Horses in field

Music

Starts: 01.00.00

Colgan:  Cheju Island is known the land over for its horses.

00.18

Singing

00.23

Colgan:  The Mongols brought the first ones here a little over seven hundred years ago, and since then, the island has made its living from them.

00.25

They race horses on Cheju, but they also eat them.

00.34

Han Sung Teck:  Here at this farm, we use the horses for breeding.

00.41

Han Sung Teck

the strongest ones are kept for racing - these weak ones are used for horsemeat and for medicine.

Trainer in stable

Colgan:  Now Cheju Islanders have found another use for their horses.

00.59

Han Sung Teck:  If they're good for fighting we're willing to use them for fighting instead.

01.04

Colgan:  This stallion is headed for the fighting ring.

01.16

Music

01.18

Cup Day on Cheju  Island

Colgan:  Cup Day on Cheju  Island is like no other Cup Day anywhere on earth. Sure, the punters like to see the horseflesh before the big event. Trackside, the ladies have on their best chapeaux, and as always, the organisers pray the rain will hold off. But that's where the likeness ends.

01.29

Horse fight

FX:  Horses/Crowd

01.51

Colgan:  The enticement to fight is that most basic of baits - a mare on heat. And if they have to, two stallions will fight to the death to win.

02.10

Local businessman and farmer, Kim Byung Yong, is the man behind the horse fighting. It's his millions of won paying for this even, and his horses are leading the field.

02.25

Kim Byung Yong:  I want to see everyone who loves horses

02.37

Kim Byung Yong

take part in this event and make this Cheju Island's biggest tourist attraction.

Colgan:   I can't tell you who the Cup favourite is - none of these horses have names. Their owners don't like to get too attached.

02.51

Horse fight

Colgan:  An animal wins points for biting the other's mane, for kicking and for getting closest to the mare. Points are lost for being knocked to the ground or running away. The real crowd pleasers are the bouts of sustained biting and the awesome spectacle of the horses fighting chest to chest.

03.03

Kim Byung Yong

Kim Byung Yong:  Horses have a natural instinct to fight for the females - and horse fighting simply brings that basic instinct  out of the animal.

03.26

Colgan:  This is just the third horse fighting event, not surprisingly animal rights groups blocked Mr. Kim's early attempts to get the sport going.

03.38

Often the stallions are completely ill-matched. And while I watched, several of them took a real beating.

      04.30

True, they had a field veterinarian watching the proceedings, but he was busy doubling as a commentator for Mr. Kim when I asked his opinion of this so-called sport.

04.38

Chang Deuk Jee

Chang Deuk Jee:  Well, we've had a few events before now and there were no incidents of serious injury to the horses - nor was anyone particularly disgusted by the fights.  So I think we can make this into a big tourist attraction for Cheju.

04.49

Colgan:  So much for an objective view. But much like a bullfight, this is what the crowd came to see. 

05.08

And the bloodier it got, the louder the cheers.

05.18

Music

05.29

Horse fight

Colgan:  At last we have our two finalists - the favourite is Mr. Kim's horse, the stallion we followed from the stables.

05.43

The championship is a scrappy affair.

05.58

But when the gong sounds, surprise, surprise, Mr. Kim's horse is the winner.  He gets to present the trophy to his own stable hand and to keep his 2.7 million won in prize money.

06.05

Post-Cup dinner

His post-Cup dinner? Well he forgoes the champagne and caviar, preferring instead strong Korean liquor and a horsemeat barbecue. No, not the runner up.

06.30

Oh, and there'll be no barbecue or pet food factory for our champion just yet either. He's won the chance to live, love and fight another day.

06.48

Ends: 00.07.07

CREDITS

Reporter        JILL COLGAN

Camera         GEOFFREY LYE

Sound           JUN MATSUZONO

Editor            JUN MATSUZONO