March 2024 - Amber's Pony Tales Hobby Horses Coming Soon! In the Meantime...
Which of us can honestly say we’ve never showjumped around our back garden on an imaginary horse, or used a yard brush as our ‘mount’? Playing ponies was always Helen's favourite game and she could spend hours inventing horse and rider combinations for her home showjumping competitions. It fuelled her imagination and kept her physically active, but it was a game of one. How brilliant would it have been if there had been actual competitions with other pony-mad kids like her to meet and compete against?
Fast forward thirty years and enter the British Hobby Horse Competition Club, set up by Joanna Rowe in 2023 to introduce hobby horsing to the UK.
The hobby horse sport originated in Finland, where young people compete with their hobby horses in a variety of disciplines. The Finnish Hobby Horse Championship is the world’s largest hobby horse event with over 1,800 participants from both Finland and abroad taking part last year.
Joanna was inspired to bring the sport to the UK by her ten-year-old daughter, Rosie. Although Rosie is a rider of real ponies who competes in British Showjumping, she’s also a hobby horse enthusiast with a stable of ponies that go everywhere she goes, including on holiday! Joanna ran hobby horse themed birthday parties for her but Rosie spent years pleading with her to put on bigger shows with rosettes for winners.
“There were loads of kids at her school who didn’t have a pony but loved the hobby horses,” Joanna said. “So last year, while on holiday in Majorca, we decided to set up the club. We came up with the name and designed a logo, but when we got back home, I got cold feet. When was I going to have time to do this? But Rosie was insistent. She even said she’d use her birthday money to pay for the production of the logo. She was so invested in it, I had to go for it.”
Joanna has run a few shows in the North East so far and the reaction to them has been unbelievable. They’ve been a sell-out, with parents and children overwhelmed by the atmosphere and excitement of the competitions. They've also had a brilliant reaction from parents of children with autism who struggle with the noise and crowds of parties. Rosie is at all the events offering encouragement and support to the participants, helping them to feel welcome.
Seeing the response to the early shows makes Joanna emotional and it fires her passion to run these events up and down the country. And fired up is definitely the word. She’s teamed up with Amy Buckton, who makes the Buckberry hobby horses, to run the British Hobby Horse of the Year at Arena UK on 17th November and there’s other exciting news for the winter season too, to be revealed in the coming weeks. She has plans to run hobby horse games, dressage, and even one day events in the future. She’ll also be launching a membership in the summer months.
“It’s just so great for kids, and people are really seeing the benefits of it,” Joanna said. “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. Some of the kids who do it have their own pony, but many don’t and it doesn’t matter at all. It’s the perfect way for kids who are interested in ponies, but who don’t have access to them, to learn and get involved in the equestrian world.”
Joanna’s next event is almost sold out. It’s taking place on Saturday 23rd March at Richmond Equestrian Centre in North Yorkshire, with the BBC One Show coming along to film it to showcase its growing presence as a sport in the UK. There’s a range of jumping classes open to all ages, starting from 10cm up to a Puissance and Grand National, plus much more in aid of the Gemma Potts Community: face painting, raffle, sweet store, Buckberry and Shelly’s Handmade Hobby Horses, Amber’s Pony Tales author, Helen Haraldsen, brand ambassadors, plus a copy of PONY magazine for everyone and an on site cafe and bar.
For more information, future dates and to enter, go to https://horseevents.co.uk/events/?e=45590
You can also see them on social media: www.facebook.com/british.hobby.horse.competition.club/ and https://www.instagram.com/hobby_horseuk2023/
Fast forward thirty years and enter the British Hobby Horse Competition Club, set up by Joanna Rowe in 2023 to introduce hobby horsing to the UK.
The hobby horse sport originated in Finland, where young people compete with their hobby horses in a variety of disciplines. The Finnish Hobby Horse Championship is the world’s largest hobby horse event with over 1,800 participants from both Finland and abroad taking part last year.
Joanna was inspired to bring the sport to the UK by her ten-year-old daughter, Rosie. Although Rosie is a rider of real ponies who competes in British Showjumping, she’s also a hobby horse enthusiast with a stable of ponies that go everywhere she goes, including on holiday! Joanna ran hobby horse themed birthday parties for her but Rosie spent years pleading with her to put on bigger shows with rosettes for winners.
“There were loads of kids at her school who didn’t have a pony but loved the hobby horses,” Joanna said. “So last year, while on holiday in Majorca, we decided to set up the club. We came up with the name and designed a logo, but when we got back home, I got cold feet. When was I going to have time to do this? But Rosie was insistent. She even said she’d use her birthday money to pay for the production of the logo. She was so invested in it, I had to go for it.”
Joanna has run a few shows in the North East so far and the reaction to them has been unbelievable. They’ve been a sell-out, with parents and children overwhelmed by the atmosphere and excitement of the competitions. They've also had a brilliant reaction from parents of children with autism who struggle with the noise and crowds of parties. Rosie is at all the events offering encouragement and support to the participants, helping them to feel welcome.
Seeing the response to the early shows makes Joanna emotional and it fires her passion to run these events up and down the country. And fired up is definitely the word. She’s teamed up with Amy Buckton, who makes the Buckberry hobby horses, to run the British Hobby Horse of the Year at Arena UK on 17th November and there’s other exciting news for the winter season too, to be revealed in the coming weeks. She has plans to run hobby horse games, dressage, and even one day events in the future. She’ll also be launching a membership in the summer months.
“It’s just so great for kids, and people are really seeing the benefits of it,” Joanna said. “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. Some of the kids who do it have their own pony, but many don’t and it doesn’t matter at all. It’s the perfect way for kids who are interested in ponies, but who don’t have access to them, to learn and get involved in the equestrian world.”
Joanna’s next event is almost sold out. It’s taking place on Saturday 23rd March at Richmond Equestrian Centre in North Yorkshire, with the BBC One Show coming along to film it to showcase its growing presence as a sport in the UK. There’s a range of jumping classes open to all ages, starting from 10cm up to a Puissance and Grand National, plus much more in aid of the Gemma Potts Community: face painting, raffle, sweet store, Buckberry and Shelly’s Handmade Hobby Horses, Amber’s Pony Tales author, Helen Haraldsen, brand ambassadors, plus a copy of PONY magazine for everyone and an on site cafe and bar.
For more information, future dates and to enter, go to https://horseevents.co.uk/events/?e=45590
You can also see them on social media: www.facebook.com/british.hobby.horse.competition.club/ and https://www.instagram.com/hobby_horseuk2023/
March 2024 - National Equine Show
On 2nd and 3rd March, Helen attended the National Equine Show for the first time. Her stand at the show (shared by Rock Star Rocking Horse) was very well visited and her ‘Gallop Towards Your Goals’ talk was a success, much to her relief. It was lovely to meet so many of her readers who came along to say hi, and to introduce her books to new people too. It was a great experience to attend a show of this size and see the wonderful array of equestrian businesses out there.
The ‘Gallop Towards Your Goals’ talk is available for Pony Clubs / Riding Clubs / Guides / Scouts groups etc so get in touch via the contact page if you'd like to enquire about booking. It's available in-person or virtually, so wherever you are, Helen can be there!
The ‘Gallop Towards Your Goals’ talk is available for Pony Clubs / Riding Clubs / Guides / Scouts groups etc so get in touch via the contact page if you'd like to enquire about booking. It's available in-person or virtually, so wherever you are, Helen can be there!
January 2024 - Crafty Ponies Collaboration
In June 2023, Helen began work on a joint collaboration with Crafty Ponies, who make educational pony toys and accessories. They were bringing out a new product featuring foals of Britain's native breed ponies and wanted some exclusive short stories to go with them. Helen did a lot of reading and watching videos as well as speaking to owners and breed societies to ensure the stories give a flavour of the ponies history, breed characteristics and current uses in modern times. The foals and stories were launched in January 2024 at the London Toy Fair and will be available to buy direct from Crafty Ponies online shop very shortly.
January 2024 - New Book Coming in Spring / Summer 2024
Due out in the spring / summer of 2024 is Helen's next book.
Discover the extraordinary true story of Poppy and her Shetland pony, Duble, as they defy expectations and enter the competitive world of Shetland pony racing. Young readers will be captivated by their incredible journey of friendship and teamwork. Hot on the heels of her collaboration with Crafty Ponies (the native pony foals with exclusive short stories were launched in January) comes another project that Helen is delighted to be involved with. For her next book, she's teamed up with Merkisayre Sea Duble, and his owner, Lianna Dadson to share the story behind Duble and Poppy’s (Lianna’s daughter) introduction to Shetland pony racing. It’s an emotional tale and, as with her own Amber’s Pony Tales, Helen loves writing stories about real ponies and people. |
July 2023 - Twinkl Interview
In July 2023, Helen was interviewed by Adam Morris from Twinkl, an international educational publisher, producing teaching and educational materials. As an English teacher, children's author and former school librarian, the focus of the interview was very much on literacy. Helen was asked about her experience of teaching literacy and encouraging readers to pick up their books, supporting pupils who dislike reading and writing, the importance of reading and writing in everyday life and which books she recommends.
Visit the blog or watch the video below.
Visit the blog or watch the video below.