The Soma District of Fukushima Prefecture is a famous horse-breeding region, where they hold a festive event called Soma-Nomaoi which has been held there since ancient times. It has also been designated as a significant folk cultural asset of Japan. The highlights of the three-day festival are the Koshiki Kacchu Keiba, in which twelve samurai horsemen clad in armor and helmets, and carrying katana swords all race over a distance of 1,000 meters Then there is the Shinki Sodatsusen, in which several hundred samurai horsemen compete for 40 shrine flags shot into the air with fireworks. People dress in traditional outfits and follow the same traditions that have been passed down for generations through their family.
Japanese Vet Rescuing the Horse
Unfortunately the city was not only left in shambles after the Earthquake and Tsunami Soma City is in Fukushima Prefecture and was ordered to be evacuated as part of the Exclusion Zone. While the task of getting cats and dogs out of these areas because their owners were told to leave them behind or that they would be able to go back the next day or a few days later seems a monumental. It pales in comparison to the task of trying to get out stables full of horses. To be fair not all the horses were just abandoned and their owners actually make daily trips into the exclusion zone to feed the animals they themselves have no way to get them out. In cases were owners aren't going back in to feed their horses and the horse rescue people find out they will go in and feed them until a rescue plan is put into effect.
One of 8 horses I could confirm as rescued
The roads are torn apart and so each horse must be convinced to walk out amid all the debris and strangeness to get themselves to safety. Horses are very sensitive creatures and I am sure that most of the horses in this areas are not in great mental health. The trip to safety is long and gasoline is still scarce in some areas. Roads are still closed so a trip that should take 5 hours is taking several days because they have to go slow over the road damage to protect the horses from injury. Once they do manage to get the horses to safety on the other side of the country they need to have adequate shelter and roper diet in place. Its not like taking in an extra dog or two to foster or squeezing two to a crate in a shelter or just using crates to house animals for the night. Horses are giant animals that require specialized care and a lot of space to move around and proper exercise to help them become healthy.
Another horse confirmed rescued.
For those of you who have seen the footage of the horses in the news piece (sorry no one has been able to help me locate it to add here) that were emaciated. I am hay to report that horse rescues were already aware of the situation and had been going in to begin feeding the horses to help them regain some of their strength for the journey while the details of their rescue are worked out among the horse stables in non-effected areas of the country. With horses more-so then with dog or cats most horses are registered with an organization or the stables where the horses are kept are part of a larger network of horse lovers so it was much easier for them to try and find the stable and horse owners to access the situation at each location and how they can help.
Another one of the 8 horses confirmed rescues from Fukushima
The different horse organization in Japan are holding fundraiser in order to help as many of the horses in the Exclusion Zone as possible. At this time I do not have any information about sending contributions to these organization from overseas.
Hisaiba is an information service about horses affected by the disaster that was created by The Retired Horse Association, a registered NPO that takes care of retired race horses. They are in touch with a Nakano-san from another horse-related NPO called 馬とあゆむSOMA (Uma to Aruka Soma Walking with Horses [trans. mine]), who reports that the situation in Soma is worsening. If you can read Japanese you can follow them on twitter http://twitter.com/hisaiba
Horse Rescues are looking for people willing to properly shelter horses that are taken out of the Exclusion Zone and away from damaged stables and towns. There is a desperate need for proper shelter for the horses before they can be rescued from the Exclusion Zone. If you are able to offer a temporary home for even one of these horses please contact:
http://www.rha.or.jp/hisaiba-info/index.html
All Information about these horses seem to exist only in Japanese:
http://equinefacilitatedproject.blogspot.com/
http://www.rha.or.jp/hisaiba-info/index.html
http://uma-furusato.com/news/detail/_id_58582