Yabusame - Horseback Archery
Finally, Yabusame!!
At last! After taking horseback riding lessons at my in-laws' place, I finally got to try Yabusame!
I’ve always wanted to do it—mainly because it just looks so cool.
Since I was looking for a place within a doable day trip from the Kanto area, I ended up going here:
🔗 https://yamatohorsepark.com/
First, picking out the outfit.
The costume is optional, but since I traveled pretty far for this, I figured I might as well wear it.
I’m used to wearing regular kimono for my Nihon Buyo (Japanese dance) lessons, but the hakama for Yabusame was way flashier. Plus, there were all sorts of gear, like wrist guards to keep the sleeves out of the way and protect the shoulder when drawing the bow.
Next, archery lessons.
I’ve never done kyudo (Japanese archery) or archery in general, so I was starting from absolute zero.
Even so, they taught me how to hold the bow properly, and I managed to get some arrows flying… sort of.
Then, getting on the horse.
I was so glad I had ridden horses a few times at my in-laws’ place beforehand.
Just knowing small things—like how much momentum to use when mounting or which parts of the horse are okay to touch—made such a huge difference in my confidence. I thought riding two or three times before wouldn’t help much, but it totally did.
If you’re thinking about trying Yabusame, I recommend getting some riding practice first, well, if possible.
The main event.
The course was a few hundred meters long with three targets set up. I got to do five runs, which meant I had 15 chances to shoot.
Since controlling the horse and shooting at the same time was way beyond my skill level, I rode with a lead horse walking pace.
But… I didn’t hit a single target. 😂
Actually, before even worrying about hitting the target, I could barely get the arrows to fly. I completely wasted about 10 out of my 15 shots just because I lacked the technique.
That said, when I did manage to shoot properly, I think I came pretty close (or at least I want to believe that). Either way, I had an absolute blast.
Sakura, the horse, walked so smoothly to make it easier for me, and yet I couldn’t deliver results—sorry, Sakura.
The American couple.
There just so happened to be a couple from the U.S. who came to try Yabusame at the same time as me.
Unlike me, they had no experience with archery, but they were very experienced riders—apparently, one of them had worked in cattle ranching before.
So, naturally, they jumped straight into attempting Yabusame at a trotand canter.
Watching them, though, their arms were bouncing all over the place, and they barely had time to nock an arrow. In the end, they gave up on using the bow and just started throwing the arrows instead. 😂
Interestingly, at full gallop, the vertical movement actually stabilizes, but at that speed, you don’t have any time to properly set up a shot. Meaning, Yabusame is pretty much impossible for beginners.
Now I’m curious—how well could someone do if they’re experienced in both horseback riding and kyudo, but have never combined the two before?
Wrapping up with some horse-watching.
Before heading home, I took some time to admire the horses at the park.
Honestly, don’t horses get cuter every time you look at them?
At first, they all just looked the same—brown, white, that’s about it. But now, after spending time around them at my in-laws' place, I can start to notice things like, “Oh, this one’s really muscular” or “That one has such big, round eyes” or “This little one’s still a baby!”
Understanding things makes everything more fun. Even the horses that were banging on the fences seemed adorable to me.
Bonus: My complete failure at horse terminology.
One random struggle—I had no clue about horse-related vocabulary.
The American couple was saying things like “trotting” and “cantering,” while the Japanese staff were talking about “常歩” (walking) and “速歩” (trotting). Then they looked at me to translate.
I had zero idea what “cantering” or “速歩” meant, so I just blurted out, “Uh, they want to try the next level up from walking for Yabusame…?” 😭
Well, at least I memorized 常歩・速歩・駈歩 by the end of the day.
Translating technical terms is so tough. It’s not just about knowing English and Japanese—it really takes broad knowledge in different fields.
All in all, it was an incredibly fun and educational day.
Next time, I want to try an actual trail ride!