Spring is no time to stay inside, as the bright sunshine and warm breezes beckon everyone outdoors. If you have some exciting fun in mind this spring, how about heading to the Seoul Race Park, where you can enjoy electrifying horse races?

Originally established in Dduk-seom in 1954, the racetracks were moved to Gwacheon in the outskirts of Seoul in time for the 1986 Asian Games and the 1988 Olympics, and after the games the racecourses became a part of the expanded Seoul Race Park, Here’s Mr. Min Byung-hyun of the Seoul Race Park’s Public Relations Department to tell us more about its history.

The Seoul Race Park was opened in 1989 when the equestrian courses for the 1986 Asian Games were combined with park facilities. Visitors can watch about ten races every weekend and visit the equestrian courses for the Asian Games and the Olympics. Families with young children would have a good time at the Pony Land, where they can also enjoy wildflowers, water plays, and children’s racecourse. The Park also has Korea’s only equine museum.

Visitors can take subway line number four to go to the Seoul Race Park. Subway is not the only means to get there, for the park operates a shuttle bus system to ferry visitors to and from subway line three’s Yangjae Station and Yeongdeungpo in southwestern part of Seoul. Don’t be confused when you don’t see the park even after walking a while along the route pointed out by the signs, because here comes a unique transportation mode to take you to the park.

A horseman wearing a cowboy hat appears in a white flower-decorated coach drawn by a horse with shiny fur. A ride on this horse-drawn carriage is free of charge and it’s a great start to your day at the Seoul Race Park.

About a kilometer from the subway station you finally come to the Seoul Race Park. Admission tickets must be purchased at the ticket booth and an admission to the park costs only 800 won, not even a dollar. At this point visitors may wonder where the entrance is, because all they see is a tunnel leading underground. Is this the entrance to the race park?

Once visitors pass through the gate, they’ll see a big horse statue. To the right is the entrance to the park where they need to buy admission tickets. Then they go through the tunnel to enter the family race park. The tunnel also connects to the racetracks. The tunnel was made to look like a cave with big boulders.

Oval in shape, the outer rim of the Seoul Race Park is where races are held and the park is situated inside the main race course. Since it is impossible for visitors to cross the racetracks to get to the park, the underground passageway was created to allow people to reach the park without interrupting the races. Once they come outside the tunnel, they will a vast expanse of green grass. Measuring 132 thousand square meters in area, the park starts at Pony Land located to the north of a soccer field that opened last October.

To allow people to interact with the horses, we have a program that lets up to ten families a day to wash and walk the horses. The hands-on experience program includes washing, feeding, and walking the horses, and riding on the horse-drawn carriage. Pony Land features both the smallest pony and the largest horse in the world. In total it has 19 different ponies in display for the public.

The brightest star among the 19 ponies is the Shetland pony.

That white horse is a miniature horse species called the Shetland pony from the United States. That is a full-grown adult, but it measures only 70 centimeters in height. That species is not grown in Korea, so it’s really popular here. That black horse over there is a Shire. It’s also from the United States and it was used to pull a carriage for ceremonial purposes. It weighs about a ton and measures two meters in height. It may look imposing at first, but people soon take to it, because it’s very good-natured and well-behaved.

Seeing rare breeds of ponies is not all there is to Pony Land. People can feed treats to the horses from the two-meter-high deck and a few lucky visitors can even help bathe the horses.

Enough of just watching the horses. Now it’s time to actually ride the horses. The Seoul Race Park offers a chance to ride horses free of charge to children between the ages of six and thirteen.

They put on protective helmets and carefully climb on the horseback. Horseback riding is an exciting adventure for children. But adults can have fun, too, if they made online reservations ahead of time. For those who didn’t make reservations, there is still a chance to experience horseback riding. They can have a virtual horse-riding experience at the equestrian experience hall.

- This may not be real, but I still had fun with the virtual horse-riding experience. This kind of facility helps people take more interest in horses.

What is the fun of being at the racetrack if one is not betting in the races? On Saturdays and Sundays ten races are held in a day. The races can be seen from the park, but the view is better from the grandstands. Named Happyville and Luckyville, the grandstands can accommodate 77 thousand spectators, and is equipped with numerous TVs to follow the races without missing a beat.

Horses seem to run at the speed of light and the races are over in a blink. But the electrifying thrill felt during those few seconds last for a long time.

- I felt really excited when I saw the horses run. I had a great time with my family.
- My stress was blown away as I watched the race.
- I picked number seven horse and it came in first! It was a different experience. I think another visit would be fun.
- It was fun taking in the race and spending time with my family.

The Seoul Race Park is where Korea’s only equine museum is located. The museum features exhibitions on the roles of horses throughout history, folk artifacts with horse engravings and paintings, equine equipment, horse feed, and everything related to horses. Here’s PR official Min Byung-hyun for the Seoul Race Park to explain more.

This saddle and the stirrups were used by Prince Yeongchin, the son of King Gojong. It is a rare artifact engraved with the pattern of giraffe to indicate that the rider is the legitimate son of a king. There are other equine artifacts, such as a horse-carved badge carried by a secret inspector during the Joseon era. In the older days Koreans used to be a people skilled in horse-riding, but that equine culture vanished one day. Our equine museum was founded to carry on the equine tradition. I hope a lot more people come and see the nation’s only museum devoted to horses and remember the adventurous spirit of our ancestors.

People may not realize the wide variety of horse-related artifacts displayed in the museum unless they actually come and see them. Visitors are often surprised at the pervasiveness of horses in Korean history. The museum showcases the horse-like goblets and urns from the Three Kingdom era, prehistoric earthenware shaped like a horse, and hats and brushes made from the horse’s tail hair. The museum is indeed a place where people can make new discoveries about horses.

- I was curious about how to put on the horseshoes. The photos here showed how it’s done. I didn’t realize how elaborate horse bells can be. This is the first time I learned about the horse bells and found out how decorative they were. They seem to contain the spirit of Korean horsemen.
- I didn’t know much about horses, but here I learned about its history. I touched horsehair for the first time and it felt kind of weird, thinking that this is what Korean men’s traditional headwear is made of. It was amazing.

In addition to the facilities related to horseracing and horses, the Seoul Race Park also has many areas where people can simply relax and enjoy nature. One hottest spot is the elevated lookout huts called wondumak. There are some forty wondumaks in the park where people can take a break and enjoy the breeze.


It’s really cool here. I feel like flying when I’m lying down like this. It’s refreshing, relaxing, and freeing. It feels like I’m out in the field. This is great.

About 300 meters of path lined up with cherry trees run in front of the stilted huts. The peak cherry blossom season may be over, but it’s not too late to walk under the trees and feel the shower of white petals. But if you feel sorry to see the cherry blossoms fall, walk over to the wildflower garden where delicate spring flowers are still in full bloom.

This is the wildflower garden of the Seoul Race Park. It was created to provide home for some 70 wildflower species and ten herb species. They’re categorized by season, and the landscape includes topiaries, water plants, an herb garden, and wooden sculptures.

From late spring to autumn tens of thousands of flowers greet visitors in the Rainbow Garden and the Rose Garden.

These are the Rose Garden of the Seoul Race Park. There are some 7,000 roses from 63 varieties here. This is also a favorite place for marriage proposals. The buds are starting to sprout now, so we’ll see the flowers in full bloom in early May. The garden provides a great backdrop for your photos. Right next to the Rose Garden is the Rainbow Garden where 22 thousand wildflowers of 13 varieties form a rainbow. The wildflower rainbow can be seen from mid-May through late October.

Beautiful flowers and relaxing atmosphere are not the only perks at the Seoul Race Park. Visitors can also rent bicycles, roller blades, and picnic blankets free of charge. This is indeed the best place for a family outing. So how was your day at the Seoul Race Park?

- It was great to have bicycles and roller blades rented free of charge. There are so many things to see here and horse-riding was a great experience. I want to come again.
- It was wonderful. The rentals of a bicycle, a blanket, and roller blades were all free and the admission was only 800 won with a free ride on the horse cart.

The Seoul Race Park is a great day trip destination for those looking for both heart-thumping fun of horseracing and a relaxing day out in nature.