Kiichi Harada Explained

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Kiichi Harada 30px
Full Name:原田 喜市 (はらだ きいち)
Nationality:
Birth Date:1972 11, df=yes
Birth Place:Yamagata Prefecture
Sport:Dressage
Club:Hiruzen Horse Park
Coach:Christoph Koschel

Kiichi Harada is a Japanese Olympic Dressage rider.[1] Representing Japan, he competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro where he finished 45th in the individual and 11th in the team competition.

Kiichi was born into the horse riding world, the oldest son of the owner of the Nishizao Horse Riding Club in Yamagata Prefecture. He started riding at age 6, motivated by the receipt of a pony as a birthday present. At age 17 he began training under Masayasu Sugitani, owner of the Sugitani Riding Club in Izumi City, Osaka. In 2000 he moved to Okayama in preparation for the 2005 National Sports Festival of Japan in Okayama, where he won both the Eventing and Dressage categories. Immediately after the successful competition he moved to Hiruzen, Okayama Prefecture, where in 2007 he became the President of the Maniwa City Hiruzen Kougen Riding Park, more commonly known as Hiruzen Horse Park. From 2005 to 2016 Kiichi had 143 tournament wins recognized by the Japan Equestrian Federation. In 2014 he started focusing solely on Dressage. His score in the individual Dressage competition at the 2016 Summer Olympics has thus far been the highest score ever attained by a Japanese rider at the Olympic Games.

Competition

Date Show Competition Position Horse
12/12/2021Japan National Dressage Championships - TokyoGrand Prix and GP Special [2] 1FAIRYTALE S
28/02/2020 Global Dressage Festival in Wellington, Florida CDI3* Grand Prix Freestyle to Music 1 FAIRYTALE S
27/02/2020 Global Dressage Festival in Wellington, Florida CDI4* Grand Prix 1 EGISTAR
21/02/2020 Global Dressage Festival in Wellington, Florida CDI3* Grand Prix Freestyle to Music [3] 1 EGISTAR
20/02/2020 Global Dressage Festival in Wellington, Florida CDI3* Grand Prix [4] 1 EGISTAR
08/11/2015 Miki CDI3* Grand Prix Special 1 EGISTAR
07/11/2015 Miki CDI3* Grand Prix 1 EGISTAR
11/10/2003 Miki-Hyogo - not FEI approved CIC1* 1 REILY

Old Friends Japan

In April 2021 Kiichi spearheaded the foundation of Old Friends Japan,[5] a retraining and retirement facility for off-track Thoroughbred racehorses in Hiruzen, Okayama. Old Friends Japan got its name from Old Friends Equine, an equine aftercare and retirement facility run by Mr. Michael Blowen [6] in Georgetown, Kentucky.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Kiichi Harada. fei.org . 4 March 2020.
  2. Web site: Kiichi Harada Wins 2021 Japanese Grand Prix Championship. 2022-02-11. Eurodressage. en.
  3. Web site: 2020-02-22. Kiichi Harada Captures Wellington CDI3* Grand Prix Freestyle for 2nd Victory in 2 Days. 2022-02-11. Dressage-News. en-US.
  4. Web site: 2020-02-20. Kiichi Harada & Egistar Post First CDI Grand Prix Victory Outside Japan for First Japanese National Anthem at Florida’s Global Dressage Festival. 2022-02-11. Dressage-News. en-US.
  5. Web site: Homepage Retired Racehorses. 2022-02-11. Old Friends Japan. en-US.
  6. Web site: Old Friends Farm a Decades-Long Journey for Michael Blowen. 2022-02-11. www.americasbestracing.net. en.