Hobby Horsing
On the Back of a Hobby Horse

Galloping, trotting and jumping over obstacles on stick horses while imitating both horse and rider as closely as possible. Sounds bizarre? Not according to the fans of the new trend sport hobby horsing. A visit to a tournament.

It's a hot late summer day in Upper Bavaria. The sun beats down relentlessly on the show grounds of the "Waldhauser Hof", a riding stable in the Munich countryside. Visitors cavort in the shade of large trees. Children with stick horses between their legs mingle with riders in elegant outfits and horses with shiny coats. The five-day equestrian festival is not just about riding. The Waldhauser Hof is hosting its first hobby horsing tournament.

Subculture: Hobby horsing

Hobby horsing is the name of the Finnish trend sport that has become increasingly popular in recent years thanks to social media. Hobby horse riders compete on stick horses in disciplines that are very similar to equestrian sports. Time jumping, style jumping and dressage, for example. The main difference is that the participants do not ride real horses, but stick horses. While the upper body imitates the posture of a rider, the legs imitate the movement of a horse.

A whole cosmos has developed around this seemingly simple trend sport. There is now a German Hobby Horsing Association (DtHVV) and a detailed set of rules for tournaments. Hobby horse riders are well connected. There are a number of social media channels selling homemade hobby horse accessories and at least as many people talking about the sport. The tenor you hear is that the hobby horsing community is very supportive and benevolent.

This can also be seen at the Waldhauser Hof. Before the competition, an experienced hobby horse rider shows the younger competitors how to change canter between the obstacles. And after Cleo finishes the course as the fastest, her competitors share her joy as if they had won themselves.
  Patricia Bottani, the judge at the hobby horsing tournament, also describes her experience with the community as “pure harmony”. The former Olympic dressage rider sits in a blue polo and tight-fitting white trousers in the shade of an awning.

Last year, she organized her first hobby horse tournament at her riding facility, she says with a smile. It was one of the best days of her life. 50 kids participated, there were no fights, and the feedback was so positive that she organized a second tournament soon after. Since then, Bottani has been asked again and again. Her name is well known in the equestrian world. And even though she prefers to judge dressage competitions with horses, Bottani is happy to help out at hobby horsing competitions. She often gets ridiculed for it, she says. Many people in the equestrian world think that hobby horsing is "nonsense".

A sport like any other

It's probably not just the riders who think that hobby horsing is "nonsense". The Finnish sport is also often ridiculed on social media.  Especially when adults jump over obstacles with hobby horses or try to imitate different gaits without making mistakes, it might seem a bit bizarre at first glance. But at second glance, it's just a sport like any other. The German Hobby Horsing Association writes on its website: "Hobby horsing is not just a hobby, but a passion and above all a serious sport."

Twelve-year-old Cara can attest to that. She came to the Waldhauser Hof for her first hobby horsing tournament and brought half of her stable with her - an upside-down beverage crate. She has sewn most of her horses herself and has been training hobby horsing "professionally" for the past year. "Hobby horsing is a completely different kind of effort than riding", she says. It is all about jumping technique, elegance and, above all, condition. Condition, which she also needed for her dressage and style jumping competitions in the blazing midday sun.

Ready for the Olympics?

Judge Bottani also does not understand the criticism of hobby horsing. "The children exercise", that is the most important thing. Further, she says, they also learn everything that is important in equestrian sports: body tension, concentration, but also how to approach competitions. For the former Olympic rider, hobby horsing is above all a bridge to equestrianism.

For Cara, however, the two sports have little in common. She prefers to train high jump - a discipline that is often criticized in equestrian sport. Horses have to jump over obstacles that are sometimes taller than they are. In hobby horsing, however, the jumping is done by the riders themselves, which is why high jump competitions are probably one of the most exciting hobby horsing disciplines. The record stands at 1.42m. No wonder some hobby horse riders want to see the sport in the Olympics.