Eleven-year-old Mahala Garcia has loved horses for as long as she can remember — from the majestic animals she rides at her uncle’s farm in Smithville, Texas, to the make-believe ones she gallops through her dining room in Schertz.
Garcia, who is entering sixth grade this school year, participates in hobby horsing, a sport modeled after English equestrian disciplines in which competitors use hobby horses, or stick horses, for activities such as show jumping.
According to the Hobby Horse Association in Finland, hobby horsing’s country of origin, more than 10,000 people, mostly girls between the ages of 10 and 18, are estimated to participate in the sport worldwide.
Garcia discovered hobby horsing three years ago after seeing a video online. She was immediately fascinated by the sport. This weekend, she will compete at the third annual U.S. Hobby Horse Championships in Brighton, Michigan. This marks her second consecutive appearance at the national competition.
“Horses are my favorite animal, so hobby horsing looked like something very out-of-the-ordinary that I could get interested in,” Garcia told the San Antonio Report during a recent interview. “I just started doing it and never stopped.”
Horse of a Different Color
Garcia was about five years old when she rode her first living, breathing horse at her uncle’s farm. Since then, horses have been a big part of her life. She takes weekly riding lessons at a stable in Converse and goes to horse riding camps.
At the hobby horsing nationals this year, Garcia will compete in the events known as barrel racing (galloping around barrels) and hunters (jumping over a series of obstacles).
Along with her mother, Meghon Gibson, Garcia will be joined in Michigan by Zoe — her brown-and-white hobby horse outfitted with a purple ear bonnet. She also owns three other hobby horses: Milo, Sandstorm and Nemo, the latter of which Garcia and her grandmother stitched themselves.
“With a hobby horse, you’re the legs of the horse,” Garcia said. “It’s just the head and the stick, so you’re doing all the work.”
Garcia practices hobby horsing inside her home because it’s much too hot to do it under the Texas sun. Plus, the backyard’s uneven terrain makes for a rough landing when she jumps over obstacles.
Even when she doesn’t have her hobby horse with her, Garcia is always jumping over something.
“She’ll find anything and everything and make it into a jump,” Gibson said. “My house has become an arena.”
Beyond Playtime
The first time Garcia showed interest in hobby horsing, her mother embraced the idea but thought it might just be a phase. She hadn’t heard about the sport and initially didn’t understand it when she did more research. Still, she wanted to be as supportive as possible.
When they attended nationals for the first time last year, Gibson was surprised by the number of young girls who had gathered to compete. She was grateful her daughter had found a place where she felt accepted, especially since hobby horsing is often mocked online because of its unconventional nature.
“Everyone [at nationals] is so encouraging of one another,” Gibson said. “It’s just a matter of people having an open mind. A lot of people see hobby horsing as child cosplay or ‘playtime,’ but it really is a sport.”
Garcia considers hobby horsing a sport, too, but usually keeps her love for it to herself. She’s told some of her horse-riding friends about it but doesn’t share it with most people.
“There’s a lot of hate because people don’t understand it,” she said. “When people ask me what my favorite sport is, I just say volleyball and horse riding. I don’t want to get bullied for it.”
Last year on April Fool’s Day, the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo published an Instagram post where they joked that they had made hobby horsing a new rodeo event. Some followers reacted with negative comments like “That’s a disgrace to the rodeo community and industry” and “Don’t hobby horse my rodeo.”
Despite the criticism, Garcia hasn’t let other people’s opinions diminish her enthusiasm for hobby horsing. Instead, she hopes more people will give it a chance before judging it.
“I hope more people get to know it and not think it’s weird,” she said. “I want more people to do hobby horsing, so we could build a very big community in this area.”
