If you’re a horse enthusiast, you can’t ignore the challenges related to horses’ ‘final home’ and ‘retirement’. In this article, we explore the current situation of aging horses and introduce the ‘Doutou Horse Town Project,’ a potential solution.
Providing a Final Home for Horses
Is a riding club a workplace or a home for horses? Let’s consider what life looks like for horses after retirement and how they can live comfortably.
What Is Retirement for Horses?
Just like humans, some horses work into old age, while others retire due to health or stamina issues. With multiple options for work after losing their main role, some horses may shift to lighter duties like short-term riding lessons.
What about horses? Some may be kept working until just before they pass away, but others, despite living comfortably, find it difficult to serve riders anymore. Some riding clubs even offer environments for retired horses to rest without working, such as farm sanctuary programs.
However, only a small number of riding horses reach this stage. Many racehorses, after retirement, cannot transfer to riding roles and are unfortunately euthanized — a harsh reality.
The Issue of Horse Retirement
Horse lovers might feel ‘That’s so sad! Can’t we do something?’ But ensuring a peaceful retirement for horses involves overcoming significant challenges.
Raising a horse requires space, waste management, and, most importantly, money. If you want a horse to spend its later years comfortably, buying or adopting a retired horse may be necessary unless the riding club has a policy of caring for all horses until the end.
Horses are expensive animals, and without space and facilities to exercise and bathe, owners or riding clubs need to entrust them to farms or sanctuaries, costing about 30,000 yen per month plus additional veterinary and hoof care expenses.
Medical care is another concern, especially for old horses. Many general animal clinics don’t specialize in large animals, so emergency response times can be long, sometimes over an hour.
Building a Town Where Horses and People Live Together
To give horses a happy retirement, several challenges related to costs and environment need to be addressed. One region in Hokkaido is making progress with a ‘Town where Horses Live’ initiative.
What Is Shibecha Town?
Shibecha, located in eastern Hokkaido, features part of the Kushiro Wetlands and abundant water resources like the Kushiro River and Touro Lake. Its Pacific location results in less snowfall than other parts of Hokkaido.
Horse Breeding History
Shibecha has a long history as a prime horse-breeding area. During the Edo period, the shogunate established an official post station there, marking the beginning of the town’s reputation as a horse town. Over time, both government-owned and private horses increased, facilitating land transportation needs.
In the Meiji era, horses were imported from regions like Esashi and Shiraoi to transport sulfur, helping establish Kushiro as a high-quality horse breeding region, and later, the town became known for breeding military horses resilient to Cold Siberian climates during the wars.
Although horse production declined with the rise of automobiles, Shibecha retains a culture of riding and horse breeding. It is also home to large-scale dairy farms, making it an important center for livestock farming.
More Details on the Doutou Horse Town Project
Once you understand the essence of Shibecha, let’s look into the ongoing ‘Doutou Horse Town Project’ in this region.
A Public-Private Partnership
The ‘Doutou Horse Town Project’ began as an initiative to connect local natural resources, horse culture, and community by promoting tourism, breeding, and retirement care for horses, led by project planner Masashi Okamoto and local supporters, with active involvement from Shibecha town.
Integrated Production, Tourism, and Retirement Support
The project enhances horse riding tourism, promotes horse breeding and sales, and supports retired horses’ care and living arrangements. This approach aims to solve the issue of retired horses’ retirement facilities, increasing opportunities for horses to enjoy a peaceful old age.
It also fosters a cycle where horses bred in Shibecha can spend their retirement there, creating a sense of hometown for the horses and attracting horse lovers to visit.
Support Made Easy
Supporting horses requires substantial expenses. But with the project supported by local government, it’s possible to contribute via hometown tax donations, with funds dedicated solely to horse-related activities. Many reward options are available, like local gourmet foods or horse trekking experiences at the Hazel Grass Manor, so check out the Furunavi Crowdfunding.
Horseback Riding in the Beautiful Natural Setting
The Doutou Horse Town Project aims to promote riding in the rich natural environment of Shibecha. The main attraction is the horse trekking experience, which can be enjoyed at the Hazel Grass Manor, a convenient base for exploring and experiencing the natural beauty of Hokkaido.