Kája @me_and_newboy_kht
She is a young woman and a wonderful trainer, judge, and commentator. She has a lovely voice, and children adore her at competitions. At home in her stable, she has her real horse, Newboy, and for Hobby Horsing training she has Ellinka and the mare Dark. She only discovered Hobby Horsing as an adult, and we wanted to hear about her journey.
What is your horse world like?
I was drawn to horses from a very young age, but I couldn’t spend time with them. I remember playing horses with my younger sister — leading each other around, jumping over sofas, and things like that. In the end, I only started Western riding when I was 18. I began at a club where I became passionate about natural horsemanship and started competing in Western riding. Later, I bought my first horse, an Appaloosa called Ellie, who became the model for my Hobby Horse Ellie. At the moment I’ve only had my Haflinger, Newboy, for a short time, so we’ll see where our path takes us.
My first encounter with Hobby Horsing
My first encounter was actually completely by chance. For the second year now I’ve been helping at the Seesee Cup, and Dráža knows she can turn to me with anything. So she came up with Hobby Horsing competitions at the Night Grand Prix at Farm Ptýrov. That was the first time I came into contact with Hobby Horsing. Then competitions started with the Mladá Boleslav Hobby Horsing club, followed by the Czech Hobby Horsing Association, and by then I was in it up to my ears. I completely fell in love with Hobby Horsing.
Trainer, judge, commentator? Which do you prefer?
Each role has something special about it, and I enjoy them all. I have to say that I really love training camps — they always recharge me with positive energy. Judging, on the other hand, can sometimes be very demanding. I have a very strict eye, and occasionally there’s a parent who makes that role, let’s say, less pleasant for me, but that comes with any job. Fortunately, the good experiences outweigh the bad ones, and I leave most competitions feeling positive. And as for commentating? I really enjoy it. I can manage plenty of other things at the same time, such as chatting with competitors or parents, and occasionally giving a bit of advice.
Parallels between real horses and Hobby Horsing
I thought about this question for a while, and my conclusion actually amused me. Quite a lot of people believe that even riding isn’t a sport, and the same is said about Hobby Horsing. People often criticise what they themselves can’t do. 😁 But seriously, both riding and Hobby Horsing require a lot of time and hard work if you want to achieve something. It means hours spent training so that we can accomplish our goals. Both require endurance, determination, and of course enthusiasm, which there is truly plenty of in the arenas.
What makes Hobby Horsing meaningful?
Life is beautiful when we fill it with what we love. At every event I see so many happy faces. I see young people who aren’t sitting at a PC or on their phones, but enthusiastic girls and boys doing sport. And if something can get today’s generation up from their phones, then it makes a lot of sense — all the more so when they do it with joy and because they love it. Hobby Horsing is a sport like any other.
We wish you lots of success and constant positive energy.
Kája, may everything continue to go well with your horses ♡.
