.”

Joanne was lunged on WH Bentley by her father John, who also received a gold medal. This is Britain’s first ever WEG medal in vaulting.

Germans Antje Hill and Simone Wiegele took the silver and bronze medals.

After personal bests in the three earlier rounds, Britain’s other individual female, Lucy Phillips, finished her WEG journey with some disappointment after being unable to pull off her dismount. She finished 13th.

In the male final, Britain’s Ross Foreman finished on a high with the sixth best score in the freestyle round, which raised him to eighth place overall.

Switzerland’s Patric Looser’s spaceman routine kept him in the top spot overall in the male contest, even though France’s Nicolas Andreani actually received the best mark for today’s freestyle. Nicolas finished in the bronze position, behind the 2006 WEG champion, Germany’s Kai Vorberg.

Patric has been based with Kai for five years and said: “This is a strange feeling because Kai is my teacher, but I’m really satisfied with my performance.”

The vaulting team contest concludes tomorrow.

Log back on tomorrow for a report on the final vaulting team round, full report in H&H next week, out 14 October.

WEG blog: think of being 13ft up on a moving horse…

Horse & Hound — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 14:10:24 +0000

I’ve been feeling neglectful of the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games driving, having not seen much of the dressage phase. I intended to go and watch the Boyd Exell and Tucker Johnson — rumoured and indeed proved to be the best of yesterday’s runners — but their times clashed exactly with the Brits in the vaulting. Without a pair of wings, superhero vision or time travel, it wasn’t going to happen.

So, my kind boyfriend rigged up FEI TV on his computer last night in bed — it’s a romantic trip, this — so I could watch Thursday’s highlights show. On the plus side, this let me see day one’s joint-leaders Ijsbrand Chardon and Chester Weber’s tests in full and I now have a much better understanding of what’s involved, and why Chester said at the press conference he had a problem in the rein-back (the left wheeler wasn’t keen and stood up).

On the down side, I then dreamed I was driving — one small pony luckily, not a four-in-hand — through a house, trying to avoid china and photo frames. As Sarah Jenkins says, bear with us, we’ve been away from our shrinks too long.

I nearly had to blog again last night after I’d posted my effort earlier in the day. The team freestyles in the vaulting were so impressive I’ve run out of superlatives. Think of three people on a horse, perhaps with one person sitting backwards on the wither, supporting someone standing up, who is holding a little kid (the flyer) above their head, twirling them around with the ease of a cheerleader’s baton. Or perhaps that standing person isn’t being supported, if you really want to impress.

Just think for a minute about how brave you’d have to be to either be the person holding up the flyer, or to be the flyer. We’re probably talking about being 13ft up in the air (6ft of horse, 6ft of another person, plus a foot of their arms) on the back of a moving live animal.

This was really brought home to me when the South African team horse, Prize, became upset just as the lunger sent him out onto his circle. He tried to pull away, meaning the lunger had to dig in and hold him, reel him in and start again. He settled, thank goodness, but it takes some guts to stand up on that horse after seeing that.

I asked the British team if it wasn’t scary and they said maybe the first time you try something, but once you know how to do it, you’re just concentrating on what you are doing. And that the team spirit is amazing: “It’s brilliant all being able to hug each other when you come out, rather than just being on your own.”

Today, after the driving marathon, it’s back to individual vaulting. Yesterday, Joanne Eccles exchanged a high five with her father and lunger John after her technical test — she knew she’d nailed it to go back into the lead. Can she stay there today? Let’s hope so. I want to add another British gold to the medal table.

Log back on later for updates on vaulting and driving; full reports in H&H next week, 14 October.

Britain’s Joanne Eccles leads WEG female vaulting technical test

Horse & Hound — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 20:23:19 +0000

Britain’s Joanne Eccles (pictured) tops the leader board in the female individual vaulting competition heading into the final tomorrow at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.

Joanne received the best score — 8.435 — in today’s technical test to take back the lead after holding second overnight.

“I didn’t feel I performed at my best yesterday, so I went out there to enjoy the competition today,” said Joanne, who performed to Send in the Clowns and was dressed as a clown, in white with stripes of colour down her sides and big red, yellow and blue spots on her front.

Her graceful performance was only marred at the very end when she almost had to put a hand down as she dismounted from WH Bentley.

“Halfway through my shoe came off so it was half off, plus I was ahead of the music so I was waiting for the bell [which indicates time is almost up],” she explained. “I just didn’t bring my foot down quite quick enough, I think I was caught in the moment, but the score was still good.”

Germany’s Simone Wiegele, who led overnight, received only the 10th best mark today. She has slipped to third behind fellow German Antje Hill, who was the second highest-scorer in today’s technical test.

The individual vaulters perform in the freestyle final tomorrow, after which the medals are handed out, based on an average score across their four performances.

Joanne said: “The competitions been full of ups and downs and it could go any way. There are about seven girls who could come out on top, so my aim is to enjoy it and have a strong performance tomorrow.”

Britain’s second female vaulter through to this round, Lucy Phillips, was delighted after scoring another personal best, 7.463, having also surpassed herself in the compulsories and freestyle. She lies 13th.

“It’s a new theme and new music — I’ve only done it once in competition,” she said. “It’s the trailer from Avatar because I wanted to tell a story. I tried the theme tune, but it was a bit wishy-washy.”

Lucy revealed that she had got her turquoise outfit some two years ago for another theme, but the realised it fitted into this perfectly.

After the male technical test, Britain’s Ross Foreman lies 10th after scoring 6.608 today.

“I’m happy with the score — that’s only the third time I’ve done that technical test and it’s almost exactly the same score each time,” he said. “I came here to reach the top 10 and I’ve done that, I just need to stay there now. I’ve had a couple of slip-ups, but I can’t complain.”

Patric Looser retains the lead for Switzerland in this class, with German 2006 WEG champion Kai Vorberg second.

Log back on later for an update on the team vaulting and tomorrow to find out who wins the individual medals. Full report in H&H next week, 14 October.

Joanne Eccles in silver after WEG individual vaulting freestyle

Horse & Hound — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 23:11:36 +0000

Britain’s Joanne Eccles (pictured) is in second after the freestyle round in the individual female vaulting at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.

Joanne performed her freestyle to Elton John’s Candle In The Wind, dressed all in gold. She has used this programme about six times internationally this year.

“I missed out one of the really difficult movements today because when I stood up I wasn’t as stable as normal, maybe because it was my first time in this arena doing my freestyle,” she said.

Nevertheless, Joanne scored 8.39, the fourth best mark awarded in her class today and enough to leave her in silver position when combined with her leading score from yesterday’s compulsory round.

The top 15 vaulters after today go through to the next round. The final consists of a technical test tomorrow afternoon, plus a freestyle on Saturday, after which the medals are awarded.

Lucy Phillips also made the cut for Britain, finishing the round in 12th place after breaking the eight-barrier for the first time with her freestyle, performed to Evanescence’s Bring Me To Life.

“I think it was my mental focus [that helped me do a personal best] — I’ve been doing loads of psychology,” she said. “Before I went I felt a little bit nervous but I was thinking, ‘I want to do it’. I didn’t think of anything bad happening.

“I like this music because it lets me show the two sides of vaulting, I like to be graceful at the start then I can show my strength when the beat kicks in.”

Britain’s third female vaulter, Joanne’s sister Hannah Eccles, just missed out on qualifying for the next round after finishing 16th. She said her routine — performed for the first time to the theme tune from the film I, Robot — was a bit messy today.

Germany’s Simone Wiegele has taken the lead in the female contest, just 0.07 ahead of Joanne.

Ross Foreman through to male final

Britan’s male individual Ross Foreman was stunned to have moved up two places after slipping off his horse, Master Key, in his second move, a side stand.

“I made up a freestyle as I went along,” said Ross, who was dressed as the Joker from Batman. “I think the judges thought that was the plan — I kept smiling, so they were none the wiser.”

Ross now lies ninth so is qualified for the next round, while Switzerland’s Patric Looser has risen two places to head the male competition at this stage.

As well as the individual technical test, tomorrow’s vaulting programme also includes the second round of the team contest, the freestyle.

Log back on tomorrow for more updates on the vaulting. Full report in H&H out 14 October.

Joanne Eccles leads female individual vaulting at WEG

Horse & Hound — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 21:35:37 +0000

Britain’s Joanne Eccles (pictured) has taken the lead after the female individual compulsory test, the first round of the vaulting at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.

Joanne, the reigning European champion, scored 8.157 — the only competitor in her class to score over eight. She was lunged by her father John on the family horse, WH Bentley.

“It was one of the best compulsories I’ve done this year,” she said. “There’ll be little things when I look back, but with the pressure, I’m happy. Compulsories are something I’ve been working on for a long time as it was my weakest part and I managed to show some of what I’ve been working.”

Joanne also commented that the footing in the Alltech Indoor Arena has improved since they practised on it earlier in the week: “The footing’s really settled and there’s more jump to it. The other day it was hard to jump out of but lovely to land in, now it’s harder it’s better for jumping out of — it’s good for us and for the horse.”

Joanne’s sister Hannah Eccles was also pleased after scoring 7.251, also on WH Bentley. She is in 16th place.

She said; “My score could have been slightly higher, but it’s good for me for compulsories, which are my weakest part — it can only get better now.”

Hannah commented on which movements she felt went well and which she could have improved: “The mount was better than I’ve done for a while, and the mill, but I’m annoyed because the stand is normally really good for me, but today I had a little wobble and the scissors could also have been a little higher.”

Britain’s third individual, Lucy Phillips, hoped to score over seven and achieved it with 7.58 on Pitucelli, lunged by Rebecca Morgan, for 13th at this stage.

“I think that was the best I’ve done in a while. The scissors felt really energetic and I’m really pleased with Pitu, my horse — it all came together in there,” she said.

Commenting on the high expectations of the British vaulters, Lucy said: “I think the pressure is good, it helps you get focused.”

Personal best for British male

Britain’s Ross Foreman scored a personal best for the compulsory test in the male individual competition. His mark of 7.041 puts him 11th at this stage, but Ross is confident he will move up the field in the freestyle tomorrow afternoon.

“I’m happy with how it went today — there were no slip-ups,” he said of his performance on Master Key, lunged by Rebecca Morgan. “I went to Aachen and that was a great WEG, but this is the best ever. There’s a massive crowd compared to the British national competitions, and it’s good to have been to Aachen and know the horse is safe with the cheers. I haven’t been bungled by nerves, but a little bit of adrenalin makes you better.”

Germany holds the one-two in the male class, with Gero Meyer leading and Kai Vorberg — individual gold medallist in Aachen four years ago — second.

The individual vaulters perform their freestyles tomorrow.