Yabusame Practice

Wait, what, I'm doing a blog post??  Yes, yes...  I've been really neglecting my blog (and vlog).  I could trot out some excuses: I've been busy, I've been depressed, I've just gotten out of the habit of blogging - that last is the most to blame at this point - and discuss them, but instead I'm going to forge ahead.  Onward and upward!


I've mentioned Yabusame (traditional Japanese horseback archery) on here a few times, including the one time I got to take a lesson at the horse club closest to where we live.  During that lesson, I rode a horse around a bit and tried to practice the Yabusame riding position.  I'd also had a brief bow lesson on the ground.

The closest I'd come to doing Yabusame "for real" was when I paid for a Yabusame experience at one of the competitions: wearing a traditional outfit, shooting the (looong) bow from the ground, and then sitting on a horse in front of a target to take the three shots.

I knew before we'd even completed our move to Japan that I'd like to learn the horseback archery, if I could.  I had no idea what to expect, where I might find it happening and if it would even be possible to be involved.  As it turns out: about 45 minutes away and not only possible, but encouraged!

For a couple of years I've put off getting serious about it - taking lessons, entering competitions - because of the cost.  However, our time here is winding down, which makes me very sad.  It's basically now or, most likely, never.

So, I've joined the riding club, started taking lessons, and...  I'm officially signed up to enter the Fall competition in just under a month!

I've taken about 6 lessons now I think, spread out over the past 4 months or so.  This past Monday I had one and Jeff was able to come along to take pictures and video!

Without further rambling, here are some pictures:

We don't know which horse we are riding until we get there.  My ride for the day was Toby, a sweet palomino gelding.

We'd been paired up in one lesson before.  Other horses I've ridden for lessons have been Suzaku and her sister, Opal.

In the barn, getting cleaned up.  His mane is SO thick.

Chatting with Angie, she would be riding Opal.  Angie and I had met 2-1/2 years ago at an outreach event the club was having.  She is also from the U.S. and is here teaching English in some of the local schools.

Time to saddle up.  Most of the saddles used for Yabusame are Western.  I've seen one Australian stock saddle and a couple of traditional Japanese saddles at the big competitions.

Bridle time.  Toby's bridle had some pretty turquoise accents on it.

After getting our horses ready, all of the lesson participants mount up and ride to the track, down a dirt road a little ways behind the barns, and past the pastures.  It's a pretty ride.

Once we get to the track, we do several warm up passes, the first at a walk.  I think here I was admiring some clouds in the sky.

"I'm on a horse!"  Though it's happily become more common than once or twice a YEAR over here, it's still wonderful, every time.

That picture also gives a glimpse of close to the Yabusame riding position.  The stirrups are actually tied forward.  You then lean forward, stick your butt out, arch your back, chest up....  The idea is you are supposed to take the motion of the horse with your legs while your upper body doesn't move.  I'm not there yet!  Some of the people who are really good appear to be floating above their horse.  The top of their head won't move, while their horse races underneath them.

After a pass down at back at the walk, we trot, then canter.  Then we get our bows and the horses know that it's go time.  They will run faster as soon as we have a bow.  I've also noticed that some will run even faster when we hit a target.  They know their job.

This was the first day I shot all three arrows on most of my runs.  So far I'd been shooting only one or two, but I was determined to speed it up a bit and get all three out.

Here I've launched the first arrow and am pulling out the second.

Firing that second arrow.  I have a bad habit of holding the bow at an angle - it's supposed to be straight up and down.  It's a habit from the Plains Indian style archery that I had learned first.

I love this picture, this is the lesson group walking back after one of the runs.  Along the walk back, the instructor hands us our arrows and gives up feedback, tips to work on, or just says "good" with a smile.  Angie is in the lead, then a little girl who is very good - better than all of us I'd say - me, and a woman who I think may have been fairly new?

Coming down the track for another round, trying to remember the instructor's words "up, push, pull".  The process of putting an arrow to the bow, drawing, and firing is actually a very precise 10 step process.  There is a lot to remember!

First arrow up...

Push, pull, fire!

Last arrow, push, pull...

Another "gangsta" sideways bow shot.  I really need to work on that...

Did I make it?  I made a few in the target that day.  The instructor is at the end of the track.

More shooting:

One of the walks back, probably deep in thought.  I do a review of my own on the walk back thinking, thinking, thinking.  Sometimes I practice some of the steps as we return to the start.

The last picture is from far away, but I thought it was a neat shot.  Toby launching into stride as I prepare for "up, push, pull".  The horses know that once we have a bow and arrows, their job is to run down the track.

To wrap up, here are a couple of videos that Jeff took!



This last video was my best ever run - so far.  I fired all three arrows, making it into the target with the first and third!!  The instructor and I both were laughing at the end, because Toby slowed down on his own for the end of the run and I took the shot anyway, at a trot, and made it in! 


The competition - which is the World Yabusame Championship (no pressure) - is October 20-21.  I'm planning to do as much practice as I can before then, including weekly lessons, at least.  Another friend loaned me one of her bows, since she won't be competing this time due to an injury, and Angie loaned me some arrows.  So I'll be doing some bow practice in the backyard.

Oh!  And I'm having a traditional riding kimono made.  I'm very excited about that! 

MUCH Needed Ride

Yesterday I went out to the Misawa Horse Park again.  My new friend, Tsukako-san, told me she would be going out to take a lesson.  I didn't feel up to taking an actual Yabusame lesson; I told her I was embarrassed that I haven't been doing the "hundreds of squats" that I'd declared I needed to do after my first attempt to ride Yabusame style.  I did want to ride though and thought maybe I could pay for a "free ride session" and just cruise around for a bit while she had her lesson.

I ended up taking a lesson with Tsukako-san, we both rode together and Banri-san (the instructor) gave us a basic riding lesson.  My mount was Mulan, the horse that I've ridden each time out there.  Turns out she is the boss of the herd and she is also much faster than Orphee, Tsukako-san's mount.  We started with me following, but Mulan was a horrible tailgater, being much faster in her gaits, and I had a hard time keeping her from being up Orphee's rump.  So we switched and I was our front leading the laps, but then I had to listen for changes from walk to trot, and also when Banri-san called out for circles and change of direction.  It went fairly well, Mulan was much happier to be out on the lead.

After we trotted around and around for what seemed like forever (I was made aware that I'm not in tip-top riding shape anymore!), we took turns having laps at the canter.  Mulan and I went first and did a bunch of laps at the canter.  It was SO much fun and certainly a much needed ride.

As Tsukako-san took her turn at the canter laps, Mulan and I hung out in the center.  I fished out my phone and snapped a picture to remember the ride.

We walked a few more laps, then rode back to the barn.  Before I hopped down, I asked Banri-san if she would get some pictures with my phone.

Another thing of note: you might notice the snow on Mulan's legs.  We did the entire lesson in almost knee-deep snow!  It was also quite cold, but riding kept us warm.

After the lesson, I was invited to stay and have lunch.  They were having a get together and cooking what seemed to be the Japanese version of gumbo - all sorts of things thrown into a pot - cooked over a log on end with a fire in the middle.  It was very good and I tried some crazy stuff - fish parts that I won't mention.  Thankfully, I'm not a very picky eater and was brave enough to try all of the "scary food" (as someone joked).  Then we went and hung out for a little bit in their office type building, with a kerosene heater running, had coffee and tea, and a good chat about learning Nihongo (Japanese language) and English.  I made new friends and had a wonderful time.

It was the best day.

First Lesson

Today I had my first official Yabusame lesson and it was on horseback.  (yay!)  I hadn't been expecting that.  Last weekend, I had gone out to meet another student and ended up getting a free practice session with her bow - in which I learned about many of the differences between Yabusame and the Plains Indian style horse archery that I was used to.  Today I thought we would be doing more shooting the bow on the ground, like we did last weekend.  However, I'd brought my helmet, just in case.

The entire hour was spent on Mulan, the sweet horse I rode my very first time out there.

The majority of that time was spent trying to learn the way to ride a horse for Yabusame.

It is VERY different from anything I've done before.

In fact...  I wasn't actually able to do it properly at all.  My body pretty much said, "You want me to do what?  Um, no thank you."  I think part of the problem is that I am sadly more out shape now than usual; I certainly haven't had to do any horse chores for the last year and a half.   But also, the way of riding for this is just so different.  I had no idea.  Picture riding in a squatting position, hovering over the horse - feet far forward, butt up and out, chest up and back.  It was entirely as awkward as it sounds.  I gave it an honest try though, over and over, until my legs were d.e.a.d.

The "reward", as far as I was concerned, was that at the very end I was able to ride Mulan through two passes down the Yabusame track (a long sandy path that the horses run on during the event).  She has a strong, bouncy trot - which I had been trying to ride while failing to squat in the saddle - and I had no idea what to expect from her faster gaits.  I was nervous too, having not gone over a trot in quite some time  (just over a year ago and then only briefly at the canter).  On top of all of that, my legs were done by that point.

With all of that, could I even stay on?  I did and I was very pleasantly surprised to learn that her canter and gallop are smooth - and fun!  I cantered about the last third of the track the first pass, but then got into a gallop on my last pass and galloped about half to two-thirds of the way that time.  It felt like we were flying toward the end on that run - but the instructor assured me she can go even faster.

It was SO much fun!

The homework I've given myself is to do hundreds of squats.  Everyday.

Ha!

Horse Club Visit

I've talked a bit about the "horse club" which ended up being two horse clubs - a general riding/Yabusame club and a seperate club with a focus on English style riding and jumping.

As of late July/early August there is a third club in the area, brand new.  It is the Misawa Horse Park and is closest of all, only about 10 miles away!  They are another general riding/Yabusame club and are being built from the ground up.  Right now they have four horses, or as most might think, based on size: three ponies and one horse.

Back in early August, a Japanese friend arranged for me to visit the park, right after they initially opened.  She served as my translator for setting up the visit and while we were there.  I was offered a ride on one of their horses and most happily accepted.

I rode "Mulan", probably considered a pony by height, but very stocky.  She is a sweetheart.

She is also a Yabusame horse and came to the Misawa club from the other Yabusame club.

I was introduced to all four of the horses at the Misawa club, but could only remember one other name, in addition to Mulan.  That was Judy.  Easy to remember, since Judy is the name of my sweet dressage instructor and friend back in South Dakota.  Judy is the one "horse" at the park.

This past Monday, my Japanese friend made arrangements for us to have another visit.  I haven't been feeling well the past couple of weeks (the past couple of months if I'm being totally honest), but I hoped a visit to the horses would cheer me up, even on a gloomy, rainy day.

When we got there, the horses were all out in the big pen, eating their breakfasts.  I would have been okay to just watch them and take pictures, but the girl working there asked when horse I wanted to see.  I said any of them would be fine.  She went out and came back with:

Judy.

Our entire visit was Judy munching grass while I petted her and inhaled the wet horse smell.

I also took lots of pictures of her.

She had a really pretty halter on, with what appeared to be tooled leather and painted pink flowers.

Unfortunately I didn't get a good picture of it.

I did get a bunch of pictures of her.

Including some closeups.  Pinto horses are such a wealth of interesting markings.

We didn't stay long; it was a cold, rainy day and I didn't want to interrupt the goings on there (though Judy didn't seem to mind having some grass instead of hay).  We did make arrangements for my next visit - this coming Saturday!  I am supposed to meet with another Japanese woman who is taking Yabusame lessons there and speaks English.  I'm looking forward to maybe making another horse friend here and being around the horses again.

Almost Wordless Wednesday - Jumping in Japan

This past weekend was a horse festival in the nearby city of Towada.  Last year it was held on one weekend, with a large Yabusame (Japanese horse archery) competition and also a jumping competition.  This year it was held over two weekends.  The first was the main Yabusame competition and the next, last weekend, was the jumping portion.

Quick Post - Pony Ride

One year ago I was randomly able to ride a horse at a big horse festival.  I had thought I would be given a "pony ride" but didn't even care; I had wanted to be on a horse SO badly.  On that day, it turned out I was able to ride all by myself.

Today = pony ride.

But still, I rode a(nother) horse!

Actually...  I rode two horses today.  More on that, and this year's horse festival - which was actually held over the past TWO weekends, coming soon.

Almost Wordless Wednesday: Strong Horses 2016

I took a LOT of pictures at the Strong Horse Iron Pull event, weekend before last.

In this post I'll show several of them, chosen from the 900+ pictures (and some video) that I took.  

For more about the event, you can check out my posts from last year.  I did a four part series on the event.  

Part One and Part Two talk about the event.

Part Three highlights some of the horses, and Part Four looks at the ponies.

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(Next planned picture post = ponies!!)