With no fewer than 300 riders and 1.500 spectators, Frankfurt has hosted Germany’s first-ever hobby horse championships. The activity has become increasingly popular since the coronavirus pandemic.

Hobbyists horse around in Frankfurt

Last week, hundreds of youngsters and 20 adults headed to Frankfurt to compete in Germany’s first-ever hobby horse championship.

Showing off their jumping, style jumping and dressage, the competitors cantered around a gymnasium during the two-day event. Not for the faint-hearted, the activity involves athletic and gymnastic challenges all while holding a plush horse head attached to a threatening stick.

“Hobby horsing just gives me self-confidence and I just enjoy doing it with other people,” 15-year-old competitor Max Gohde from Lower Saxony told AP. “And now there’s also this atmosphere here, where everyone is just happy for you. And I think that’s just really cool.”

Hobby horsing is on the rise worldwide 

While hobby horsing has its first origins in Finland and Norway around 20 years ago, its popularity is only just beginning to pick up speed internationally.

With further interest in the sport peaking during the coronavirus pandemic, from the US to Australia, Germany’s Hobby Horsing Association now boasts 5.000 active members in 230 local clubs (Vereine) across the country, after just one year since it was started.

Speaking to AP, competitor Britaa Skott pointed out that the sport allows people who like horses to be active with their passion, even if they cannot afford or have the equipment and space to have a living, breathing steed.

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