A WEST Cumbrian author is set to attend an event held by the British Hobby Horse Competition Club.

Helen Haraldsen will attend the hobby horse event which is set to take place at Richmond Equestrian Centre in North Yorkshire on Saturday, March 23.

A 'hobby horse' is a toy horse made out of a stick with a horse's head at one end. The hobby horse sport originated in Finland, where young people compete with their hobby horses in a variety of disciplines.

In 2023, the Finnish Hobby Horse Championship attracted 1,800 participants from all over the world.

Now the sport is set to gallop into the UK and Helen is hoping to introduce hobby horsing to Cumbria by offering hobby horse introduction sessions to schools.

In addition, Helen is planning to have the characters from her Amber's Pony Tales stories transformed into hobby horses. 

The UK event, which is will feature a range of jumping classes and be filmed by the BBC One Show, is the brainchild of Middlesbrough mum Joanne who was inspired to bring the event to UK by her ten-year-old daughter.

She said: "It’s just so great for kids, and people are really seeing the benefits of it.

"It gets them active and off screens, it’s brilliant fun and encourages imaginative play, they can make friends with other people who share their interests, it develops confidence and it’s open to anyone."