ASI Intramural Sports will host its first-ever hobby horse competition in collaboration with ASI Events on Feb. 23.
According to ASI’s website, the event will be held in the Cal Poly Recreation Center Main Gym (BLDG 43) from 7 to 9 p.m. and is free to attend for students with a PolyCard.
The hobby-horsing event will consist of various competitions using prop horses, free food and “lots of fun prizes,” according to the Rec Center interim assistant director Nick White.
White said the event will “be open to anyone within the Cal Poly community to participate” and encourages students to come to try something new as either a participant or a spectator.
The energy is “going to be electric,” White said.
According to ASI marketing student assistant Meghan Day, those participating in the event can choose to compete independently or in teams ranging from two to four people. The event will consist of four different leagues for participants to compete in: team relay, independent relay, team performance and independent performance.
“No hobby horse experience is required,” Day said.
Individual and team performances will be 90 seconds long for the performance competitions and participants are free to choose their music, according to Day.
The relay competitions will require participants to navigate an obstacle course while galloping on a hobby horse. Day said that ASI is creating the obstacle course in collaboration with the Cal Poly Rodeo team and that some of the obstacles in the event also appear in Poly Royal, Cal Poly’s annual rodeo.
Selected intramural sports officials, ASI event team members and rodeo team members will act as judges for the event, Day said. Judges will assess the participants’ technique and overall performance, including galloping, jumping and utilizing the hobby horse.
Day said ASI will provide all the equipment needed and although participants are welcome to dress up, the judges will not be scoring based on outfits or additional props. Day added that ASI will give all participants a t-shirt to wear during the event and take home as a souvenir.
According to White, the winners of each league will receive a trophy and merchandise from the Cal Poly bookstore. In addition, the Rodeo team will give each league’s first-place winners tickets to Poly Royal Student Night on April 10, according to Jack Busch, the Cal Poly Rodeo production manager.
Day said the hobby horse performance event winners will also have the opportunity to perform at the Cal Poly Rodeo student night.
The idea of the hobby-horsing competition came about after ASI Event Coordinator Missy Allison-Bullock watched a YouTube video about hobby-horsing and wanted to bring it to life on Cal Poly’s campus.
White said that ASI saw hobby-horsing as an opportunity to try out more non-traditional programming and “expand the walls of ASI.”
“It’s a unique opportunity for us to try something that’s outside of the norm,” White said.
Day said that ASI’s goal for the event is “just for everyone to have fun” and that participants and spectators should expect a lively event.
Spectators do not need to register, but participant registration for the event is required. According to Day, registration will be available on ASI’s website from now until the day of the event.
Day is hopeful for a large student turnout and said students should come to the “once-in-a-lifetime experience” that is a hobby horse competition.