Today was the only day of the Sydney Royal Easter Show to host Horseball, which Kay Jeffrey from the Australian Horseball Association describes as “a little bit of rugby, a little bit of basketball, a massive amount of horsemanship, sitting on these animals which have a mind of their own…a really exciting game”.
The sport is very fast paced and requires a high level of physicality, making it an entertaining event keeping crowds on the edge of their seats.
Participants start playing the sport from a young age, and Kay Jeffrey says it’s one that young children love. “It’s a really exciting game and we’re so thrilled to be here. It’s the first time that we’ve been at the Sydney Royal Easter Show, and the kids – honestly the smiles on their faces when they came out onto that arena this morning was just priceless”.
Horseball is quite a big sport in parts of Europe, and is yet to become a commonly known sport in Australia. Jeffrey said she hopes that one day it will become something that everyone is talking about. “It’s massive in Europe – we have saddle club here and that’s our biggest equestrian society, but horseball is bigger than saddle club in Europe. Those guys are playing at a rapid rate of knots. When they get that ball, they’re fast and they’re aggressive and it’s really amazing to watch”.
View the interview with Kay Jeffrey below:
