By: Sam Robinson
Do you enjoy the feeling of galloping around on a horse, but you’re not a real fan of the animal? Hobby horse riding might just be the sport for you.
Hobby horse riding is a legitimate competitive sport, that is growing in Australia.
It involves competitors racing around a course on top of a stick with a horse’s head. That sentence may not be selling it to you, but as Coralie Kedzlie from Hobby Horse Riders says, it is a lot of fun.
“On hobby horses, we can do most of the things on real horses, without the mess and without worrying about being kicked or thrown off,” Coralie said.
“Many horse lovers at an early age began riding around on hobby horses but these days it’s not restricted to littlies, it’s being taken up by teenagers and adults alike, and a lot more serious fun is being had.”
It’s a sport that has to be seen to be believed, and gained new attention after it was featured as a challenge in a season of The Amazing Race Australia.
Coralie said it can be quite competitive in a number of ways.
“We can compete in dressage, or jumping, or mounted games, cross country, you can go out on trail rides.
“Most of the things you can do on a real horse with four legs, you can do on hobby horses.”
Hobby Horse Riders is an initiative of Horses and Humans that provides equine therapy and horse skills to people in many different walks of life.
“Particularly the therapeutic work we do is for people who are more vulnerable in the community: victims of domestic violence, children who may have challenges such as autism or anxiety or depression,” Coralie said.
“The [real] horses are the therapists, and reflect the feelings of the clients. They help them to see things in a different perspective, and realise there is a life beyond those traumas and troubles.”
Watch an example of the Finnish Hobbyhorse Championships here
Article supplied with thanks to Hope Media.