Joanne Eccles is a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 equestrian

Equestrianism

Equestrianism more often known as riding, horseback riding or horse riding refers to the skill of riding, driving, or vaulting with horses...

 who competes in the discipline of vaulting

Equestrian vaulting

Equestrian vaulting, or simply Vaulting , is most often described as gymnastics and dance on horseback and, like these disciplines, it can be practised as a non-competitive art/performance or as a competitive sport. Vaulting has been an equestrian act at the circus from its early days. It is open...

. She won the gold medals in the women's individual events at both the 2009 European Championship and the 2010 FEI World Equestrian Games

2010 FEI World Equestrian Games

The 2010 FEI World Equestrian Games were held at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky from September 25 to October 10, 2010. This was the sixth edition of the games, which are held every four years and run by the International Federation for Equestrian Sports...

. Her sister Hannah also represents Great Britain in vaulting.

Team

Joanne first began vaulting at the age of eight. Her neighbours were vaulters and invited her to come and try. At the time she owned one pony which she shared with her brother and sister, and regularly competed in Highland dancing; but once she began vaulting, she pursued this as her main passion.
She vaulted with that club for one year and was then invited to join the Scottish Equestrian Vaulting team. Vaulting as a reserve for most of the year; Joanne traveled with the team to the World Equestrian Games (WEG) in Rome in 1998. In 1999, Joanne became a team flyer and was part of the official team chosen to represent Great Britain at the European Championships. As she became older she also became a 'prop' or 'base', but remained part of the team. As part of the Scottish Equestrian Vaulting Team, she represented Great Britain every year up to and including 2007 (excl. 2001 due to foot and mouth). They placed 4th at the European Championships in 2005, and 5th at WEG in 2006.

Individual

During her team career Joanne was also competing in Individual events, and in 2004 was selected as one of the Individual females to represent Great Britain. It was her first individual championships and she placed 19th as the youngest in her class. She was again selected for the next three years, placing 13th in Europe in 2005; 10th at WEG in 2006; and 4th in Europe in 2007.
After 2007, Joanne was faced with the choice of pursuing either individual or team events, as she was too old to compete in both. She eventually decided to continue in individual events, and came 5th at the World Championships that year.
In 2008 she was invited to the Masters in Leipzig, which she won; and placed second in Saumar at Easter. At the CVI */** in Ermelo, Joanne won the Senior class - a first for Great Britain. She then came 5th at the World Championships, granting her the British Female Individual Champion. She also won many titles in pairs (pas de deux) with her sister Hannah Eccles.

Joanne won the World Equestrian games in Kentucky in 2010.

Wee Country Vaulters

In 2001, Joanne's father, John Eccles, brought his own horse to train the art of vaulting, and the Eccles' started their own club : the Wee Counrty Vaulters. It began with only 3 vaulters, one horse, and John both lungeing and coaching the team. In past years, the number has grown to 26 vaulters, two national horses, one international horse and several coaches, including Joanne.