No horsin' around: Girl power runs rampant through hobby horse craze in Michigan

Almont — They’ve heard all the jokes and jabs: how they need to grow up, how they should find a real horse to ride, how they look like a sketch from “Monty Python’s Flying Circus.”

But the 280 girls attending the second annual U.S. Hobby Horse Championship had no time for embarrassment. They were too busy having a ball. Also, who is Monty Python?

They rode stick horses as they competed in equestrian-like events last week at a middle school in this farm town 45 miles north of Detroit.

This was no trifle. The riders raced around barrels, leaped over 4-foot hurdles and pranced rhythmically to music.




https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2025/08/08/hobby-horse-championship-almont-michigan-riding-stick-horses/84433122007/