(ATR) The Olympic horses used in equestrian events will begin to make their grand arrival in Rio de Janeiro at midnight Friday.
Around the Rings is told the first batch of 34 horses was delayed at the London Stansted Airport for about 20 minutes but that everything else is going according to plan. London is one of three locations that the horses will be flown out of along with the Miami-Dade Airport in Florida and the Liege freight airport in Belgium.
The approximately $22,000 round-trip flight for each horse is funded by the Rio 2016 organizing committee. Rio 2016 also covers the costs of the equestrian athletes at approximately $1,300 per ticket.
However, this was not always the case. It was not until the Sydney 2000 Summer Games that organizers began to cover the costs of all athletes, equine or human.
Today, each athlete’s National Olympic Committee and National Equestrian Federation still must cover the cost of additional expenses such as equipment, grooms and the transportation of any reserve horses.
The logistics of moving 233 horses from around the world to Rio is a tough task for Peden Bloodstock, a company specializing in horse transportation. Peden tells ATR the company has been the nominated equine logistics company for almost every Olympics since the 1968 Games in Mexico.
Peden is coordinating the transport of the Rio horses across 10 days leading up to the equestrian events that begin on Aug. 6.
"We have forged a strong working relationship with Rio 2016, MAPA [Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture]and the Brazilian authorities to ensure the smooth and swift transfer of all the horses, their equipment and feed to the Olympic Equestrian Centre," director of Peden Bloodstock Henry Bullen tells ATR.
The horses are accompanied on their flight by two professional grooms from Peden as well as a veterinarian to ensure the horses stay hydrated, fed and comfortable.
Once arriving in Rio, the horses will be transported to the Deodoro Olympic Equestrian Complex where each NOC qualified in equestrian will have designated barn blocks.
The equestrian events at Rio are divided into three disciplines: eventing, show jumping and dressage. Eventing will take place from Aug. 6-9, dressage from Aug. 10-12 and 15 and jumping will be contested on Aug. 14, 16, 17, and 19. Both the horses and the riders will earn an Olympic medal for placing in the top three of their respective events.
The Rio Olympics begin with the opening ceremony on Aug. 5 and come to a close on Aug. 21.
Written by Kevin Nutley
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