By KAZUKI ENDO/ Staff Writer
November 19, 2024 at 16:18 JST
Draft horses compete in the "banei keiba" horse race in Obihiro, Hokkaido. The photo is not related to the incident. (Kengo Hiyoshi)
HOKUTO, Yamanashi Prefecture--A 4-year-old girl from Fujisawa in Kanagawa Prefecture had the tip of her finger bitten off by a horse at a commercial horse-riding facility here on Nov. 18.
The incident occurred at around 2:10 p.m. at the Yatsugatake Long Riding facility in the Kobuchisawacho district of Hokuto.
The girl was sent to the hospital, but the severity of her injury is unknown.
Police are investigating the incident, including looking into the horse's management practices, with the possibility of charges of professional negligence resulting in injury being filed.
According to the Hokuto Police Station and the Kyohoku fire department office, the girl was visiting the facility with her family for a horseback riding experience.
The girl was leaning over a fence to feed a horse that was grazing in a pasture when the tip of her finger was bitten off, the Yatsugatake Long Riding facility reported.
Staff urge visitors to use a shovel to feed the horses to ensure their safety whenever they feel it’s necessary.
However, the incident occurred while staff were momentarily responding to other visitors.
The facility said it will prevent a recurrence by taking measures such as requiring visitors of elementary school age or younger to use shovels when feeding horses.
Video game fuels movement to save retired racehorses
August 27, 2022
Aiko bids beloved horse farewell in rare visit to Imperial Palace
May 12, 2021
Singer MISIA hurt in fall from horse during TV news show shoot
November 19, 2020
Ex-racehorse earning his oats as part of Tokyo mounted police
April 22, 2020
Tighter rein on racehorses after a string of runaway cases
September 27, 2020
Emperor’s visit to track part of imperial family’s bond with horses
November 14, 2023
Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors.
A peek through the music industry’s curtain at the producers who harnessed social media to help their idols go global.
Cooking experts, chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life.
A series based on diplomatic documents declassified by Japan’s Foreign Ministry
A series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II
