Horses In Japan..?

Hello!
I`ve recently moved to Mie, Yokkaichi.
Does anyone know of a good , inexpensive place to go riding in this area or know of buying a pony?

If anyone has any info on fuji riding club (site is still down) or any other places not too far from tokyo that speak english please email me at kriseskra@gmail.com.

Hi, all.
I'm a big fan of horseracing living near Tokyo.
Some big races are held every autumn such as the Japan cup, Arima kinen.

At the Tokyo racecourse, you can ride a horse for FREE if you visit the riding place of the racecourse in the first 50 people.

Hi guys!!
After living in Japan now for more than 3yrs and having my second daughter im ready to get back in the saddle and go to work. I now live in Yokkaichi and will be starting work at Hokusei Riding Farm tomorrow. For those who havn`t experienced horses in Japan yet the value for the living of horses here is poor, but maybe thats all the horses know. I suppose if you turned them out in a huge green field they`d probably have a heart attack. Its like rabbits were never meant to be kept in cages. but with me I hate to see a skinny horse that looks unhappy. Even Hokusei have old skinny horses, but the owner sais he can`t part with them as they`re like family to him. Its really hard to find Riding Clubs as most of the website have no English. Have a look at my page Horse Riding Clubs in and around Tokyo / Japan. ive placed some links on there.
Good luck for those seeking work
BR
Rachel

Rachel,
Thanks for the update and for your informative web page. I just loved the photo of the little girl on the pony. Not all horses in the world have an idyllic life of comfort, but I'm sure that the horses you work with in Japan will benefit from your knowledge and love. Good luck with your new job!

has anyone been to Avalon hillside farm? Do they speak any english?

I have lived in Japan for 4 years, (moved from the UK) and while people in this forum have said 'It's like riding in New York' or 'the people are all obsessed with clothes' is only true in certain areas.

I ride three horses that are all turned out in a huge field, they have nice stables and are quite happy. On top of all that I go to school with Japan's national junior champion, and she said that if more people were available to teach classical riding, then she would have started jumping earlier. So all is not lost, you just have to know who to turn to if you were considering horse riding seriously in Japan. =]

That sounds quite nice. But I bet it's quite far from tokyo or any other major city. Which is yet another problem many of us face. It's near impossible to ride regularly or own a horse if I have to travel a long distance.I hate having to choose between my 2 great loves, Tokyo and horses. They just don't go together. But I guess I can't have my cake and eat it too. I've pretty much given up on horses in Japan (atleast while i'm living in tokyo) but I'll still keep looking for a ''diamond in the rough'' stable.

And what with the riding instructors? Is there a lot of those with licence? I was thinking of getting summer work with horses in japan, but don't know where to start, and where to look for it. There isn't much info in internet (if there is at all).

Dear all horse-lovers,

Let's join hands to open a horse riding barn together--brain, skills, finance, network!! What a big dream of mine. :)

PJ

I used to ride for nearly 2 years in Avalon Hillside Farm.
I can highly recomment this place, they have nice Clubhorses, taking very good care for the horses.
You can do there dressage and show jumping.
There are some people fluent in english.

There are over 50 riding clubs/ranches in Japan mostly doing the Olympic disciplines but an increasing number of Western riding ranches as well and of course standards varies.
In Tokyo city itself, there is Tokyo Riding CLub near Yoyogi (one of the oldest) and Bajikoen in Setagaya (venue of the Toyo Olympic Games). Once you get out to Saitama or Chiba, there are riding clubs with more space. There is an Equestrian Magazine "Jyoba Life" you can obtain from book shops, published by Ocean Life which has quite a comprehensive list of riding stables.

Ok everyone,

I worked in Japan for a year at nasu Training Farm in Nasu-shirobara, Tochigi-ken. Although the show jumping sport may not be as refined as it is in the US, Canada, or Europe the Japanese have a great attitude and love to compete. There was both a riding club and a training programm (I was in charge of the training programm) and at any ridingclub I have ever been to they are basically the same. Horses nose to nose and with riders who ride maybe a few times in their life time. Japan has many training programms that compete year round and the land has a lot to do with why they are so hard to find. Most of my clients came on the weekends only and from on hour to six hours away, usually by train. I loved my expirence in Japan, mostly due to the people- they are life enthusiasts and love the sport. As for the horses there are mostly thourghbreds off the track, but for jumpers they work out great.

A candid review of Fuji Horse Riding Club:
I train horses in the U.S. (mid-level dressage and jumping), and I've owned horses all my life. I've also taught riding lessons for 18 years and achieved BHS certification in England.
I spent about a year riding at (and competing for) Fuji Horse Riding Club in Utsunomiya, Tochigi, Japan. I was able to ride for free, since I volunteered to teach occasional riding lessons in English. After about a year, I couldn't take the deteriorating conditions anymore. As much as I wanted to ride in Japan, my love of horses wouldn't allow me to put up with the conditions there. The horses at Fuji Horse Riding Club are undernourished and mistreated. If you go there, you'll be sure to see horses pinning their ears and lunging at people walking past their stalls. The owners at Fuji constantly put draw-reins on their horses, even though they claim to teach "dressage." They allow beginners to wear spurs and use draw-reins, and they don't teach proper contact or proper position. Many of the horses (including "Dunk" and "Mimi") are light and sensitive, but they're subjected to draw-reins, beginners with spurs, and over-work.
Fuji Horse Riding Club's horses barely receive any turn-out, spending most of their time in their stalls with bad feed.
I sympathize with any of you hoping to ride in Japan. However, I would strongly caution you against Fuji Horse Riding Club, Nasu Training Farm, and various other clubs in Japan. At Fuji Horse Riding Club, and even in rural areas like Hokkaido, I've found: broken and rusty fences (often made out of pipes), unsafe tacking/tying areas with sharp edges, an enormous lack of basic knowledge about horses and safety, poor training methods, very poor riding and instruction, an acute lack of turn-out, poorly fitting tack resulting in saddle-sores, and very poor-quality feed.
You can easily find a place to ride in Japan, but my recommendation is: DON'T. If you care about horses and their wellbeing at all, you won't be able to put up with most horse clubs in Japan. Now, although I often go to Japan, I NEVER ride there.

Yes! There are horses in Japan. You usually see them in racecourses or horse riding stables.
I live in Tokyo. I know there are a lot of riding stables near Tokyo, especially in Chiba.
I think it's a good stable in Chiba which has a good foreign dressage trainer.
About 45 minutes from central Tokyo by Hokuso line.
You can ask them detail.
Horse riding for Tokyo, Chiba

Shiroi riding club
http://www.shiroi-riding.com/

Hello All..

I lived in Japan from 1990-2004. All of the comments I've read about the Japanese being "bad" riders and "bad" horse keepers is NOT TRUE. I owned a Belgian Warmblood and 2 thoroughbred mares when I lived there.

1. Nasu Training Farm is owned by Ryuma Hirota and his father Kenji (though I'm not sure if Kenji is well as I have been gone for 8 years). Ryuma is a Grand Prix rider who represented Japan at the Sydney olympics. Though the Japanese don't place well they try! There are very few riders who can make it to grand prix level in show jumping as riding is VERY expensive in Japan.
The dressage riders do much better.
2. Extensive turn out is not possible as there is very little land. TO COMPENSATE the Japanese RIDE or lounge their horses EVERY DAY. I DID TOO..HAD TOO..I came home to run my own stable and was laughed at because I was obsessed with riding every day..
3. Feed is good...IMPORTED bales of compressed ALBERTA hay @ 30.00/bale!!
4. The PRO-STABLES..RE: NASU TRAINING FARM/FUJI FARM/SUGITANI'S?HASHIMOTO'S have a lot of imported Warmbloods...that's where I got mine..Not JUST thoroughbreds..but...what's wrong with recycling tbs??We all do it here..No??
5. Yanne Candell and a number of European pros have ridden for stables in Japan...and raved about it..
6. There may be many small farms that cannot afford Alberta hay but there are MORE "poor" horse keepers in North America..
7. To the girl who worked at NTF..Kenji would love to speak with you....
8. For those looking for good quality,affordable dressage/jumper riding lessons (NO hunter riding in Japan..that's a North American "pony ride" style) go to Gunma-ken Bajikoen..it's a beautiful stable owned by the Government of Gunma Prefecture and offers lessons at a fraction of the usual cost (about 3,000yen/hr). Horses are WELL cared for and the instructors are good!!

Minna gambatte ne

Marion Woodliffe

it's not like this that there are no horses in japan.Most Japanese horses are descended from Chinese and Korean imports; and there was some cross-breeding with indigenous horses which existed in Japan since the stone age.[19] Although records of horses in Japan are found as far back as the Jomon period, they played little or no role in early Japanese agriculture or military conflicts until horses from the continent were introduced in the fourth century.

more than 100 horse racing tracks avaliable in Japan
http://geodeg.com/search.php?q=horse&language=24&country=106

I live near this riding stable. I don't know much about horses but they do dressage.
http://m-jouba.com/

I have also been curious about the availability of horses and horseback riding in Japan. Here (Texas) I volunteer at a stable that provides therapeutic horseback riding. Is there any interest in that in Japan? I am trying to learn more about this, in hopes of eventually being able to do the same thing in Japan. It would certainly be easier if an already established stable became interested in starting a therapeutic riding program. Any advice would certainly be appreciated!