Planking? Horsemanning is way to get ahead

Horsemanning involves taking a photo that looks as though a person is beheaded. Photo / Supplied

People are losing their heads for the latest photo craze to sweep the world - or so it appears.

Horsemanning, dubbed the new planking, is where two people pose so it appears that one person has been beheaded.

The pose du jour is inspired by the Headless Horseman in Washington Irving's Gothic story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

The official website says that according to horsemanning legend, the "original" horsemanning photo of two young girls in the beheaded position was recently discovered at a flea market and it was posted online.

The trend swept through Europe, North America and Asia as people posted horsemanning pictures on social networking websites.

Now the trend has arrived Downunder, but a leading planker has doubts whether horsemanning will rival planking.

Vaughan Smith, one half of The Edge radio station's afternoon duo Fletch and Vaughan, said he did not think horsemanning would become as popular as planking - where people pose rigid and face-down on objects.

"Planking was really weird andnew, that's why everyone got intoit," Smith told the Herald.

He had a quick look into horsemanning when the 1920s photo fad resurfaced overseas, but although he appreciated its creative element, he did not think it had the same staying power as planking, which was more "spur of the minute".

"You really have to compose the picture for horsemanning, and maybe people can't be bothered doing that."

Other photo crazes have come and gone since planking - such as owling, where the fad was to pose crouching down, or batmanning, where people hung upside down from doors.

Smith said he had come across a few Facebook groups dedicated to horsemanning, but he had not yet seen any New Zealand sites.

"Maybe we're all planked out ... but who knows?"