Finnish hobbyhorsing

[GreyMane]

Stumbled on this the other day and it did rather blow my mind.
https://www.thehobbyhorse.fi/videos/

There's a Finnish championship... and a book

https://www.thehobbyhorse.fi/videos/

 

[cobgoblin]

Umm.. They jump well.
Is it very boring in Finland?

 

[Caol Ila]

The Fins are onto something. Cheaper and less stress than a real one. What's not to like?

 

[Keith_Beef]

Is there a perfume added to make them smell like real horses?

 

[KEK]

Lol! Wonder how they judge that .. some of those jumps are high!

 

[1523679]

That’s absolutely brilliant ? thanks so much for sharing!

Kudos to the “riders”. Getting over those jumps with a broomstick jammed between your legs doesn’t look easy!

Hobby horses definitely have several advantages over the real thing ... I bet mucking out is pretty quick ...

 

[Quigleyandme]

Jeez, I couldn’t get over some of those fences on a real horse. ?

 

[PapaverFollis]

Incredible. I love collective crazy. I mean probably objectively less crazy than real horses to be completely fair. But pretty erm... niche.

 

[fiwen30]

Every now and again I forget the professional hobbyhorsing is a Thing, and then I’m reminded again and it much improves my day! ?

 

[hock]

I would have loved this as a kid and would have avoided me fashioning bridles out of string for dogs and tiring “reins” to the handles of my bike to steer.

 

[Carrottom]

Distinct lack of spooky fillers ?

 

[Caol Ila]

Sarah Nir's new book 'Horse Crazy' (it's excellent.... you all should read it) has a chapter about Breyer horses and Breyer shows. She writes about going to BreyerFest, the biggest Breyer horse show in the US, and it's organized like a real horse show with classes and heats and so on. There are 'halter' classes, 'performance' classes, and so on, where all the identical model horses show their paces, perfectly immobile. Sarah is understandably dubious of this, but after spending some time at the show and talking to people, she comes away with an appreciation and admiration for adults (and kids) who can just play in a totally un-selfconscious way.

When I was around 11/12-ish, I too went to a few Breyer horse shows. The toy shop in Boulder that sold Breyers put them on. Myself and my best pal bundled our horses up and we would spend all day on the lawn/carpark, which had been converted into a Breyer show ring. The classes were divided by breed and discipline. It was actually a lot of fun, pretending your plastic horses were real horses, especially for little girls who did not have real ones. Breyer had created a model of a BLM mustang who made it to GP dressage, and he was actually local, so his owners trailered him in for a little while, and he got pet by adoring fans. He was the only real horse on site. A very kind, patient chap.

I stopped playing with Breyers the following year, when I got a real horse. But the Breyer horse shows go on. Admittedly, several of the people Sarah Nir talked to at BreyerFest confessed that they loved Breyers and Breyer showing because they could not afford actual horses. Others didn't care and just enjoyed it for its own sake.

 

[PapaverFollis]

Fun fact. I was on the way to a model horse show with my long suffering father (who had had to get up early to transport his eccentric daughter and a bunch of plastic horses to some even more eccentric woman's house in Northumberland...) when we heard on the radio that Princess Diana had died. One of those moment where "everyone remembers where they were when the hear it"... and that's what I have to tell people if it ever comes up in conversation. ?

 

[ycbm]

I would have loved this as a kid and would have avoided me fashioning bridles out of string for dogs and tiring “reins” to the handles of my bike to steer.

You didn't do it as a kid ? ? We had a course of jumps on the green outside the houses. Much smaller than that though.

 

[DressageCob]

I find it weird. I must confess, I don't find it cute or whimsical or anything like that. I just find it weird. Something about it makes me feel very uncomfortable, especially when I see videos of adults doing it. Even worse when I watched an interview of a woman talking about breeding and bloodlines...for a wooden stick with a plush horse's head on the end. It's like collective insanity.

 

[Tarragon]

We used to play "horses" all the time in the playground, with one of you being the "horse" and the other being the "rider". I used to love being a naughty pony!
It looks like you can buy as much bling for your toy horse as you can for the real thing, so that is no different.
Those jumps were big, so perhaps a fun way to keep fit. Not for me though!

 

[9tails]

You didn't do it as a kid ? ? We had a course of jumps on the green outside the houses. Much smaller than that though.

I could have turned professional, the amount of hours I put into this between the ages of 6 and 11.

 

[ester]

Tarragon we did the same and had a 'bit' and reins out of some washing line lol.

Model horses are definitely not identical

a recent entry

They can never get their jumping positions right though, I want to go round adjusting lower legs

 

[Nasicus]

Checked out a few of the videos on the website, a hobby that encourages exercise, crafting and doing what you love in spite of what others think? It gets my thumbs up for sure! I know I'd be puffing after doing a hobbyhorse dressage lesson, but then I am woefully unfit!

 

[Errin Paddywack]

We used to build jumping courses in the garden but we didn't bother with hobby horses. Weren't allowed to put jumps on the lawn so did it on the concrete path round the house. Somehow none of us did ourselves any real damage.

 

[TotalMadgeness]

I loved my hobby horses. I had a stable of them and used the lawn as an arena! Made out of old socks, wool and buttons. Happy days.

 

[MidChristmasCrisis]

Who d have thought me and my friends creating jumps from parents gardening tools could have set me off to the hobbyhorse championship....if I’d kept it up instead of using the real thing.

 

[Snowfilly]

Tarragon we did the same and had a 'bit' and reins out of some washing line lol.

Model horses are definitely not identical

a recent entry

They can never get their jumping positions right though, I want to go round adjusting lower legs

I follow an American lady who’s heavily involved in model horse showing, she paints, customises and makes loads of handmade tack for her models and the performance classes are judged on fit of the tack, how the model is shaped etc - you provide documentation from a real show to show how close you can get.

I saw a recent showjumping entry that was marked down because the model was leading on the wrong leg for the turn it was positioned on to the model fence.

And there’s the scene classes like this vet surgery one, where it’s all about creativity. My favourite one was a model set up of the canyon ride scene in The Man from Snowy River.

Fascinating hobby with some really skilled model makers and craftspeople involved.

 

[1523679]

I loved my hobby horses. I had a stable of them and used the lawn as an arena! Made out of old socks, wool and buttons. Happy days.

I was inspired by a children’s book about odd sock horses - an odd sock would go to a special land where the odd sock horses yearningly roamed barren plains in their herds, forever seeking their sock-mate.

I do wonder how much long-term psychological damage that book did.

 

[Caol Ila]

I was inspired by a children’s book about odd sock horses - an odd sock would go to a special land where the odd sock horses yearningly roamed barren plains in their herds, forever seeking their sock-mate.

I do wonder how much long-term psychological damage that book did.

Is that where all my socks have gone?????

 

[1523679]

Is that where all my socks have gone?????

Yup. Roaming. In herds. With string manes and button eyes ?

 

[thefarsideofthefield]

They take it so seriously ! I could kind of go with the jumping , but it was the flicky feet and the pointy toes in the dressage that did it for me ( I think I might have actually weed myself a little bit ) . But I can totally believe that this is a pastime for people who can't afford the real thing because , let's face it , if that was you or me those classes would've involved a lot more bad behaviour - refusals , running out , tanking off , napping , spooking or even , god forbid , the one we all dread , stopping in the middle of your test for a pee ( or worse !).
And what of their HH forum ? What world of weirdness would that be ? Lots of lameness related issues I would imagine ( ' Don't panic - it's probably just a twisted ankle . I dislocated my knee in a Puissance and bounced back just fine . Paracetemol and a few days chair rest should do it ')
and Shoeing - ' Flat , Cuban , kitten , stiletto or barefoot ?'
Clipping -' Legs off - but I'd leave the saddle patch on if I were you ' .
Loading - ' Walk towards the ramp purposefully and , if that doesn't work , get someone behind with a chainsaw .'
Saddlery - ' I always , always use a pad .'
Legal - ' Loan agreement gone horribly wrong ' . ' Nasty kick in the collecting ring - who's responsible ? ' Not suitable for a novice .'
Veterinary - 'Sudocrem is soothing and keeps the flies off .'
OMG - I think I may have found my new favourite world ...….

 

[hobo]

Not just Finland it is popular in the USA. Tyron where they held WEG holds a big hobby horse comp!!

 

[GreyMane]

Is there a perfume added to make them smell like real horses?

After seeing in the "stable" clip that they have sawdust beds and feed bowls, I did wonder how realistic that bit got... plasticine poo, perchance... rubbed all over the greys, naturally

 

[GreyMane]

I would have loved this as a kid and would have avoided me fashioning bridles out of string for dogs and tiring “reins” to the handles of my bike to steer.

Wow. Steering your bike with reins, did you manage to retain all your teeth ? Kudos if you did