Horse riding in Korea gallops with gov’t investments in animal welfare

One of the aged horses under care waits to eat a treat at Jangsu Farm in Jangsu, North Jeolla Province, May. 8. Courtesy of Korea Racing Authority

By Ko Dong-hwan

• Published May 15, 2025 12:00 PM KST

Korea Racing Authority runs leisure facility, breeding center

JANGSU, North Jeolla Province — The government’s investment in bringing horses closer to people is beginning to pay off. More people are visiting to see and interact with horses, while the authorities are strengthening research to preserve healthy breeds and operating pastures where retired horses can spend the rest of their lives under human care.

Behind those scenes is the Korea Racing Authority (KRA) under the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Established in 1922 to develop the horse racing industry and livestock farming, the agency now focuses on appealing to the broader public with not only horse riding fun but also getting familiar with the animals and a better understanding of why animal welfare matters.

One of the country's largest horse facilities run by the KRA is in Jangsu, North Jeolla Province, a deep countryside surrounded by mountains. Here, the agency runs Jangsu Horse Riding Leisure Park, a tourism facility where people of all ages can interact with horses through hands-on experiences such as grooming and riding.

Professional instructors under the agency provide horse riding lessons on a 400-meter-long course and inside a 31,000-square-meter arena. According to one instructor, the facility has a stable that can accommodate up to 20 horses, allowing some visitors who own horses to leave them at the park.

“During weekdays, we see students coming to learn horse riding. During weekends, this place bustles with visitors,” said Bang Se-guen, vice chairman of the KRA. “Except during the COVID-19 period, the popularity has been steady.”

About 20 minutes away by car from the park, the KRA operates Jangsu Farm, where veterinarians manage selective horse breeds, train horses for racing or riding and provide care for retired racehorses as well as those rescued from human abuse. The government invested 111.2 billion won ($78 million) to complete the 1.51 million-square-meter farm in 2007 and kept expanding it to include additional features to serve the farm’s goals and house over 320 horses at once.

Stallion studs are separately kept inside the farm to provide a comfortable living quality. At a research center inside the farm, collected semen from the superior breeds are preserved frozen or cooled and shared with local horse farms for artificial insemination to maintain the number of healthy breeds in the country.

Racehorses, however, according to the global horse racing regulations, must be born through natural reproduction.

“The farm originally focused on training racing horses. But it has recently expanded the roles to providing welfare for the animals,” said Jang Hae-rim from the KRA. “Back in the old days, horse mating was a scene of enjoyment that drew crowds. Now, we keep a separate place for that. It’s one of our measures for their welfare.”

The ministry on April 30 announced a new five-year horse welfare improvement plan. Since the government introduced the Horse Industry Development Act in 2011, the industry has grown, but welfare remained poor, according to the ministry. The number of registered horses in the country last year was 27,521, up from 26,525 in 2020. Among them, those used for business purposes numbered 2,668 last year.

The plan, consisting of 11 measures under four categories, sought to maximize welfare for horses, mandatory registration of horses, introduction of certifying private facilities with a superb welfare environment, and a new government-private alliance to listen to public opinions.