The Hooden Horse of Kent
A Folklore Society Online Talk by
James Frost
Tuesday 16 December 2025, 19:00 GMT
The hooden horse was associated with the Christmas house-calling custom of hoodening in East Kent. It was later adopted by Morris sides as a mascot beast and started appearing at folk festivals at other times of the year. This talk explores its history and relationship with animal guising customs elsewhere in the country.
James Frost collects, makes, performs and herds hooden horses. He published Animal Guising and the Kentish Hooden Horse in 2023 to accompany the exhibition of the same name at Maidstone Museum; https://ozaru.net/ozarubooks/animal-guising.html. He performs hoodening and mumming plays in East Kent. https://www.jamesedwardfrost.com/.
Tickets £6.00 (£4.00 for Folklore Society members with the Promo Code): log in to https://folklore-society.com/members-only to get the Promo Code) from https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-hooden-horse-of-kent-tickets-1652439704639?aff=ebdsoporgprofile.
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Photographer credit: Caroline Dyal
