PrintOn March 11, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake rocked the Tohoku region of Japan. The earthquake and resulting tsunami killed more than 14,000 people, but humans weren’t the only ones affected by this disaster. Animals, including horses, have been struggling to survive after losing or becoming separated from their owners.
Local equestrians and rescue teams from around the world have been doing their best to help horses affected by the disaster. The Japan Equestrian Federation (JEF) and National Riding Club Association of Japan led a cooperative effort with local riding clubs to collect feed and fuel (for trucks and heaters) for horse facilities in need, since there were shortages of electricity and fuel in those initial weeks.
JEF cancelled all equestrian events through the end of March in the areas reliant on damaged eastern power plants, to avoid using power and fuel while both were still in short supply. Until April 10, organizers were asked to hold competitions at their discretion, but they have slowly resumed.
At The Epicenter
The Tohoku region, where the earthquake’s epicenter was located, is known to be one of the most agricultural areas in Japan. As is the case elsewhere in the world, most of the plowing is done by machinery, but there are still some farms that have horses, and a rich history of people living with horses remains.
There are also many historical festivals—to thank the horses, keep the culture alive, and live the history where the horses were once used both for work and war. There are also horses that are considered a “god’s blessing,” which live at shrines. Much of this historical culture was affected by the March 11 tragedy.
Iwate, one of the affected prefectures, is home to a public horse park, and also Tono Umanosato, one of the few facilities in Japan that breeds horses specifically for sport/leisure riding. (Most riding horses in Japan are Thoroughbreds.) It also is one of the few facilities on the main island that has a large pasture where horses are brought to graze during the summertime. The farm sustained minimal damage from the earthquake.
Each year, the facility hosts an auction of Japanese-bred horses, from yearlings to 4-year-olds, most bred at the facility. A recent successful horse is Harry Bay, a Selle Francais (Flo dela Gervaise—Artichaut) show jumper ridden by Daisuke Fukushima. The pair won the 2009 Roeser (Luxembourg) CSI** 1.30m class, a great achievement for a domestically bred horse.
In Sendai, the capital of Miyagi prefecture, Riding Club Sendai Kaigan-Koen suffered extensive damage. The stable, located near the seaside, was one of 29 around Japan that belong to the Riding Club Crane group. It housed 55 horses at the time the tsunami hit—seven died in the disaster and 11 are still missing. (Fortunately, all of the human staff, as well as the clients who were on-site, were safe.) Staff members scrambled to rescue the 36 horses out of 55 that survived (final reported number as of April 9), evacuating them to another riding facility in the Sendai area to check their health and provide feed right after the disaster. Riding Club Crane has said that they will care for these horses for the rest of their lives.
