Riding into the new year

While horses are today mainly used for leisurely riding in modern South Korea, the relationship between man and beast dates back to prehistoric times. 

For Koreans, the horse has been a stable source of nutrition, a dear friend, an efficient means of transportation, and a symbol of power. 

From January 31 to February 18, 2015, people across East Asia will celebrate the Year of the Horse, which is associated with stamina and power and also represents practicality and obedience to nature. The first sign of horses on the Korean Peninsula dates back to the Bronze Age. The earliest remains were discovered in Danyang, North Chungcheong Province, where a horse jawbone was found. 

“In those days horses were simply food,” says Lyeom Gyeong-hwa, a researcher at the National Folk Museum. 

As time passed, people came to value horses as something more than a source of meat and began to tame the animal by putting a bit in its mouth, at the small gap in front of its teeth. Throughout the era of the Three Kingdoms (BC 18-660), horses became an invaluable means of transportation in wartime and for government officials.

Following the Mongolian invasion of Goryeo in 1218, horse breeding became directly related to national security. The government created a large ranch in the far southern island of Jeju and used the animals in times of war or other emergencies. Several “mateuri”, or horse whisperers, remain in Jeju, and are said to be able to understand and communicate with the animals. 

The tradition continued as horse breeding became easier and ownership was extended to aristocrats. Still, during the Joseon era (1392-1910), the government was entitled to requisition privately owned horses when needed. 

The horse remained a trusted means of transportation until the late 1960s, when large roads were constructed and automobiles replaced them.

Ancient Koreans believed that horses delivered the spirit of the dead to a better place. Statuettes of horses, as messengers of spirits, have been discovered at their tombs. People would bury horses alive when influential people died, to help them reach the afterlife.

The horse was also considered an auspicious animal. According to legend, Park Hyeokgeose, the founder of the ancient kingdom of Silla, was born from an egg laid by a horse while King Geumwa of East Buyeo was found by a horse when he was an infant abandoned deep in the forest.

In Gongju of South Chungcheong Province is a Maseonghwangdang, a village shrine dedicated to horses. As many shamans believed that special ghosts wandered this world on spirited horses, horses also became the subject of worship. 

No one rides horses to commute anymore, but the powerful, vigorous and tough image of a stallion still remains in the everyday lives of Koreans. 

According to divination, people born in the year of the horse value practicality and obey the rules of nature better than others. However, they tend to be a little lazy from time to time, fortune-tellers say, which can result in poverty. The studies suggest that people born in the year of the horse get along with those born in the years of the tiger or dog, because both animals represent outgoing and merry characters. 

“Koreans have always wished that the animals of the year they were born could represent them for a lifetime. Many dreamed of the horse to grant them powerful, energetic and smart lives and believed that those were part of their own personality,” says Cheon Jin-gi, director of the National Folk Museum.

Proverbs also support how people viewed animals. “A horse without legs goes a thousand miles” warns rumormongers of the damage of groundless information, while “when the horse goes crazy, so does the cow,” mocks people who copy others’ behaviour without contemplation. 

The horse has been used as a direct symbol for products in modern days. Brand names for automobiles such as Equus, Pony and Galloper reflect a powerful engine. Emblems of carmakers such as Porsche, Mustang and Ferrari include the figures of the horse, and luxury brands such as Hermes, Ferragamo or Gucci, which started their businesses based on equestrian goods, maintain the horse’s reputation as part of high society. 

And the horse has become an industry in itself. 

From breeding, training, distribution and utilisation as well as all other secondary business territories such as leisure, sports and therapeutic purposes, horses create a large market full of potential for job creation and exports.

According to the Korea Racing Authority, the industry accommodates roughly 20 or more distinct businesses and spins off including cosmetics, horsehair mattresses, medicinal supplies and fertiliser. 

A research team at Seoul National University estimated that the country’s horse industry in 2010 was worth 2.8 trillion won with 28,000 horses and 25,000 riders, but is expected to grow to 5.5 trillion won, 100,000 horses and 70,000 riders by 2025. 

The government has set out to nurture the industry. 

It has created a five-year plan aimed at fostering 50,000 horses, 3,000 ranches, 500 equestrian centers and 50,000 riders by 2016. If successful, the plan would ultimately create 10,000 jobs and sustain an annual industry-wide contribution to the economy of 150 billion won, according to the Korea Racing Authority, which has been assigned with carrying out the blueprint.

Horseback riding is the key to the state-designed plan. The leisure activity is known to have already vitalised many developed European nations including France and Germany, which respectively have about 2.2 million and 1.7 million horseback riders. Each country reportedly operates more than 7,000 horseback riding facilities and has created approximately 70,000 related jobs.