The unique hook to the anime horse girls of Umamusume: Pretty Derby is that the characters are each based on actual famous race horses. With the sports sim's surging popularity in North America, this may be seeing an interest among new fans to visit the real horses themselves. With that in mind, the game's developer Cygames has published guidelines for people wishing to visit stables.
Umamusume: Pretty Derby has already been a hit in Japan since the original mobile release in 2021, spawning manga, anime, and even a stage adaptation. But since its global release last month, strong word of mouth, including streams from mainstream creators like Northernlion and Vinesauce, has helped catapult it to widespread attention, where earlier this week it hit its all-time-peak of just over 50,000 concurrent players on Steam.
That seems to have also prompted more enquiries from fans who want to actually visit the real-life race horses the titular Umamusume are based on, as a BlueSky user has noted that appointments to visit Haru Urara, a race horse beloved for her long losing streak, has already been booked out for the month. Their post also included a screenshot from a Twitter user urging fans to "please be respectful and follow the rules".
Those rules are now available on the Umamasume: Pretty Derby website, and they advise prospective visitors to contact the Kyousoba Furusato Information Center rather than the stables directly for a visit. It also warns, "Horses are extremely sensitive to their surroundings. Even what seems like a small change to a person could be a shocking, scary, or stressful event to them. For the safety and well-being of the horses, we ask all Umamusume fans to follow all rules and practice good etiquette when visiting stables in Japan."
The guidance is only for when visiting stables in Japan, but fans are advised to check local resources for information and rules if they wish to visit stables outside of Japan.
Source
Umamusume: Pretty Derby has already been a hit in Japan since the original mobile release in 2021, spawning manga, anime, and even a stage adaptation. But since its global release last month, strong word of mouth, including streams from mainstream creators like Northernlion and Vinesauce, has helped catapult it to widespread attention, where earlier this week it hit its all-time-peak of just over 50,000 concurrent players on Steam.
That seems to have also prompted more enquiries from fans who want to actually visit the real-life race horses the titular Umamusume are based on, as a BlueSky user has noted that appointments to visit Haru Urara, a race horse beloved for her long losing streak, has already been booked out for the month. Their post also included a screenshot from a Twitter user urging fans to "please be respectful and follow the rules".
Those rules are now available on the Umamasume: Pretty Derby website, and they advise prospective visitors to contact the Kyousoba Furusato Information Center rather than the stables directly for a visit. It also warns, "Horses are extremely sensitive to their surroundings. Even what seems like a small change to a person could be a shocking, scary, or stressful event to them. For the safety and well-being of the horses, we ask all Umamusume fans to follow all rules and practice good etiquette when visiting stables in Japan."
The guidance is only for when visiting stables in Japan, but fans are advised to check local resources for information and rules if they wish to visit stables outside of Japan.
Source