(14 Sep 2024)
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Frankfurt - 14 September 2024
1. Various of high jumping competition underway at first German Hobby Horse Championships
2. Max Gohde, 15, competitor from Gifhorn, jumping over 1.40, winning part of competition
3. SOUNDBITE (German) Max Gohde, 15, competitor from Gifhorn, performing since 2020:
“Hobby horsing just gives me self-confidence and I just enjoy doing it with other people. And now there's also this atmosphere here, where everyone is just happy for you. And I think that's just really cool.”
4. Various of dressage portion of competition
5. Sign reading (German): “German Hobby Horsing Association”
6. SOUNDBITE (German) Andreas Karasek, Managing Director of Public Relations for German Hobby Horsing Association:
“So this is actually the first German championship that we're hosting today, today and tomorrow, 14 and 15 September. It was the wish of the community. And the current status is that we have about 5,000 active hobby horsers in Germany and 230 clubs nationally.”
7. Various of dressage
8. Young girl with wooden stick horse
9. SOUNDBITE (German) Andreas Karasek, Managing Director of Public Relations for German Hobby Horsing Association:
“Of course, when you see it like that, it looks funny at first. In fact, it really is a strenuous sport. It's a mixture of athletics and gymnastics, and you need to be in good shape for it.”
10. Wide of time jumping competition underway
11. Display reading (German): “Germany's first hobby horsing championship”
12. Time jumping competition underway
13. SOUNDBITE (German) Andreas Karasek, Managing Director of Public Relations for German Hobby Horsing Association:
“It's actually predominantly a girls' sport. You see girls and women the most. But we also have boys and the numbers are increasing now.”
14. Audience and athletes watching
15. Close of t-shirt reading (English): “Hobby Horsing Augsburg”
16. Dressage competition underway
17. Audience and athletes watching
18. SOUNDBITE (German) Felicia Walter, 18, Wiesbaden, visitor and hobby horsing fan, who wants to take part in the championship next year:
“And it used to be that we were laughed at for it. But when you're part of a larger group, I think it always works and especially now, when you see something like that, you get a feeling of togetherness.”
19. Various of competition
20. SOUNDBITE (German) Britta Skott, 46, Bad Schwalbach, administrative officer, has practiced hobby horsing for three years:
“I think it's incredibly fun. It's a very versatile sport that trains a lot of things. And you can practically live out your passion for horses without having to sit on real horses.”
21. Various of winners celebrating one portion of competition
STORYLINE:
Germany's first hobby horsing championship gallops through Frankfurt this weekend, with hundreds of young riders competing in time jumping, style jumping and dressage on their wooden stick horses.

Roughly 300 riders — mostly youngsters, but there are about 20 adults enrolled — were expected to canter around a gymnasium Saturday and Sunday, watched by 1,500 spectators.

The competition is part of a growing wave of hobby horsing events internationally: the United States and Australia also held their first championships this year.

The events stemmed from a grassroots movement in Finland, where riders trotted their hobby horses through Nordic forests more than 20 years ago.











AP Video shot by Daniel Niemann

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