Strange sports: Hobbyhorsing

When I first saw some videos of this I figured it was just something that some teens put on Tik-Toc for a laugh but as it turns out it is a competition that a great deal of people take very seriously. To me it seems like the dog course they do at those animal competitions but no, this is a real sport with real monetary rewards and even has a championship circuit with hundreds of participants.

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Apparently the idea actually began in Finland but now stretches to many places around the world, including the United States. People gather in arenas for various competitions and there is zero percent irony involved. The participants take it very seriously and are graded in a manner similar to actual equestrian competitions.

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I can't even imagine how someone gets involved in a sport like this and understand even less how it is that a person decides that they are going to go pro in it. I probably had a hobby horse as a child seeing as how it is just a stick with a horse head on top of it.

To me this sport seems to be more of encouraging mental problems than an actual sport but who am I to judge? Just do whatever you like I guess!

When I looked up the rules for how the sport is judged it turns out the rules are very similar to events that involve real horses. Contestants are judged on how they trot, their gait, the "horse" itself, and how they perform with the obstacles.

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There are multiple age divisions, which hopefully stop at adult age because then the furries would get involved.

If this wasn't silly enough, there are designer hobby horses that are highly sought after that cost thousands of dollars. In one particularly funny situation, one of the competitors was accused of "doping" and was tested. The little girl, thankfully tested negative for PED's and was just a seriously energetic kid.

While I think it is flat-out weird, I'm not gonna tell people what they should be interested in. I think that if you kid wants to do literally anything that gets them away from their I-Pad then this should be embraced.

So if you have a fascination with horses but can't afford one, here is your chance to be in the spotlight!