CARMEL, Ind. — A young Hoosier is gaining national attention for a unique and unusual hobby you may not have heard of.
But if your kids are on YouTube, chances are, they've seen the trend of "hobby horsing."
Yes, this is a thing, and it's growing in popularity.
In Carmel's Saddlebrook subdivision, not far from Homestretch Drive, 12-year-old Ava Apodaca is part of the new breed of competitors.
You might do a double take if you spot her practicing in the driveway: jumping and hurdling with ponies on poles — instead hooves.
"It's a sport or a hobby. It's considered both. It's all comes down to opinion," she explained. "I think it's a sport, but some people think it's a hobby because they don't do it competitively. I do and when I first started I could only jump like 80 centimeters. I can jump over a meter now."
"At first I'm like, 'You've got to be joking me right,'" Ava's mom, Amanda, said. "But you see this little girl flying over those hurdles? It created a passion and a drive for her where all of a sudden I was seeing a little girl who was really shaken? Shifting to a child that was learning to be bold."
Outsiders may consider it unusual.
"I get people on my YouTube comments, people saying, 'What is that?! That's so weird,'" Ava said.
But hobby horsing, which mimics the movements of equestrian, is galloping into the mainstream.
"It's a really fun way to like express yourself in a unique way," Ava said.
The sport first caught fire in Finland, spread through social media and now has thousands of enthusiasts, mostly tween girls, here in the U.S.
This Hoosier is the frontrunner.
"So I'm the top hobby horse YouTuber in the nation," Ava explained. "I have over 42,000 subscribers. It's mind-blowing. I never thought I'd get that many!"
Her viral videos aren't just sharing skills.
They're also inspiring girls and boosting self-esteem.
"It's just to like really show people that you can be who you want to be and other people's opinions shouldn't really bother you," she said.
"And as you go through her YouTube channel and you read those comments? These little girls are touched by her," her mom added.
YouTube, during the pandemic, is how Ava discovered the hobby four years ago.
She loved horses, but getting a real one was out of reach.
Then, as a gift, she got Frankie.
"That one right there, in fact, is my first hobby horse," she said, pointing to Frankie. "And I was like, 'OK, this is game on. I'm doing this.'"
Now, she has a stable of stuffed stallions to hone her skills.
This summer, she took her colts on the road to Michigan for the first-ever U.S. Hobby Horsing Championships.
There are categories like trotting, hurdling, cantering and dressage, just like real equestrian.
The event drew hundreds of young competitors, even a Netflix crew, creating a documentary about hobby horsers.
Ava placed fifth at the championships.
"She jumped 4'1" and you should have seen, like it's almost as high as she is," her mom said.
"That's like my score on my dressage routine," Ava pointed out, "which I'd say is pretty good for my first-ever competition."
But more than high scores, Ava earned support with kindred spirits.
"When I got there, I was like, 'Whoa!' I thought maybe two people would know me from YouTube, but like everyone knew my name," she said. "And I was signing people's sticks and everything and getting pictures with them. It was so cute!"
Now, even more confident, Ava's taking the reigns of a new challenge: the ride she always wanted, on her own real horse.
Her mom recently leased "Nobi" part-time for Ava to ride twice a week.
Ava admits the real deal is even better than she imagined and prefers horse riding to hobby horsing, but she still loves that unique hobby that launched it all.
"It's great to see her fly high," Ava's mom said.