16-Year-Old Dubuque Native Gwen Maiers Is Hobby Horse Champion

[GWEN MAIERS] I quit hobby horsing. It was about when I started freshman year of high school. I was just getting whispers in the halls. Just that feeling of people are staring at me. I would hear people say weird horse girl, because that's kind of like the stigma, I guess. No one ever wants to be called names or know that they're being talked about behind their back. I didn't outright quit or say I was quitting on any of my social medias. I'm more just like faded out of it. One of the girls who organizes the US championships had messaged me saying, hey, we're doing the first ever championships in Michigan. We'd love for you to be there. And I, I hadn't touched a hobby horse in like six months, but something in my brain when I saw that text just clicked like, why did I stop doing this? You know, I missed it so much. And so as soon as I got home, I picked up my horses, I put my stable back up and I started training. 

[GWEN MAIERS] I have 17 hobby horses. I have my two original horses, which are actually just sticks from outside that I glued yarn on because I didn't have a real hobby horse at the time, but now I have nine main horses and that would be Goldie. Terho. Domino. Robin. Kara. Aura. Freya. Luna and Cleo. 

[GWEN MAIERS] Today we are at Swiss Valley Park, and today we're going to be doing a smaller hobby horse competition. 

[GWEN MAIERS] Hobby horsing was started in Finland. It's a competitive sport where we mimic riding a horse. It was about 2020. I was really interested in like the model Schleich horses, so I would always watch videos about it on like YouTube. And after one of those videos stopped playing a hobby horse video popped up and started playing and I was just hooked instantly. I just thought it was the coolest thing. 

[GWEN MAIERS] Someone wanted me to prove that hobby horsing is a sport, I would give them my Apple Watch and show them that in 30 minutes hobby horsing I burn more calories than 30 minutes of riding a real horse, which real horse riding is in the Olympics, it's considered a sport, so I wouldn't see why something that burns just as many calories isn't also sport. It's a lot of physical activity. 

[GWEN MAIERS] We have different gaits like walk, trot, canter, just like a real horse, and the trot is very similar to running. And the canter is also similar to running. And we also jump like a hurdler would. So I would say we're very closely related with dancing and track and field combined. 

[GWEN MAIERS] At the first championships, which was in 2024, I won the two foot show jumping category and the two foot hunter jumper category. Then last year's championships in 2025, I won the flat class category. 

[GWEN MAIERS] And then most recently and most excitingly, I've been to Finland to compete. I went to like what we would call the World Championships, the Finnish Hobby Horse championships.

[GWEN MAIERS] Heading to the train station. 

[GWEN MAIERS] It's the biggest event. There was about 500 competitors. There's thousands and thousands of spectators or hobby horsers that maybe didn't get into a class.

[KIM MAIERS] Gwen has been a person who has unapologetically done this very confidently, very joyously.

[CHRIS MAIERS] I'm kind of blown away. It doesn't seem real, I guess. I've never had to deal with, like, “celebrity status” and she has that. Over in Finland, this girl from Slovenia, 4000 miles plus away from where we're at, knows my daughter and is inspired by her. And it's kind of overwhelming to really think about. And that's just what the beauty of what this has brought to us. You know, she has friends from all over the world.

[KIM MAIERS] What's probably been the most fun and prideful for me as a parent is just her confidence with it and the fact that she's instilled this confidence in other hobby horsers.

[CHRIS MAIERS] It's not like a cutthroat competition. Everybody is cheering each other on, which is so awesome to see the sportsmanship.

[GWEN MAIERS] I don't feel the need that I have to win, and I have to show that, you know, I'm still good. I know I'm still good, but I feel like my mind set has changed from being the one who has to win to being the one who, like, wants to be surrounded by people that look up to me because I have big social media pages, so I have a lot of girls who look up to me that have like said, oh, I've started hobby horsing because of you. And that one just really touches my heart because, you know, I love the sport so much, so I'm glad that it touches others and makes them want to do it. 

[GWEN MAIERS] My mindset is just telling me now that I don't have to win, but rather I want to be surrounded by people and lifting them up too. I would say, my number one piece of advice for people who want to get into hobby horsing or are, as my parents say, hobby horse curious, just get out there, go on YouTube. There's lots of fun videos. Get inspired by others, you know, take inspiration when you're making jumps or you're making your own horse for the first time. You know, have fun with it.