Thursday, August 3, 2000
Equestrianism News Online

Horses tested for jet lag

It is not only humans who suffer from jet lag, apparently, nor are we alone in qualifying as frequent flyers. The first 14 horses for the equestrianism events have arrived in Sydney and will undergo two weeks of tests to make sure they recover well from their journey.

The horses were flown into Sydney on a chartered Fed Ex flight from Louisville, Kentucky this week. Of the 14 animals, 12 are for the US team and two for Australia. The tests will be taken while the horses make themselves at home at Kerry Packer's polo estate, Ellerston.

Jim Wolf, the team manager for the US squad, said: "These horses travel so much they're used to it but we do have grooms and vets travelling with them to make sure. They are very good frequent flyers though."

About 50 horses are scheduled to arrive in Australia in the last week of August, including stables from Britain, Germany and the Netherlands, among the world's leading nations in equestrianism.

They will be taken to the Sydney International Equestrian Centre at Horsley Park, which will become a temporary quarantine station until competition begins. Although Australia held the Games in 1956, at melbourne, Sydney will be the first Australian city to host Olympic equestrianism: horses and riders competed in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1956 because Australia would not alter strict six-month quarantine laws.