HOW IT ALL STARTED
THE HOBBY HORSE REVOLUTION HAS SPREAD TO AUSTRALIA
Hobby Horse Riders Australia was Founded in 2016 by Matty Sormani of Horses and Humans a profit for purpose business that provides Equine Assisted Learning Programs. Her life long passion about any thing to do with Horses and the amazing social and physical benefits that horses bring to humans, from the very young, to the young at heart was the perfect fit for a Hobby Horse Riders start up.
Horses and Humans Equestrian Centre, and it great support team were keen to give it a go.
Inspired by an amazing group of Finnish youth who brought the idea forward and into the reality that became a National sport attracting thousands of participants and spectators every year to their Championship Events.
Although the majority of participation is by girls, who seem naturally attracted to horses, Boys are now also showing interest but with a different focus.
Boys are into the Super Hero concept of Dinosaurs and Fantastic Creatures or Medieval and Super hero robotic Hobby Horses build, train and ride taking them off the IT media and back out into the real world.
HOBBY HORSE Riding is the hottest and most exciting new sport for kids of all ages. It offers opportunities for a range of fun and activities that appeal to most people's interests whether it is physical activities, creative or practical, innovative, is limited only by your own imagination.
Any sport you can do with a horse, real or an imaginary ridable creature is possible with a Hobby Horse
JOIN a group or just start training NOW and get fit and ready for the RIDE OF YOUR LIFE
at a Competition or social/recreational event in what ever type of Hobby Horse Riding you want to try.
Horsing May be the Most Popular Sport You've Never Heard Of
Hobby-horsing has taken Finland by storm, amassing a sizable following among young Finnish girls between the ages of 10 and 18. The sport involves many of the aspects of actual horse competitions, such as show jumping and dressage (in which horse and rider have to perform a series of complicated, premeditated movements and jumps). In hobby-horsing, the rider recreates these equestrian competitions while riding a stick with a fabric horse head glued on top.
The sport requires athleticism, coordination and poise, since, after all, the riders themselves are doing the jumping instead of the horses. The hobbyhorses that the riders use in competition are often handmade, complete with glued-on hair and eyes. They are given proper names. They're exchanged and sold by owners at events and through social media, some for hundreds of dollars.
Though the sport thrives on the internet and social media, volunteers organize regional competitions throughout Finland over the course of the year. The events culminate in the National Finnish Hobby Horse Championship Games, which took place in Vantaa in April. The competition, which eschews strict rules and doesn't have an official governing body, consisted of about 200 participants and over 1,000 spectators. Judges look at things like how long a rider's strides are, how high they jump, how fast they complete the course, style and posture. You can see all this in action in the video below.
A Cultural Phenomenon
Finnish filmmaker Selma Vilhunen first saw a hobby-horsing event five years ago, after a friend sent her a YouTube video. She admits that she laughed at first but was also fascinated at the intensity of the sport. She continued to do research and eventually made a documentary, which came out just before the national competition, called "Hobbyhorse Revolution." The film follows Aarniomaki and two other girls, Elsa Salo and Mariam (Aisku) Njie. A major theme of the documentary is overcoming the stigma that many of the girls who participate in the sport experience. The documentary explores their participation in the sport while dealing with struggles at school and at home.
Since the film hit the festival circuit and a slew of media outlets covered the national competition, hobby-horsing has become more mainstream in the United States. At the start of July, the Tryon International equestrian center in Mill Spring, North Carolina, will host its first hobby-horsing competition.
The equestrian world supports and encourages the sport. "We think it's simply wonderful that hobby-horsing has become a phenomenon and so popular," Fred Sundwall, the secretary general of the Equestrian Federation of Finland, told the AP.
So popular that about 10,000 people in Finland currently participate in the sport. It seems this horseplay is anything but.
jump in & join us now
Participate
We would like to introduce this fabulous new sport to Australian horse lovers, to enjoy the pleasure and freedom of spirit and imagination that riding your horse through fantastic adventures, overcoming adversaries and challenges easily riding your Hobby Horse.
Practice
Become the person to achieve the confidence, strength and power of being a great rider, trainer or creator/breeder of these special horses. OR
Bring your favourite horse or make your own. Check out the gallery of many types to choose from and patterns to help you make your own.
Realistic replicas of all the wonderful Horse Breeds throughout the world or the Mystical world of Jurassic Giants, Medieval Heroes and Fantasy world Creatures can now join you and come alive in the
HERE and NOW.
From Conventional to an Extreme
there is something for everyone.
Perform
So bring it to Real Life at your
Hobby Horse Club Events.
Where you can share and learn all about this sporting activity and learn about real horses and how they need to be cared for and trained as athletes that need to exercise just like their riders do to be their best.