[AirUP, On Site] From Exercise to Psychological Healing... The Day Horseback Riding Becomes a 'National Sport'

Visiting Steven Seungma Club... Family-Oriented Horse Riding Promotion
A Unique Sport Connecting Horses and People
Horse Riding Popularization in the $30,000 GDP Per Capita Era
KRA Leading Nationwide Horse Riding for All

Park So-woon, director of Steven Riding Club, is teaching members the basics of horseback riding.

[Asia Economy, Icheon = Reporter Kim Hyewon] On the 24th, upon entering Steven Seungma Club located in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, the sight of a father, mother, and son learning horseback riding together felt unfamiliar. The thought "Has horseback riding become such a popular sport?" lingered briefly before CEO Park Yoon-kyung's explanation followed. CEO Park said, "Just as golf developed into a national sport in the era of $20,000 GDP per capita, I hope horseback riding will inherit that status in the $30,000 era," adding, "Horseback riding is a high value-added industry that excels not only in exercise effects through interaction with living horses but also in psychological healing." Horseback riding, a unique sport where living horses and humans communicate, is a full-body exercise that enhances physical balance and flexibility. Riding a horse for 45 minutes is known to have the same effect as jogging for two hours and is also recognized as effective in developing social skills and leadership.

The rapid establishment of Steven Seungma Club, with 15 years of experience, as a youth horseback riding facility and horse training center is thanks to the philosophy of Director Park So-woon, who emphasizes fundamentals. Director Park, the first Korean to study horseback riding in France, is a silver medalist in the comprehensive equestrian event at the 1986 Seoul Asian Games and achieved the highest-ever national team ranking of 7th place in the 1988 Seoul Olympics. His focus on youth horseback riding stems from his belief that training to learn the basics well from a young age is most important and that youth horseback riding must be the stepping stone for Korea to raise its international competitiveness in horseback riding.

Korea's awakening to the popularization of horseback riding is relatively recent. Although elite-centered horseback riding existed in the past, the recognition of horseback riding as an industry and the full-scale promotion of its popularization have only been underway for about a decade. Nevertheless, efforts over the past ten years to expand the horseback riding industry infrastructure have resulted in the establishment of hardware such as the total number of horses bred and horseback riding facilities to some extent relative to demand. However, the proportion of riding horses among the total number of horses, the scale of horseback riding facilities, and accessibility and convenience of use still fall short compared to advanced countries. Korea's ratio of horses per regular horseback rider is 0.6, far behind the UK (4.8) and France (4.8).

However, conversely, the growth potential of the horse industry led by horseback riding is limitless. Currently, the contribution of Korea's horse industry, centered on horse racing, to the national economy is only 0.16% (3.4 trillion KRW). Compared to horse industry-leading countries such as the UK at 0.35% (12.9 trillion KRW), France at 0.52% (17.4 trillion KRW), the US at 0.59% (156 trillion KRW), and Japan at 0.81% (42.9 trillion KRW), there is considerable room for expanding the base of horseback riding. Korea began its horseback riding popularization project based on the 'Horse Industry Promotion Act' enacted in 2011 to revitalize rural economies through horse industry development and improve quality of life by promoting leisure activities.

Despite COVID-19, Korea's regular horseback riding population has steadily increased. Although the overall horse industry shrank by 60% due to the slowdown in horse racing caused by COVID-19, the horseback riding population, facilities, and businesses have actually grown. As of 2021, the regular horseback riding population was 48,000, an increase of 6,600 from the previous year. This indicates signs of a shift from the perception of horseback riding as a noble sport to a national sport. In countries like Germany and France, private and elite horseback riding or government-led recreational horseback riding have been activated, leading to balanced development of horse racing and horseback riding.

Marking 100 years of Korean horse racing, the Korea Racing Authority (KRA) is making efforts to improve the quality of the horseback riding industry as the only dedicated horse industry institution in Korea besides horse racing operations. They are working on popularization through a nationwide horse riding campaign by retraining retired or injured racehorses into riding horses with costs and care, supporting horseback riding experience programs for youth, and more. This year, they are promoting the introduction of a formal horseback riding physical education curriculum targeting 20 schools and 989 students and supporting rehabilitation horseback riding for disability healing. Icheon = Reporter Kim Hyewon

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.