Hanshin Farm -- Facilities
Hanshin Farm is a breeding and racing facility located in the rolling hills and coastal plains of the Iburi subprefecture in Hokkaido, Japan. Hokkaido is home to many of leading thoroughbred farms in Japan, and all were observed and studied while designing Hanshin to help create a state-of-the-art facility optimized for its task.
The nearly 2,000 acre property is undulating, featuring many large, hilled pastures. The grounds have yet to be in need of a sprinkler, with the regular precipitation that falls, leaving a lush, green grass of Kentucky Bluegrass, Fescue, and clover. The entire property is surrounded by the highest grade vinyl fencing, which is guaranteed to last a lifetime.
The stallion barn consists of 25 stalls, three tack rooms, and two washing bays. In the center of the barn area is a parade plaza, where any stallion showings to clients take place, and our stallion parade is held. Also, our stallion photoshoots are held there.
Out the rear entry to the stallion barn is the breeding shed. The mares are placed in stalls next to the arena area as they wait their turn, then go in and leave the entrance immediately next to the stalls. The stallions enter through the side door, which is located just yards off the rear entrance of their barn. This way, the stallions learn to associate different behaviors to where they're headed. The breeding shed has an observation room, so that if anything goes wrong for whatever reason, an on-call vet is right there.
The barns are all constructed with premium steel, cinder block, and a plaster stucco finish, with cupolas and high wooden ceilings. Each stall is 14' by 14', to maximize the comfort of our horses, except for the stalls in the breeding shed, which are 12' by 12', though they aren't used as much. The stall fronts and each partition has two high quality mesh-screened windows, to allow the horses to see each other while still allowing privacy. The doors are entirely made of the same type of mesh, and the flooring is brick. Every stall and the aisle-way is equipped with fluorescent lighting to increase the nighttime visibility. The stalls shown below are thanks to Lucas Equine Equipment.
During the cool summers that make the region a tourist destination, all our stock will be turned out for nearly all day and night, only coming in twice in the morning and evening for cleaning, inspection, etc. However, the winters can be quite harsh here, and therefore during the wintry months our horses will spend the nights inside their stalls, which are equipped with heating.
Our stallions are tacked up and ridden daily, partly to keep them well exercised, and also to help maintain a non-studdish behavior outside of the breeding shed. Even our mares, after weaning, will be placed on a free walker once a week to keep them at a manageable condition, though the mares have larger paddocks to occupy, and therefore have more exercise regularly. All of horses in training visit the equine pool daily, to help maintain fitness and for therapeutics. Also, the construction of an indoor training track has allowed the horses in training to continue to work on their conditioning even through the winter months. The training track has a 900m uphill straight on a wood chip surface. Each horse’s sectionals are clocked and recorded via video providing much insight to the development of the horses before progressing on to through their racing career. (Pool photo thanks to Godolphin, and training track thanks to Northern Farm)
Our stallions are tacked up and ridden daily, partly to keep them well exercised, and also to help maintain a non-studdish behavior outside of the breeding shed. Even our mares, after weaning, will be placed on a free walker once a week to keep them at a manageable condition, though the mares have larger paddocks to occupy, and therefore have more exercise regularly. All of horses in training visit the equine pool daily, to help maintain fitness and for therapeutics. Also, the construction of an indoor training track has allowed the horses in training to continue to work on their conditioning even through the winter months. The training track has a 900m uphill straight on a wood chip surface. Each horse’s sectionals are clocked and recorded via video providing much insight to the development of the horses before progressing on to through their racing career. (Pool photo thanks to Godolphin, and training track thanks to Northern Farm)