TikTok has a tendency to give life to strange trends, from the odd machinations of HorrorTok to the various dangerous trends that keep kids interested, and parents terrified.
There’s plenty of entertainment born on the site that’s far from the deadly potential of “Chroming,” or mixing lethal chemicals, thankfully, and perhaps the most innocent trend on the app is hobbyhorsing. Its a bit adolescent, thoroughly wholesome, and more than a bit strange, but its taking off on the app — and in the real world — among young people across the globe.
Its also the subject of widespread ridicule from the occasionally cheeky TikTok masses, many of whom feel it is a childish past time that doesn’t deserve to be considered a sport. Those that participate very much see it as a grueling athletic feat, however, and they’re working hard to prove their point.
What is hobbyhorsing, and why does TikTok hate it so much?
As a fully recovered horsey girl, I was floored by hobbyhorsing when I first caught wind of it. Not because I regret the missed opportunity to partake, but because even I, among the strangest, most ostracized, fringe people at my entire school, wouldn’t come within 10 feet of the overtly embarrassing trend.
No hate to the hobbyhorsing masses out there, just know you are far braver souls than I. Many a time I sauntered onto a stage with full confidence, despite an atrocious script, painful set pieces, and my unmatched inability to sing, but I wouldn’t be caught dead competing with a wooden horse between my legs.
That’s not the case for a surprising number of hobbyhorsing enthusiasts, however, who treat the practice as a legtimate competitive sport. For the uninformed, hobbyhorsing involves most of the aspects of a typical equestrian competition, minus the living, breathing horses. Instead, hobbyhorse participants — often people who live in cities or areas where real horses are inaccessible — take on various events themselves, with nothing but a stick horse to aid them.
The sport reportedly originated in Finland, and eventually spread to the rest of the world. It sees participants of various ages — but most commonly children — tackle similar challenges to those seen in rodeos or equestrian tournaments, hopping over barricades of various sizes, traversing obstacle courses, and prancing prettily around school gyms, sprawling fields, and stadiums.
The trend has become much more popular in recent years — despite its inception in 2002 — and its spread to TikTok has earned it equal (or near-equal) parts criticism and interest. Plenty of people are singularly passionate about the growing sport, but they’re often met with ridicule for partaking in something seen as childish and silly. It’s made even worse when they attempt to showcase the sometimes grueling requirements of a hobbyhorsing competition, which most people simply see as an admission of poor stamina.
One such video recently went viral on the video-sharing app, and saw a hobbyhorsing competitor proclaim that she was left “almost throwing up, dizzy, shaking” following her dressage routine. The comment section shows just how little support the hobbyhorsing community has on TikTok, as people arrived to deliver hilarious but scathing takeaways about the odd sport.
A lot of what they do in hobbyhorsing competitions appears to essentially be hurdles with an extra hurdle (the wooden horse) thrown in. Videos of the sport largely showcase girls and women, as few boys or men appear to participate, leaping nimbly over obstacles. Its impressive, to be sure, but might come across better at a track meet.
Regardless of the thoughts shared by the web at large, hobbyhorsing is something people are passionate about, and its really not cool to disparage people over something that brings them joy. People who participate are getting out and competing in an athletic competition against other horse enthusiasts, keeping fit in the process, and making friends among like-minded peers. Maybe its the internet making us all bitter, but at the end of the day the sport may look silly — and many of us are far too self-conscious to take part — but that doesn’t make it worthy of our mockery.