Hobby horses to take part in show pony championship
It seemed so far-fetched that many of Horse & Hound’s readers assumed it was an April Fool’s joke. But to the delight of aspiring young riders everywhere, the British Show Pony Society (BSPS) really has introduced hobby horse riding competitions.
In the latest move to encourage an even wider age group to take up the sport, classes will be divided into two age ranges – three to six and seven to 11.
Competitors at the BSPS’s summer championships will each perform a freestyle show of no more than two minutes, with 50 marks on offer for coordination, balance, energy and body control.
Another 50 marks will be awarded for “overall performance of the show with energy and appeal”.
While plaits will be optional, riders’ toes will be required to be pointed outwards and “elegance and energy” will be the key determiners in qualifying for a hobby horse riding final.
A BSPS spokesman said: “The BSPS wanted to embrace the hobby horse craze as an addition to our fabulous children’s entertainment programme, which sets the society apart from others in providing all-round family fun.”
Under the rules each competitor must be mounted on a hobby horse and all riders must wear shoes.
Plaited or unplaited
There is no specific dress code but trainers or gym shoes should be flexible to enable toes to be pointed. “Your hobby horse can be plaited or unplaited,” state the rules, while reminding young riders that “the judge’s decision is final”.
The top three in each section will qualify for the summer championships, with a £300 voucher on offer for the winners.
The BSPS said: “We are a children’s society and, as such, it is important to ensure that we make sure our championship shows are fun for all our smaller members.
“We hope that this will raise awareness of our extensive children’s entertainment programme at both the BSPS summer and winter championships.
“All the children’s entertainment is free and includes a playbus, craft room, iBox bus, football competition, fancy dress, disco and fashion show, and parties for the adults, and enables the BSPS to stand out against other major Society shows.”
Hobby horse riding competitions are already popular in Finland, where they have been held for several years, with dozens of children taking part. The events have coaches and judges and the riders give their horses names and assign them breeds and sex.
The hobby, so to speak, has even spread to Sweden and the Netherlands, as well as Russia.
Several readers were so baffled by the announcement that Horse & Hound – the oldest equestrian weekly magazine in Britain, dating back to 1884 – even published a clarification on its website.
It stated: “This year, our April Fool story was about the earliest example of ‘matchy-matchy’ horse and rider gear, dating from about 35,000 BC.
“While most readers correctly identified this as a spoof story to mark the day, some assumed that the story published later the same day about the BSPS introducing a hobby horse championship was also an April Fool, when it was not.”
