Giddy up at the Grand Nationals

While some laugh and find it funny, hobby horses have become a quietly growing sport in Australia and across the world, with the first ever Queensland State Championships having taken place on July 5.

Mia clearing over a metre jump.

Thirty competitors from across the region joined, and others came from Victoria, Sydney and northern New South Wales.

Looks can be deceiving, as this sport actually involves a lot of athleticism, with showjumping competitors clearing over metre high jumps while mounted on a stick with a horse head.

Dressage competitors, on the other hand, need to have great co-ordination and memory to impress the judges.

Hobby Horse Riders Inc was properly founded two years ago, after covid put a halt on original plans.

Founder Mathilde Sormani said the idea came after seeing Youtube videos of the sport from around the world.

“Me and Coralee (co-founder) saw it and had the idea to introduce it to Australia because it seemed like such fun,” she said.

“We thought ‘yeah, we’d like to do that’.”

The hobby horse pastime has actually been practiced informally for decades, but only recently has started growing as a proper sport with clubs, training and competitions.

“I remember when we raced around the kitchen and as a dressage competitor, I remember walking around with the vacuum cleaner trying to memorise my dressage test,” Ms Sormani said.

After the state championships last weekend, the plan is to go onto nationals in December and, eventually, head to Finland next year to represent Australia in the largest hobby horse championship worldwide.

More than 20 countries participated last year, drawing a crowd of 1800 people.

More info at https://hobbyhorseriders.com/