The hobby horse movement is gaining momentum in Britain – with more than 100 people already entered for a championship show this autumn.
Arena UK is to host the first Hobby Horse of the Year event on 17 November, organised by the British Hobby Horse Competition Club, and entries have been pouring in. Joanna Rowe, who founded the club as her daughter Rosie wanted to compete with her hobby horse, told H&H the sport is not yet as big as it is in mainland Europe but it is growing.
“It is happening!” she said. “Some equestrians think it’s ridiculous but others are more open-minded and I think the more people see it, the more it’ll be accepted.”
Joanna’s and Rosie’s is a horsey family, and Rosie competes as a junior at British Showjumping events as well as with her hobby version and her own two feet.
“If she doesn’t have her hobby horse, she’s quite lost,” Joanna said. “She takes it on holiday – we’ve had to check it in as extra baggage – and she was always going to the stables with it.”
Joanna said Rosie always felt comfortable with her hobby horse at the yard, but that if she takes it elsewhere, “people look twice”.
“So she was on at me to start a club; she wanted to be somewhere with children who had the same hobby,” she said. “I said I didn’t have time but she was adamant she was going to do it, with or without me. So we started running shows.”
These have proved popular, Joanna said; she estimates she is sent 10 messages every day from people asking about events and thanking her for running them.
“It will be absolutely massive here, like it is in Europe, it’s just getting the word out,” she said. “We had coverage recently on the BBC; it was so important it came across right, so people know they can do these competitions.”
Joanna’s plans included going into schools and spreading the word as much as possible, as well as the event at Arena UK.
“They’ve been absolutely brilliant,” she said. “People can qualify by coming to our shows; it might be a bit overwhelming at a venue like that for kids but if they’ve been to a show first, they’ll get an idea.”
Entrants to other companies’ hobby horse shows can also qualify, Joanna added, if they are held at legitimate venues and using appropriate jumps.
“It’s been crazy; I had two little girls crying their eyes out saying they never thought they’d be able to go to Arena UK,” she said. “I’ve had lots of enquiries about tradestands; hopefully they’ll help create a really buzzy atmosphere.”
The plan is to have dressage as well as jumping – and the club’s famous puissance wall – at the championship; Joanna said she will start very simply but then move on to proper tests – and she said she has had British Dressage judges volunteering to judge them. The club will also have a stand at Horse of the Year Show in October.
“You can never quite explain how electric the atmosphere is at the shows till you’re there,” she added. “It’s massive how much it will grow.”
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