What organizers called “the biggest hobby horse event in the world” took place Saturday in Finland’s western town of Seinajoki, which hosted the annual national championships for the sport that simulates the gymnastic elements of real-life horseback riding. HELSINKI - The 400 contestants at a sports arena in Finland show jumped, barrel raced and pranced in a dressage competition. Teens and young girls, mostly 10-to-18-years-old galloped, jumped and pranced with their homemade stuffed horse heads on a wooden stick in the physically demanding competition as over 2,500 spectators watched, Elviira Sarakoski of the Finnish Hobby Horse Association told The Associated Press. Competitor Aquata Kirveskari, 19, said hobby-horsing “is a sport for everybody, but the boys haven’t been participating so much yet. “At real horse stables, you always have adults telling you what is right and how things should be done.

Source: thestar June 15, 2019 18:32 UTC