Gov't promotes horseback riding as recreational activity
Members of a youth horseback riding squad, organized by the Korea Racing Authority (KRA), are on a track at Seoul Race Park in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province.
By Lee Hyo-sik
Horseback riding has largely been inaccessible to most Koreans due to lack of facilities and high costs. But the government wants to turn it into one of the most popular public sports.
It plans to build more horseback riding tracks across the country and organize a program through which both adults and adolescents learn how to ride horses.
Under the government’s five-year plan aimed at boosting the horse industry, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs has introduced a host of measures to promote horseback riding, particularly among students.
“In cooperation with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, we unveiled a wide range of steps on Nov. 19, 2013, to make horseback riding an affordable recreational activity for all Koreans,” agriculture ministry official Ha Wook-won said. “Horseback riding is a popular leisure sport in advanced economies. This means it will soon become so in Korea. In anticipation of this trend, the government will improve the horse industry infrastructures.”
The government will make horseback riding part of the school curriculum so that students can experience the activity. “Horseback riding is a perfect afterschool activity. It is good for students’ health and also helps nurture more well-rounded adolescents.”
A child rides on a pony at Seoul Race Park in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province. / Courtesy of Korea Racing Authority
The Korea Racing Authority (KRA) has organized youth horseback riding squads at its three race tracks in Gwacheon, Busan and Jeju. The state-run company wants to increase the number of squads to 50 by 2016 and offer over 10,000 people a chance to ride horses, up from the current 7,000.
“We have also established two healing centers in Incheon and Siheung, Gyeonggi Province, which offer rehabilitation to students suffering from cerebral palsy, autism and other developmental illnesses,” KRA spokesman Park Jong-bae said. “Interacting with horses is proven effective for treating students with motor and developmental challenges. About 600 students have benefited from our program. We will set up more such rehabilitation centers to help more students with such problems.”
The KRA also seeks to turn its three horse racing tracks into family-oriented leisure destinations as they offer not only racing, but also a wide range of fun events for people of any age.
For example, at Seoul Race Park in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, which opened in 1989, the KRA has created an eco-friendly leisure park where people can interact with horses and organizes a number of seasonal festivals to entertain visitors.
Jeju Race Park, which opened in 1990, promotes horse racing to visitors to the nation’s southern resort island, as well as preserves the Korean native pony.
Busan Race Park, which opened in 2001, has become a popular family-oriented leisure destination for those residing in the southeastern region.