When I was small, I lived next to a horse pasture. There were no more than three horses at any one time and they all seemed pretty old and calm, as I remember it. I used to run past them and dart towards the trees at the corner of the fence. There I had a fort. I would build seats and tables. Tie ropes to hang things. Pretty much everything an American kid would do in the late 1980s.
I never had much of fascination with horses though. Didn’t think they were epic or elegant. Never drew any pictures of them. My sisters didn’t dream of owning ponies growing up. The just seemed to exist and so did I.
Since moving to Vietnam, however, I have seen very few of these creatures. And whenever I do, I stop and find myself getting lost in thought. I once saw a horse-drawn cart moving through the city, quite fast even. No one seemed to notice it out of the ordinary. Another time I came across a pasture where people were flying kites all around the horses. The energy was peaceful and calming.
One of the most remarkable things I’ve seen in Vietnam were what seemed to be two wild horses roaming through a cemetery in the mountain town of Da Lat. They would graze from grave site to grave site. And when you approached they would gallop away leaping majestically over the tombs of the departed.
Last week I spent the day at Phu Tho Racing Track. Established in 1932 it is the first and only race track in Vietnam. The track has about 850 horses at its disposal – most being extremely small racing horses under 250 kg. Only 10 of them are pure breed and are imported abroad. Foreigners usually called it Donkey Racing because of their small size.
Horses under 250 kg require their riders to be less than 38 kg. Most of the owners choose children as their jockeys from ages 10-17. Even then, some weight reduction methods are used.
According to newspaper articles, the race track is facing the possibility of closure because the Department of Human Resources in Vietnam is accusing them of illegal employment of children. Only 10 out of the 50 jockeys satisfy all requirements to ride. The most difficult requirement being over the age of 18 and less than 38 kg.
Most of the child riders are from poor families. Some of them are the sole source of income. They earn 500k VND a month for taking care of the horse and another 5 million VND as a rider. Or about $288 USD a month total. Owners are currently trying to import more horses from Australia so that they can start using adults as the riders. These horses range from $5,000-10,000 USD.
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Kevin German is a photographer who lives and works in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. His column, “The Motorbike Diaries” appears every other Wednesday. He is a founding member of LUCEO.
When I was small, I lived next to a horse pasture. There were no more than three horses at any one time and they all seemed pretty tame and calm, as I remember it. I used to run past them and dart towards the trees at the corner of the fence. There I had a fort. I would build seats and tables. Tie ropes to hang things. Pretty much everything an American kid would do in the late 1980s.
I never had much of fascination with horses though. Didn’t think they were epic or elegant. Never drew any pictures of them. My sisters didn’t dream of owning ponies growing up. They just seemed to exist and so did I.
Since moving to Vietnam, however, I have seen very few of these creatures. And whenever I do, I stop and find myself getting lost in thought. I once saw a horse-drawn cart moving through the city, quite fast even. No one seemed to notice it out of the ordinary. Another time I came across a pasture where people were flying kites all around the horses. The energy was peaceful and calming.
One of the most remarkable things I’ve seen in Vietnam were what seemed to be two wild horses roaming through a cemetery in the mountain town of Da Lat. They would graze from grave site to grave site. And when you approached they would gallop away leaping majestically over the tombs of the departed.
Last week I spent the day at Phu Tho Racing Track. Established in 1932 it is the first and only race track in Vietnam. The track has about 850 horses at its disposal – most being extremely small racing horses under 250 kg. Only 10 of them are pure breed and are imported abroad. Foreigners usually called it Donkey Racing because of their small size.
Horses under 250 kg require their riders to be less than 38 kg. Most of the owners choose children as their jockeys from ages 10-17. Even then, some weight reduction methods are used.
According to newspaper articles, the race track is facing the possibility of closure because the Department of Human Resources in Vietnam is accusing them of illegal employment of children. Only 10 out of the 50 jockeys satisfy all requirements to ride. The most difficult requirement being over the age of 18 and less than 38 kg.
Most of the child riders are from poor families. Some of them are the sole source of income. They earn 500k VND a month for taking care of the horse and another 5 million VND as a rider. Or about $288 USD a month total. Owners are currently trying to import more horses from Australia so that they can start using adults as the riders. These horses range from $5,000-10,000 USD.
***
Kevin German is a photographer who lives and works in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. His column, “The Motorbike Diaries” appears every other Wednesday. He is a founding member of LUCEO.
When I was small, I lived next to a horse pasture. There were no more than three horses at any one time and they all seemed pretty old and calm, as I remember it. I used to run past them and dart towards the trees at the corner of the fence. There I had ...
Abigail Nguyen
December 22nd, 2010, 9:20 pm #
Why is one of the horses so skinny? That is horrible.