EXCLUSIVE Its a sport loved by young girls but theyre swamped with hate. Teens reveal dark side of wholesome contests

Rosie Mulari was left speechless by her Hinge dates brazen question from across the dinner table. 

It was the pairs third date and she thought they were getting on quite well. But by the end of the evening, the 19-year-old was left with such a bitter taste in her mouth that she swore off dating apps for good. 

During a casual conversation, Rosies date asked about her unique tattoo - a wooden stick with a fabric horse head on top, used in the increasingly popular sport called hobby horsing. 

Rosie is a world renowned hobby horser who has crafted a career out of her childhood passion. Delighted to explain her beloved pastime, she eagerly told him how the sport works. 

After explaining that hobby horsing is when someone rides their foe-horse while mimicking the prances, trots and leaps of the real animal, his response absolutely stunned her. 

What else can you ride? he suggestively replied with a smirk, Rosie recalled to DailyMail.com.

I just finished my wine and left the restaurant without saying a word, she said.

Rosie is no stranger to an unsolicited innuendo or off-handed comment, but this was admittedly the first time someone made a crude remark related to hobby horsing to her face. 

Rosie Mulari, 19, is a hobby horser who says she uses her platform to help encourage and inspire younger athletes 

Mirabelle has debunked the critic-held belief that hobby horse is just little girls jumping around

Rosie competed in Americas first hobby horse championship in August 2024

When I had the apps, I had pictures of my hobby horse on there. I’d get 20 messages a day from men a day like "oh, could you ride me next?" Rosie went on in disbelief that anyone could say such a thing about the wholesome activity. 

The poised self-proclaimed badass has learned not to pay attention to the atrocious comments directed at her, especially on social media - but her concern lies with the rest of the hobby horse community, which is mainly comprised of young girls.

‘In my childhood, I didn’t have any role models who were in my sport that were confident, edgy, iconic, loud, and that inspired me to be that person for other kids,’ Rosie began.

A lot of kids who face harassment on social media, they usually turn to me to ask what to do. 

Comments from dates arent the only difficult thing competitors have to deal with. Last year several young girls were targeted online, allegedly by a convicted sex offender.

Five American hobby horsers - four of which are minors - explained to DailyMail.com that they frequently showcase their hobby horsing skills and the foe horses they sell on the internet under the close supervision of their parents.

Their target audience is other hobby horsers who are looking for people who share their uncommon passion or to learn more skills. The activity is mostly self-taught using YouTube tutorials. 

But in 2024, the girls and their parents noticed an online creep who was stealing some of their videos, mostly 14-year-old MacKenzie Carlsons, and reposting them on his various social media platforms, their mothers have claimed. 

MacKenzie, who is from Michigan, started hobby horsing in 2020 and began posting YouTube videos about the sport. 

Kim, MacKenzies mother, said he would take her videos and share them with weird captions such as look how cute she is. 

The man allegedly responsible for this unsettling behavior is a Tier III registered sex offender in the state of Maine. 

According to the states sex offender registry, he has been arrested on three charges of possession of sexually explicit material depicting a child under 12 years old in 2018. 

He was later arrested for allegedly taking photos of a little girl in public. 

A representative from the Bangor Police Department told DailyMail.com that someone filed a complaint against the man last November, accusing him of sharing a photo of a high school cheerleader from Kansas.  

The spokesperson also said there have been several complaints filed about this particular man at the Old Town and Orono police departments, but could not share the details of those.

DailyMail.com has reached out to both departments for more information. 

‘You have to check up on your kids,’ Kim warned others about the perils of allowing young children on social media. ’There is so much to be aware of.’

Kim does not believe the predatory behavior is exclusive to young hobby horsers - it is just one of the perils of anything being shared on a public platform. 

At the time, MacKenzie was fearful and told her mother right away, Kim said. 

Mom, what if he shows up to the hobby horse competition? she asked before the championship. 

Kim said they never went to the police because the situation never escalated. But she and other hobby horse community members reported and blocked all of the accounts they believed to be his. 

Iowa hobby horser Gwen Maiers, 15, explained that an older girl in the hobby horse community created a warning poster, picturing the man and listing out all of his accounts so everyone could be aware. 

Gwen Maiers, 15, said she has experienced hate for her unique pastime, but the communitys support keeps her going 

MacKenzie Carlson, 14, posts tutorials and create videos about hobby horse on social media to help others improve their skills 

Since the majority of people on the internet are unfamiliar with the up and coming interest, hobby horsers who spoke with DailyMail.com said their passion can draw in some negative feedback. 

‘I don’t really care, this is my thing and I’m not letting anyone else tell me otherwise. We have one life, why waste it on haters at the end of the day?

A lot of people are like "why dont you ride real horses?" Gwen said.  

Im like, "Oh, I do. I just think the hobby horse thing is really fun, and I just think its like an interesting thing to do." 

And while social media may allow critics to share their hateful two cents, it has served as a critical component in forming an international hobby horse network. 

The sports uniqueness spans beyond its logistics into the close connections formed between hobby horsers - even if they are thousands of miles apart. 

The niche activity was born as a Finnish tradition in the 1900s, but has most recently captured the hearts of young Americans. 

Its definitely through a lot of social media. Because then we can connect with people in Finland, you can even get coached with somebody from Finland through online stuff, Mirabelle Whitman, 14, of Wisconsin, who has taken online coaching lessons from Rosie, who is from Finland. 

But its a very good online community generally. You know, all the hobby horses are supporting each other.

Mica Zandstra hurdled into hobby horsing around 2020 and has since gone to Finland to compete

Mirabelle and her little sister Liliana, 11, fell in love with hobby horses around 2019 when their neighbors gifted them handmade hobby horse for Christmas. She is pictured above with her real horse Indra

Mirabelle and her little sister Liliana, 11, fell in love with hobby horses around 2019 when their neighbors gifted them handmade hobby horse for Christmas because they knew the sisters loved horses.

From there, Mirabelle discovered a whole world of people riding hobby horses on YouTube. Many athletes also sell the toy horses they make on websites like Etsy - where Mirabelle met Mica Zandstra.

Mica, 18, from Iowa hurdled into hobby horsing in 2019 and has since gone to Finland to compete. Up until last year, the US was essentially a hobby horse desert. 

With US hobby horsers hoping to expand their community from online to offline, Mirabella, Liliana, Mica and MacKenzie, decided to launch their very own international competition with the help of their supportive mothers.

The result: more than 120 competitors and hundreds more spectators gathering in an Almont, Michigan middle schools gym to celebrate their love for what they believe is an underrated activity at the first US Hobby Horse Championships.

Competitors came from across the country, and several - including Rosie - traveled internationally to attend the trailblazing championships, during which the four ambitious founders served as judges. 

It was such an unexpected success that they have already scheduled this years. 

Other organizations, including Soul Harbour Ranch in Lake County, Illinois, have made efforts to implement hobby horsing into its programs.  

We recognized that there was a lot of interest in this sport, Jodie Diegal, the founder and president of Soul Harbour Ranch, which mainly offers animal therapy, said. 

Diegal said she hosted the first hobby horse event in May 2024 and only five people participated. Most recently, 40 recreational hobby horsers of all ages joined in on the fun. 

Mica and Gwen, who left the US Hobby Horse Championship with two first place ribbons, have been helping run these events. 

All of the athletes that spoke with the DailyMail.com agreed that any toxicity pertaining to hobby horsing comes from ignorance, as many still see it as little girls jumping around, as Mirabelle put it. 

Mica has an Etsy shop for the hobby horses she sells, which is how she connected with the other hobby horsers 

Gwen now helps out at Soul Harbour Ranch with Mica to run noncompetitive hobby horse events

From left to right, Liliana, MacKenzie, Rosie, Mica and Mirabelle, all united for the first time at the US Hobby Horse Championships 

Hobby horses are lined up ready to be used at a competition in Krakow, Poland, last month 

What they fail recognize is the strength, persistence, discipline and imagination involved. 

Gwen said: I had kids at school saying very derogatory things about me, because I was featured in my newspaper. I honestly just think its hilarious. 

On social media, I try to delete the comments just because as a hobby horser, I look at other accounts, and sometimes when I see other people getting hated on, it makes me feel sad, too.

Even adults have slammed the young girls for the quirky hobby. But Rebecca, Liliana and Mirabelles mother, thinks they should keep their opinions to themselves. 

They say things like "Why dont you grow up? Youre going to have to give this up. This isnt a skill." I would disagree with them, she said.

Of all the things that young people could be doing, this is a pretty positive thing. Do you know what your teenage child could be doing right now? So to me it seems healthy. 

Theres a you know, a community. Its its imagination, its creativity, its athleticism. And its so many good and positive things that I thought this is great. More people should know about this.