A Good Reason to Horse Around

If you've ever attended a horse show, you can appreciate the discipline and grace as horses are guided through various disciplines in competition.

You actually don't need a real horse to compete in dressage competitions.

Did you ever have a stick horse as a child?

Yep, there is actually a competition called "hobby horsing" and a very popular sport in Finland.  One of my work colleagues brought my attention to this and I had to see it for myself.

Hobby horsing (also called stick horse dressage) is a hobby with gymnastic elements which uses stick horses to do movements on a course similar to those in show jumping/dressage without real horses being used.  

The sport originated in Finland where there is an annual championship held.  Watch a clip of the most recent championships:  https://youtu.be/EylV4VrCF0U?si=eOZLQzyKy7Sqmn_z

While this sport may seem a bit bizarre to most, it gives children and teens who don't have horses or can afford horses a chance to interact with others in an alternative horse-themed sport.  Regardless of what you may think, it does take some athletic ability and skill to compete in the very niche sport.

The next hobby horse competition in North America will be held the first three weekends in July in Mill Spring, North Carolina.  A play on the discipline of Show Jumping, riders complete a course of jumps with their hobby horse, scored for time, and will incur four faults for every rail knocked down while on course. The top eight placing participants will be awarded ribbons for each division, and special awards will be given on select dates. Riders compete in divisions by height and age.

The first annual United States Hobby Horse Championships will be held on August 10th in Almont, Michigan.

Hobbyhorse has been proposed for inclusion in the Paris 2024 Olympics but does not appear to be included in the list of Olympic sports.