Joanne started vaulting when she was eight-years-old in a small club in Scotland. In 1998 she joined the Scottish Equestrian Vaulting Team as one of their flyers. In 2003 Jo first competed as an individual international and was selected for Great Britain in 2004. In 2009, Jo won Britain’s first ever vaulting Gold Medal at the European Championships in Sweden and then in 2010 won the individual vaulting gold at the World Equestrian Games in Kentucky. 

Joanne Eccles

We spent Ten Minutes in the Tack Room with Jo to get her answers to your burning questions.

What would you do if you didn’t ride horses? I have no idea!  I would have most probably stuck with my dancing more, which I did a lot when I was younger, or played more hockey, but who knows!

Why did you decide to go into vaulting? My neighbour did vaulting in the Scottish team, and they were looking for a new flier (wee one to throw about in the air).  She invited me along to a training session and I just got straight into it and stuck at it from then on.

When is your next competition? We have a break over the winter period, so I don’t compete again until March.  We use this time of year for increasing fitness and training new moves and routines for when the season restarts.

How often do you muck out? That really depends!  If it's term time and I’m at uni during the week I'll maybe muck out three days a week, but over the Christmas holidays I’ve been home almost everyday, plus the horses have been in most of the time due to the snow do I did a lot of mucking out!

Who has the best yard you’ve visited? I’ve really not been to that many other yards.  We're lucky to have stables on our farm, and I train here too, and when we compete it’s just the arena at any place we see really.  We’ve managed to tailor our ‘shed’ to suit our vaulting needs so it’s totally different to your average ‘yard’.

What was the last thing you bought a ticket for? I think it would be my train ticket back home from Olympia.  That was a great few days down there; I had a photo shoot, a lunch and received the Raymond Brooks-Ward trophy as well as a medal of honour at the medal parade in Olympia.  It was brilliant.

Why do you love vaulting and riding? So many reasons; working in a team, and with horses.  The adrenaline and excitement of it, and, especially when I was younger, I loved that it didn’t matter how old you were or where you came from at training or competitions everyone mucks in together and I’ve made some great friends.

When was the last time you went on holiday? Officially, probably last year. I went to Kentucky with my mum, dad and sister to compete at the American Nationals, but also to check out the arena for WEG.  After the competition was over we spent a few days there holidaying, which was a lovely change.  Normally we only see the inside of the arena wherever we compete.

How many times a day do you ride? I train on the horses about three times a week, but that’s vaulting.  I don’t ride very often – partly because I’m at uni most of the week in Glasgow, and stay there.  Dad’s in charge of the horses when I’m away.  That should really be part of my New Year's Resolution though.

Who's horse would you like to own? Wow, that’s hard!  I’m not sure, because I’d want them to be really good at vaulting as well!  There are so many stunning horses out there, but I wouldn’t be able to do half of them justice!

What was your first job? I worked as a waitress one summer when I was at school.  That’s when I realised that having a job isn’t that great, apart from the money, and I didn’t even make a decent amount!

When did you last kick yourself? I think in WEG was the last time I was really mad with myself.  It was after I had made a total mess of my first freestyle.  There were a lot of reasons I didn’t go so well, but mainly it was my fault for letting maybe some nerves and the atmosphere put me off.  It was a strange round.  I’d rather not have another one like that. Ever.

How do you relax? Watching TV with a cup of tea.  I don’t watch a lot of telly, I always feel I should be doing something else.  But when it’s a good programme and I can sit in peace it's great.

Who do you think will be the one to watch this year? There are so many good younger vaulters coming up.  It will be interesting to see if any older ones retire this year, as WEG has passed.  Not just in the female class either.  If there are a few everything will change again.  It’s a new challenge every year, because there is always new talent.  I’m just going to have to work extra hard and get much fitter.

What is your top tip for H&C website visitors? Go for it.  It may be your one and only chance.

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Who would you like us to spend Ten Minutes in the Tack Room with? Email webeditor@horseandcountry.tv.