Jeju Horses: A Rich Equestrian History on “The Hawai’i of Korea” An article by Matthew Caracciolo

 

Jeju Horses: A Rich Equestrian History on “The Hawai’i of Korea” An article by Matthew Caracciolo

Archived from the April 2021 Issue of Florida Equine Athlete
No duplication without permission

This month I am pleased to share an article by my friend Matthew Caracciolo, a travel writer from Ohio. Several years ago, Matt journeyed to South Korea as an English teacher. His stories of the city and countryside are heartfelt and engaging. I hope you enjoy Matt’s article about Korea’s Jeju Horse…

Over 3,000 islands surround the coast of South Korea, but none loom as large or as popular as Jeju-do.

Far enough south to avoid the Korean Peninsula’s harsh winters, subtropical Jeju-do (“do” is Korean for “island”) differentiates itself from the rest of South Korea with its bizarre volcanic geography, blue-water beaches, elderly Haenyeo women divers, and cuisine—all making it a popular vacation destination for Koreans, Chinese, and others living in East Asia. Often dubbed by local tourism agencies as “The Hawai’i of Korea,” the potato-shaped island sports an additional, lesser-known claim to fame as home to the Jeju Horse.

The stout breed, standing 11 to 12 hands with a long body and oversized head, was nearly bred out of existence as foreign breeds arrived on the island in greater numbers in the 20^th century. In 1986, the Korean government established the Jeju Horse as National Monument No. 347, granting it protection from extinction and preserving pure-bred herds. Ironically, Jeju Horses exist by way of foreign influence.

Horses have a long history on the island, with excavated teeth dating back to at least the Bronze Age. Jeju-do’s equestrian destiny changed forever when, in 1276, impressed by the island’s temperate climate, grasslands, and lack of large predators, conqueror Kublai Khan brought 160 of his Mongolian horses to the island. Locals crossbred the stout Mongolian herd with the indigenous horses, leading to the creation of the Jeju breed. For 100 years, Jeju-do supplied as many as 20,000 horses to the Mongol Empire as the invaders used the island as a base for regional conquest. With the horses they could keep, the locals used the breed as draft or farm horses.

After the Mongols left, the Korean government for centuries continued to demand horses from Jeju-do as tribute. The system persisted up until Japanese occupation in the early 20^th century, which interrupted the island’s horse culture with improved transportation and evacuations of the interior, leaving some horses without owners. During the bloody Jeju Uprising in the 1940’s, in which the South Korean government violently suppressed the island’s communist insurgency, horses wandering the countryside were slaughtered to remove a potential food supply for rebels hiding in the interior. Mid-century, racing became popular and horsemen brought foreign breeds to the island which further dwindled the Jeju Horse’s gene pool. By the 1980’s, only 1,000 pure-bred Jeju Horses remained.

Today, under government protection and renewed interest as a cultural asset and tourist attraction, numbers have rebounded and the horse’s allure has reclaimed Jeju-do’s place as Korea’s horse center. With dormant volcano Hallasan as a backdrop, horse-riding trails and race tracks populate the rural interior of the island. Jeju-do holds several festivals in October celebrating the Jeju Horse with racing, parades, and yes…the eating of horse meat. Out of a total of only about 30,000 horses in the entire country, nearly half live on the island.

There’s an old Korean saying that roughly translates to “send people to Seoul and horses to Jeju.” In a country that has witnessed tremendous political and economic change in the last century, at least one adage stands true.

Matthew Caracciolo is a travel writer and native to Columbus, Ohio. You can read more about Jeju-do and other Korean travels in his travelogue/memoir The Waygook Book: A Foreigner’s Guide to South Korea, which chronicles his two years spent in the country as a Native English Teacher.