Songsan Riding School

Gwangju’s Best-Hidden Treasure

Written and photographed by Melline Galani.

Before Children’s Day, I was in desperate need of ideas for what I could do to entertain my kids on that day. After the prolonged virus-induced period indoors, I though the best option was something outside in the middle of nature if possible, but not too far from Gwangju. As I was talking with a colleague about this, she asked me what my children would like to do and my answer was horseback riding, thinking that was not a viable option in Gwangju.

Then my coworker suggested the Songsan Riding School (송산승마스쿨), and I thought I should give it a try. It was probably the best decision I’ve made recently. One aspect I should mention is that both my children had previous experiences with horses. My daughter has loved these animals since she was little. Although they didn’t take regular riding lessons, we’d go from time to time to an animal farm or an adventure park back home, where they rode animals from smaller horses like ponies to bigger ones like Lipizzans.

On Children’s Day the weather was fine, a bit windy but still warm. We arrived at the Songsan School at about 11 a.m. I was afraid that the place would be packed, but I guess we were lucky because even though there were a number of people, it was far from being crowded. We left the car in the parking lot near the ticket office and headed inside. We were surprised to find that the place was more than just a horseback riding school, more like an animal farm with some experience areas. From the time we arrived, it somehow reminded us of the animal farms we used to go to back home.

The school offers many activities and horseback riding lessons; they even have a sort of club where people can take out a membership. I think it’s best to make a prior reservation for the lessons (especially during summertime when it’s more packed), but we were lucky enough to find an available time. One lesson is about forty-five minutes, and I paid 70,000 won per child. It’s not cheap, but horseback riding is not an inexpensive sport. During the lesson, my children learned how to guide and command the horse, how to move at the same pace as the animals, and the most interesting aspect, how to gallop. The personnel are excellent, and they also have an English-speaking foreigner working there (she’s an experienced horseback rider and explains everything in detail).

But the Songsan School has more to offer. For those who don’t want to learn how to ride but just experience the feeling of horseback riding, there’s an experience consisting of riding ponies or horses (not big ones though) for three rounds. We paid 10,000 won per child for the three rounds. Depending on the child’s age and preferences, the caretaker chooses a pony or a horse. There’s also a small animal farm where young children can see pigs, cows, guinea pigs, sheep, and of course, horses. We even found some cute puppies to play with. There’s no fee for visiting this area. Since the place is quite vast, there’s also a pond with a lot of fish in it (you may feed the fish with special food costing 1,000 won). Walking toward the alley near the pond, there’s a snack shop with ramyeon, coffee, and snacks. Those who want to pay 5,000 won will get a basket full of hay and carrots to feed the animals at another experience zone. They have rabbits, goats, sheep, and horses. I think the rabbits were stuffed already because they didn’t eat, but the rest of the animals were more than keen to receive food and were comically friendly. We had so much fun. The feeling of animals eating from your hand is amazing. I’d almost forgotten what it felt like.

The riding school also has a substantial picnic area with wooden tables and benches, including a wooden swing, and a nice meadow in front of it. Balls and badminton rackets are free to use. We had ramyeon there along with some snacks and played for a while. At the end of the day, my children told me they’d had the best day since they moved to Korea. I guess that’s enough to get an impression of what Songsan is like.

This is the kind of place where you could spend an entire day outside experiencing diverse activities or just go for a picnic. There’s no doubt that we’re going to spend quite a few more days here during this summer. 

Songsan Riding School (송산승마스쿨)

Address: Gwangju, Gwangsan-gu, 68-100 Gasaman-gil

광주 광산구 가삼안길 68-100 송산승마스쿨

Phone: 062-943-7100

Operating Hours: Daily 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m., closed on Mondays

THE AUTHOR

Melline Galani is a Romanian enthusiast, born and raised in the capital city of Bucharest, who is currently living in Gwangju. She likes new challenges, learning interesting things, and is incurably optimistic. Instagram: @melligalanis