Tuesday 27 October 2009

Japan Diary - Behind the Scenes at the Racetrack

The horses, jockeys, grooms and trainers that are involved in Ban-Ei racing all live in a "village" that is located right next to the racetrack. There are also lots of dogs around. This little guy was particularly friendly:



At a given time in the early afternoon, all the horses in any one stable are brought outside so that it can be cleaned thoroughly. This is a good opporunity for glamour shots, such as this one of "Super Clinton" who is the 6th winningest horse of the moment. Guess who he is named after?



We spent some time watching the team of farriers at work. There is one woman among them. They are kept very busy!





Wherever you go, there are giant piles of carrots to give the horses as treats!



The horses wear colourful harnesses when they race:



This handsome guy, called TENKA, went on to win his next race!



PS: I just wanted to say that, for some reason, this connection will not let me post comments on certain blogs. It is very frustrating and I do apologise, but it is totally beyond my control. So, if I looks as though I hgaven't been visiting you, it's just because I can't comment!

16 comments:

  1. Good to see you get to have a little "dawg fix" while you are away!! It looks like you are getting to experience many wonderful things on this trip! How exciting!!

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  2. Dear #1,
    Thanks for all these explanations, very interesting details of the daily life around the "ban eï".
    See you soon !

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  3. That is one big pile of carrots for sure.

    I guess horses are into fashion too with all their harnesses.

    Slobbers,
    Mango

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  4. Super Clinton has such cool hair! What a stylish horse :)

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  5. It is very interesting to learn aout the horses and the racetrack.

    Wow, that IS a big pile of carrots!

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  6. How fascinating! We love tagging along on your trip through all the pix!

    B&V

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  7. Tank woo fur sharing your khanine pal!

    I think that one FUNKADELIKH horse!

    Tank woo fur sharing!

    Hugz&Khysses,
    Khyra
    PeeEssWoo: Hi Tommy!

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  8. What handsome horses! Congrats to Tenka on his win!

    Absolutely fascinating to learn about life in the village!

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  9. Wow, that's exactly the kind of travelogue we love...the behind the scenes story. Love Super Clinton's white mane! It must be very unusual for there to be a woman farrier in Japan (just as it is here)...did you get to talk to her and find out how she got in that line of work? she sure looks confident. Of course i'd rather shoe a Percheron any day over a race horse! Next up, more pictures of barn kitties???

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  10. Nice!! Hot shoeing! Gosh they are cool horses, especially Clinton!! And all of those piles of carrots....a horse would go insane!!

    Snap
    (the horse who's hoof abscess went on to hit her lymphatic system and is now on full blown antibiotics)

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  11. More gorgeous photos! Are you sure you're not planning on doing a photography book, #1?

    Your pals,

    Petey and Mica

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  12. Love Super Clinton's hairdo!

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  13. That woofie looks really nice! The horses are magnificent!

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  14. The horses are so impressive. It must be very interesting to experience everything up close.

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  15. Wow that is very cool - Tenka is very pretty too! And I am surprised that there are dogs there. I would have guessed the horses could get scared but I guess I am wrong on that one!

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