A schoolgirl has competed in hobby horse competitions - where she takes part in show jumping with a stick pony.<br /><br />Tilly Norris, 11, has miniature pet horses but took up the sport earlier this year as she likes "keeping fit and doing all the jumps."<br /><br />Hobby horsing is where participants use a 'stick horse' to compete in movements that are similar to show jumping or dressage.<br /><br />The sport originally started in Finland in 2002 but now tens of thousands of people have started taking part in it all over the world. <br /><br />Tilly says she enjoys taking part in the sport and competing because it allows her to show jump without actually doing it with a horse.<br /><br />She said: "I like meeting up with all of my friends.<br /><br />"I like keeping fit and doing all the jumps. <br /><br />"I do like jumping but I don't like jumping on a horse."<br /><br />Tilly started hobby horsing in January this year after she was approached to be an ambassador to promote it to her 24,000 Instagram followers.<br /><br />Her mum Vicky Norris, 44, says the activity has "gone absolutely crazy" in the UK because it keeps children "active" and helps them "make friends."<br /><br />She said: "It's gone absolutely crazy in this country.<br /><br />"It's kids having fun and keeping active as well. <br /><br />"There's some parents who have said they can't afford a real horse as it's an expensive hobby and traveling around the country is a fortune. <br /><br />"So now, the children have got a hobby horse, they are doing all these jumps and are winning rosettes and winning prizes. <br /><br />"It keeps them all active and honestly I've not seen one child on a phone from the moment they get there, to the moment they leave. <br /><br />"They are all making friends and chatting away, talking to each other - it's just nice to see."<br /><br />Tilly, who has several miniature horses, started competing in March and "likes the excitement" of it.<br /><br />She also times herself when hobby horsing, so she can beat her previous score and see how fast she can jump.<br /><br />Vicky said: "I think she likes the excitement of competing and seeing all of her friends and seeing how fast they get over all the jumps. <br /><br />"They go over the jumps and time it, so they see how quick they can go. <br /><br />"She's always trying to beat the score that she got last time. <br /><br />"The kids get on so well so I do think she likes seeing everybody."<br /><br />Tilly has now published her first book called ‘Hobby Horsing Around’, which is a horse themed activity, puzzle and colouring book.<br /><br />Vicky, of Burnley, Lancs,. said: "We decided to make the activity book and Tilly said we could do wordsearches and poems in it. <br /><br />"She wanted it as a colour book as well, so had stuff with her and her friends in it. <br /><br />"We basically wrote it all and then contacted an illustrator and we basically posted everything off and asked her to make it into a book. <br /><br />"She sorted it all out and put it together and we published it on Amazon."<br /><br />In the future, Tilly hopes to take part in more hobby horsing competitions and also wants to create another book.<br /><br />She said: "We are thinking that we are now going t
