A new sport has swept across Scandinavia and has young girls jumping at the chance to ride.
This sport, which includes costume and showjumping has attracted more than 10,000 athletes and followers in Finland alone.
Hobbyhorse riders straddle a stuffed toy horse on a wooden stick complete with glued-on eyes and mane and compete in front of judges.
Next month the nation's finest riders will ride on to compete in the annual Hobbyhorse Championships near Helsinki, with other regional events throughout the year.
We initially thought this had to be a late April Fool's prank. It's not. Watch the entire clip: https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/sport/other/hobby-horsing-bizarre-new-craze-sweeping-scandinavia and the official trailer for a doco Hobbyhorse Revolution is here on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imW7EGQcJck&list=PLIZLQ9MReUlS_VUc3aNzrymkl201h482c
Posted by 1 NEWS on Sunday, April 2, 2017
While this may seem silly to some, but to these girls hobbyhorsing is everything. Look at photos of girls jumping over improbably high hurdles, horses in hand with yarn manes flying, you might almost forget that this was a toy you would play with as a kid.
The Hobbyhorse revolution is now the subject of a documentary. After coming across this galloping, jumping group of teens, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Selma Vihunen fell in love with the subculture.
"They can practice for hours and hours every day," Vilhunen says. "Some of them get really good at jumping; their capacity is enormous. The hobbyists themselves say, "˜You see these kids who can jump as high as the sky.' " said Vilhunen.
See the full trailer for the film that is in Finnish cinemas from March 31, 2017.
"Watching their flash mobs, competition and fierce defense of one another, it's impossible not to root for them to mount wooden stick horses and ride off happily into the sunset," she said.
What do you think of this new sport? Would you want to try it?
