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The 25th Asakusa Yabusame horseback archery was held on April 21, 2007 at Sumida Park.
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Entrance road to JRA (Japan Racing Association) Ritto Training Center. MAP
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Parallel to Sumida River, the archery course is straight and narrow, stretching from the Tobu Line bridge to Kototoi Bridge.
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Kachidoki (Victory) Bridge with race horse motif.
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The course has three targets which the archers will shoot arrows at.
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Bridge sidewalk.
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Raised dirt along the archery course.
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Kachidoki Bridge
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First, the horses, archers, and attendants parade along the entire course.
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Map of Ritto Training Center. Horse stables dominate the area.
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Wooden targets
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Welcome to the JRA office, where the free 90 min. (1 pm - 2:30 pm) tour starts. (Reservations by phone required.)
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Archer
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24-hour strict security in place. Since 1969, the government-run Japan Racing Association (JRA) has trained jockeys and race horses in Ritto. It offers free tours of this large, impressive facility on Sunday afternoons and early Wednesday mornings.
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Yabusame archer
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Starting gate training ground.
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Starting gates. The left gate has the largest width for beginner horses until they can get used to the narrow gates on the right. Some horses refuse to leave the gate.
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What the horse sees inside the narrow starting gate.
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Practice track
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Deer skin
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Practice horse track at JRA Ritto Training Center in Ritto.
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Setting up the wooden target.
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Bull's eye. This is the third and last target along the course. It is quite difficult to hit all three targets, especially the last one.
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The training track consists of several different tracks with grass, dirt, or wood chips.
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The horseback archer raises his bow and arrow high in the air as he nears the target.
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Horse stable model
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Horse feed, mainly grain. No meats.
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Arrow in mid-air. Asakusa Yabusame.
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Swimming pool for horses. There is a circular pool and straight and narrow pools.
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Dead on!
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Horse stables, newly constructed.
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The archers return to the starting point.
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Horse stables.
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Unloaded a horse after a race. Horse trucks often arrived. One truck usually holds up to four horses.
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Memorial for military horses which died.
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Uphill training course with wood chips. 坂路調教馬場
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Uphill training course with observation building. The wood chips are soft, making the horse less prone to injury.
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Shrine maiden on horseback called Munanori Onna. 騎女They escort the Saio-dai Princess.
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Inside the observation building's press room.
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Shrine maiden on horseback called Munanori Onna. They escort the Saio-dai Princess.騎女
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This is the second target at the center of the archery course. This is where the biggest crowd was.
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Shrine maiden on horseback called Munanori Onna.騎女
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Woman archer misses her target.
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Nice view of uphill training course. The wood chips, which eventually wear out, are replaced once a year.
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Shrine maiden on horseback called Munanori Onna.騎女
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The crowd favorite was this high school girl. See the arrow pierce the wooden target.
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View of track from press room.
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Shrine maiden on horseback called Munanori Onna.騎女
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Starting gate on training track.
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With over 30 horses in the procession, this guy will be kept busy...
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Local high school girl proudly rides back to the starting point amid applause.
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The tour includes a ride on a retired race horse.
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This one is named Meisho Ittetsu. メイショウ イッテツ
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Woman archer
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Hoof marks on sand.
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Horse ride.
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Horse ride with a guide guiding the horse.
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This is the first target which is near the starting point. Love it when the target shatters like that.
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No need to say giddy-up.
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The wooden target boards have an envelope of confetti stuck on the back so it explodes when the target breaks apart.
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Washing a horse with warrm water.
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Horse stables.
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Right after hitting the first target, the archer starts to pull out another arrow for the next target.
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Horse stables.
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Don't climb up any trees or step into the azalea bushes please. この叔父、つつじに入っちゃダメですよ。
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Horse stables.
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Horses in stable.
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Unusual horse with a white face.
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The left profile is brown.
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Horseback riding at Kusasenri. 草千里
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Hi horsey!
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Aso Volcano Museum 阿蘇火山博物館
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Staff living quarters
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Free gift given at the end of the tour: Pen, stapler, and ruler set. Very interesting tour even though you don't see any horses running on the track. (That's Wednesday's early morning tour.)
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Sarutahiko on horseback 猿田彦
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Shrine priest
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The main event was yabusame horseback archery.
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Huge crowd. Need to get here early to get a good viewing spot.
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Yabusame is one of Japan's hallmark traditional arts and commonly staged for visiting heads of state at Meiji Shrine.Former US president Ulysses Grant saw it with Emperor Meiji at Ueno Park in 1879, Ronald Reagan in 1983 at Meiji Shrine, George W. Bush (with PM Koizumi) at Meiji Shrine in 2001, and Obama (with Caroline Kennedy) at Meiji Shrine in 2014.
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At the start of the horse track, the fan bearer (扇方 ogikata) uses a large fan to signal that the track is clear for the next archer to run.
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It takes about 20 sec. for the horse to complete the run. It's very difficult for the archer to hit all three targets in a single run, but someone usually does it.
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These archers belong to the Takeda School of mounted archery. They are based in Miura, Kanagawa where they practice almost weekly. They have about 60 members.
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Delighted to see a few women archers too.
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Delighted to see a few women archers at Meiji Shrine yabusame horseback archery on Nov. 3.
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Yabusame is a centuries-old Shinto ceremony to pray for peace in the land and rich harvests. The mounted archery is preceded by a Shinto prayer ceremony. It originated with samurai who had to be skillful mounted archers in medieval battles before guns were introduced.
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There's a 210-meter straight horse track within the shrine's spacious grounds. The track has three targets and each horseback archer gallops at full speed and tries to hit each target with an arrow.
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After all the archers complete their runs, they trot back to the starting point and receive their shot arrows along the way. Each archer's arrows have a unique arrow tip (shape and/or color) so they know which is theirs.They do a few runs and the event lasts for about 2 hours.
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Besides the costumes, the saddles and stirrups are very different from western ones.
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Her arm guard bears her family crest and the sleeve's cuff has a dragonfly that is an auspicious symbol for courage and never retreating or running away. (Dragonflies don't fly backwards.)
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The archer shoots at the first target. The second target is in the middle of the track and the third is toward the end of the track.
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This is Matayoshi Akemi (又吉あけ美). Her long, black hair made her stand out as "A woman archer!" as many exclaimed. They had seven horses that are specially trained for yabusame. Each one has a name. The arrows have blunt wooden tips.
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First they used square wooden targets and then these small targets made of ceramic dishes.
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Yabusame is much more impressive when you see it in person. The costumes, the speed, and the excitement of seeing the archer hitting the target is just so impressive.
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Her formal yabusame kimono (yoroi hitatare 鎧直垂) is light blue. Her left side is covered with a black arm guard (igote 射籠手) to make it easier to shoot the arrow. On her left side, she also wears a tachi sword and the shorter dagger (maezashi 前差し). Right above her forearm, you can see a coil of spare bow string (tsurumaki 弦巻).
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On her legs is a summer pelt of deer fur (muka-baki 行縢). It supposed to cushion any fall from the horse. Fortunately, no one fell off the horse this day.
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When I saw yabusame at Meiji Shrine for the first time years ago, Mifune Toshiro (center) was still alive and he was there. I think he was the bugyo (master of the yabusame proceedings 奉行).Behind him, you can see a white tarp for VIPs. They were sitting in front of the second target. Many foreign diplomats are invited to this event and they sit here.
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Actor Toshiro Mifune presides over the yabusame horseback archery at Meiji Shrine. The first and last time I saw this living legend in person. He was a student of the Takeda School of mounted archery and still has a close connection with the shrine.I think he donated something for the shrine's yabusame.
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Actor Toshiro Mifune at Meiji Shrine.
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Namura Shrine's Sekku Festival's highlight is the yabusame horseback archery. There's a path in front of the Romon Gate for horses. They had two archery targets set up along the path.
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Yabusame horseback archery target.
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The festival started in the afternoon with children carrying mikoshi portable shrines.
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They carried the mikoshi around the Haiden Hall, then went around the neighborhood.
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Meanwhile, a bunch of horses standby in the trees.
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The yabusame (horseback archery) part of the festival finally started at around 4 pm. There were several horseback riders, but only this woman was going to shoot arrows.
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She did a few practice runs first.
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She missed the target the first two times.
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It seemed to be a provincial festival with few tourists. It wasn't so crowded and most people were local people.
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She shoots the arrow...
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This one hit the target.
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Bull's eye. Compared to other yabusame that I've seen, she rode the horse pretty slow.
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After the archer's successful run, the other riders just trotted past a few times without shooting any arrows.
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At least two riders took a spill and fell from the horse. No injuries though, and I filmed one of the riders who fell. See my video below.
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Horseback archer.
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They had seven horses.
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After the yabusame, they carried the mikoshi back.
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They were soon followed by a horse galloping at full speed.
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Yabusame horseback archery is held on the first Sunday in June from 12:30 pm. (Used to be held on Nov. 3.) I believe this is Shiga's only authentic yabusame.
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The yabusame horse track. They first hold a Shinto ceremony at the shrine.
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Reserved seating available for a few hundred yen.
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The archers first held a prayer ceremony in the Naihaiden Hall.
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After the ceremony, they leave the worship hall and head for the horses.
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The first target.
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Three targets and each archer galloped at full speed to try and hit all three targets. Each archer made several runs and it was dramatic to watch.
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I came to see this to pray for a good Year of the Horse in 2014, the following year.
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Hit target
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Resupply of arrows on the way back.
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Now a much smaller target.
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The morning procession leaves Taga Taisha at 10:30 am heading for Totonomiya Shrine in Kurusu. It turned out to be pretty far away. 調宮神社 栗栖
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One horse after another leaves the shrine.
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Both mikoshi went over the shrine's steep, arched, stone bridge.
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The main mikoshi leaves Taga Taisha.
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They raise the mikoshi high up.
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The procession first goes on a major highway where one lane is closed to traffic.
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They pass by Taga Taisha's rice paddy where they hold the rice-planting festival in June.
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Shrine maiden dancers. 舞女
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We are going way deep into the countryside, toward the mountains in Taga.
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Taga Matsuri Festival on April 22, Shiga Prefecture. 多賀まつり
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The kids wore this cushion-like padding on their backs.
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Totonomiya Shrine
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Everyone started to arrive.
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The procession is ready to head back by 1 pm.
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Leaving Kurusu.
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Meanwhile, back at Taga Taisha, more people and horses wait to join the procession for the afternoon procession to the Otabisho in Amago, a short distance away.
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The afternoon procession is the main one to leave the shrine at 2 pm. These people will join the morning procession when it arrives here at 2 pm.
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The afternoon procession included these two foxy ladies who supposed to be women warriors on horseback. Also see my YouTube video here.
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Woman warrior on horseback for the Taga Matsuri, Shiga Prefecture. 女武者
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Woman warrior on horseback for the Taga Matsuri, Shiga Prefecture. 女武者
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The morning procession arrives at the shrine.
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The women warriors and more people on horseback start to join the procession.
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