Starting point of the place
Wondang's wide pastures and white fences look like a natural rural landscape, but this landscape is the result of an industrial facility that breeds and trains horses. The guide to Goyang Nuri-gil explains that this place was created as an obstacle course ahead of the 1988 Seoul Olympics, and was later converted into a ranch for breeding and breeding stallions and supporting breeding techniques. If you check the purpose of the land and facilities before appreciating the ‘European-like scenery,’ you can see that the ranch is not a background for tourist photos, but a production base for the horse racing and horse industry.
Landscape changed by time
The grassland is not the only important factor in a stallion ranch. The daily work of managing the horses' bloodlines, health and quarantine, feeding, breeding schedules, stable cleaning and training maintains the landscape. The results that spectators see on race day lie behind these invisible processes. The horse industry connects not only sports and leisure, but also veterinary, training, transportation, and equipment fields. Introducing the ranch as a simple walking attraction erases all the reasons for the need for animal and human work hours and access control.
People and issues in the story
The fact that a modern ranch is located close to Seosamneung Tomb Station is also a unique feature of Wondang. As the green space around the royal tombs and agricultural and livestock facilities continued, a wide suburban landscape was maintained within the metropolitan area. However, not all parks with green space are public parks. The royal tomb's cultural heritage management area, the ranch's business space, and the surrounding village roads have different operating entities and usage rules. The land that appears as a green lump on the map must be divided according to actual ownership and function.
What travelers will read on the spot
Visitors must check whether it is open or not through official channels on the day. Entry conditions may vary depending on horse disease prevention or facility operation, and entering outside of the open area affects safety and animal management. If you use Goyang Nuri-gil and Seosamneung-gil, you can see the suburban structure between Seosamneung, Nonghyup University, Suyeok Village, and Wondang Station without consuming just one ranch. At this time, rather than just taking pictures of the ranch as a beautiful background, a way to get closer to this place is to observe what kind of work the fences, stables, and management roads were arranged for.
How to check data
If you are recording the landscape of a ranch, it is more informative to distinguish areas where horses stay, trails allowed for visitors, and trails used by management vehicles than seasonal pasture color. The history of filming dramas has led the public to recognize this place as a rural landscape, but it does not replace the core function of the ranch. The list of filming locations should check when the work was aired and whether it was actually filmed, and should not be mixed with whether it is currently open or not. It is important to record both the characteristics of beautiful scenes and industrial facilities simultaneously. The conclusion of this article is limited to the scope confirmed by field observations and two official data, and should be revised if operation and research results change in the future.