Takeo City Matsuuri Festival - More horsing around.

This event held every year in Autumn around Japan is called Matsuuri. Matsuuri is a special religious event at the end of the rice harvest. Yabusame is horse archery. The riders have 2 tries at hitting a small wooden target, whilst riding their horse down a narrow course. This year, 3 riders took part in Takeo town's Yabusame competition. The youngest rider was an 18 year old high school student. I think it was her first time. She was very brave and managed to hit many targets. I was talking to one of the local spectators about the great riders at our pony club and he was very impressed. To finish off a great day I was interviewed by the local T.V. channel. 

Yabusame is a ceremony in which archers clad in the hunting outfit of medieval warriors shoot at three targets as they race by on horseback. 

Until the Middle Ages, shooting arrows while riding a horse running at full speed was an important skill for warriors, and yabusame began as a form of military training combining horsemanship and archery. The shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo (1147-1199), who set up his shogunate (military government) in Kamakura, enthusiastically studied and promoted the art. It was under his order that the ritual at Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine started in 1187. Yoritomo hoped to heighten warriors' mental strength and religious devotion by carrying out yabusame as a Shinto ritual.

Relaxing before the event.

The traditional saddle.

The parade before the event.

The rider and horse ready for action.

Deer skin chaps.

Horse and rider working together.

Ready to fire.