By Julie Power
Sarah Grayson, 27, hadn't ridden the 175-centimetre high horse Kingston Legato before Wednesday.
But with rain flooding into a mostly covered rehearsal arena before Friday's opening of the Sydney Royal Easter Show, she drew on her eight years of training.
Ms Grayson, who represents Australia in equestrian vaulting (sometimes called gymnastics on horseback), made a leap of faith.
Sarah Grayson running through some of the tricks she will be performing at this year’s Sydney Royal Easter Show at Homebush.Credit: Steven Siewert
Matching her rhythm to the horse, she managed six times to use the signature vaulting move to leap on the cantering horse's back.
And about six times she managed to stand up on the horse's back. It is controlled via a long rope wielded at a distance by a person called a lunger, making the horse a bit like a temperamental autonomous vehicle.
And then, Ms Grayson leapt into the air to do the splits high above the speeding horse's back.
She didn't always land in the saddle. By design, she mostly hit the ground by doing a crash safety roll that was nearly as spectacular as the jump.
Only highly trained vaulters are allowed to attempt the high split jumps, said Lyn Lynch, the team's coach and co-ordinator of the new show, the Vaultaire Show Team.
"If it is not going right, you're trained to jump off. We don't want to hurt [the horse]. We love them, and we want them to last," Ms Lynch said. The first thing vaulters learn is how to land safely on the ground.
The rehearsal was also complicated because the horse was riding in the opposite direction to the protocol required in international vaulting competitions. (Just like Australian versus European road rules, they vault on the other side of the road).
From Friday, about 24 of Australia's 150 equestrian vaulters ranging from nine to 28 years of age, will perform every night in the centre arena of the show. They will also hold a daily introduction to vaulting at lunch time.
Sarah Grayson riding high before this year’s Sydney Royal Easter Show at Homebush.Credit: Steven Siewert
The Vaultaires are used to people confusing their sport with other types of vaulting such as fierljeppen (jumping over a canal), pole vaulting, and vaulting onto a wooden horse.
Others may ask why?
"Because we love it," Ms Grayson said. "It's an amazing feeling to be up on a horse, standing on it; it's not something a lot of people do."
The real skill is matching the rhythm of the horse to the movements of the rider. Before a vaulter attempts to leap onto a padded horse's back, he or she often runs beside the horse, mimicking its gait, much like a child pretending to be a horse.
Knowing how to ride isn't a prerequisite, Ms Lynch said.
In some parts of Europe, children were required to learn to vault - riding a horse without reins - before they learnt to ride because they learnt balance and co-ordination.
It is the first time vaulting will be included in the main arena's nightly entertainment program as part of the Greatest Easter Show Circus spectacular which is on nightly from 7.30pm. As well as extreme vaulting, it includes a Hot Air Balloon Trapeze, the Double Wheel of Death, Flying Trapeze, Motorcycle Highwire Trapeze and Glowing Horses.
This year's Easter Show opens on Friday 23 March and runs until April 3 2018