The Hobbyhorse Championships: Finland's Most Earnest Sport

Sat, 15 Jun 2024 09:00:00 +0000

At a Finnish sports hall you will find a full showjumping arena — poles, rails, a proper course, a judging table, an anxious hush before each round — and the horses are made of fabric and a stick. This is the Finnish Hobbyhorse Championships, and if your first instinct is to laugh, hold that thought, because the athleticism on display will stop you doing it twice.

I cover loud rooms and physical crowds for a living, and I came to hobbyhorsing the way most outsiders do — through a viral clip, ready to smirk. What I found instead was one of the most quietly impressive subcultures in the Nordic region, a homegrown Finnish phenomenon run largely by and for teenage girls, built on real craft, real fitness, and a startling amount of nerve. It deserves to be written about with the same respect I would give any scene that means something to the people inside it.

Youth Culture on vo.rs

The Hobbyhorse Championships: Finland's Most Earnest Sport