Hoodening

Hoodening (/ʊd.ɛnɪŋ/), also spelled Hodening and Oodening, is a folk custom found in Kent, a county in south-eastern England. The tradition entails the use of a wooden hobby horse known as a hooden horse which is mounted on a pole and carried by an individual hidden under a sackcloth. Historically, the tradition was restricted to the area of East Kent, although in the twentieth century it spread into neighbouring West Kent. It represents a regional variation of a "hooded animal" tradition that appears in various forms throughout the British Isles.