When you hear of sports you usually think of the main sports that are always talked of like soccer, basketball, football, etc.. What people tend to forget is that there is a world full of sports outside of the ones we hear about most, and of course the sports that are unknown tend to be more interesting and exciting to root for. Because our focus stays on sports like football or basketball we overlook the more unique sports, so here are the top 5 most unique sports that are guaranteed you never knew about.

Hobby Horsing

Hobby horsing is a sport that contains the elements of gymnastics that use hobby horses which is a term for stick horses. The people would imitate the movement sequences to the movements of horses during show jumping or dressage and partly simulated courses without the element of a real horse. Participants would typically use self made hobby horses. When you hear about hobby horsing you may have expected the use of a real horse, but in this case it’s a stick with a horse head instead!

Cheese Rolling

Cheese rolling takes place on Coopers Hill. This tradition is around 200 years old , where participants will run down a very steep and uneven hill chasing after a round of double Gloucester cheese that can travel up to 70 miles per hour. Cheese rolling is an annual event that takes place in spring near Gloucester England, it involves a 9 pound round of cheese that is rolled down from the top of a hill. The competitors are to race after the cheese and the first to cross the finish line at the bottom of the hill wins. These contestants are not on their feet for a significant amount of the race, they leap and tumble down the hill at relatively high speeds. Who knew chasing after a huge roll of cheese can be taken so seriously, the people    who participate only worry about catching the rolling cheese instead of their own safety!

Ear Pulling

Ear pulling is an Inuit sport that is a part of the World Eskimo Indian Olympics which has been held since 1961. This sport is entirely based on pain endurance. Competitors will sit facing their opponent with a long string connected to both opponents ears. Both people must sit as close as possible to each other as a large rubber band is placed over one’s left ear and the other’s right ear. The objective of this is for one opponent to move until the rubber band has slipped from the other’s ear or till the rubber band snaps. This sport comes from the Inuit culture, it supposedly prepares the people who participate in it for the pain of the outside world and takes notes of each person’s pain endurance.

Wife Carrying

Wife carrying is a sport that originated in Scandinavia. The male competitors must carry their wives on their back through a course that includes obstacles. This sport tests physical strength and the cooperation and teamwork between both participants. This sport is also ranked as one of the weirdest. Although many funny things happen during this event, there have also been dangerous moments and deadly injuries that have also taken place. Surprisingly this sport started as a joke in Finland but despite its humorous aspects the wife carrying sport is now taken very seriously.

Camel Jumping

The sport of camel jumping originates from the Yemen people more specifically around the Red Sea coastal region of Tihama. Although the sport is strange it is surprisingly simple. This sport consists of a row of camels that are lined up side by side starting with only one camel. More camels will be lined up as the contest progresses. The opponents compete to sprint down a track and leap over the camels and whoever is to clear the most camels is declared winner. You may wonder why the Yemen people chose camels to jump over…well the sport supposedly originated from the fact there was a dare between two tribesmen that eventually led to camel jumping evolving into a cultural sport.