Having honed his equestrian skills in Europe for the past seven and a half years, 28-year-old Ryunosuke Kuroda is now hoping to represent Japan in the team dressage event at this summer¡¯s Tokyo Olympics.
The Hyogo Prefecture-native, who currently resides in the Netherlands, quit university in 2012 so he could practice his riding skills in Germany, arguably the world¡¯s most attractive destination for anyone affiliated with the sport of equestrian.
¡°I did °ì²â¨±»å¨ (Japanese archery) at school but then started riding horses in my late teens because of my mother. She did it as a hobby with her friends but as they started to focus more on golf, she had nobody to go with. Being a good son, I volunteered,¡± Kuroda says with a laugh. ¡°Within six months I¡¯d reached level 10 (in ability) as a rider, which was pretty fast. But then studies took over and I had to take a break from the sport.¡±
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.