As part of the mid-September festival at this shrine, there is a spectacular tournament of archery on horseback (yabusame), in which contestants dressed in the costume of Kamakura-period huntsmen must hit a series of three small wooden targets as they come down a narrow course at full gallop.
The course the yabusame contestants but navigate is a wide open field, with no narrow points, to aid in the test of long-distance archery. 
mnli hypothesis: The course the yabusame contestants but navigate is a wide open field, with no narrow points, to aid in the test of long-distance archery.  premise: As part of the mid-September festival at this shrine, there is a spectacular tournament of archery on horseback (yabusame), in which contestants dressed in the costume of Kamakura-period huntsmen must hit a series of three small wooden targets as they come down a narrow course at full gallop.