Kiwi Olympic Horses Fly First-Class

Ever wondered how they get horses to the Olympic Games?

Well, New Zealand’s top equestrian horses are heading to the 2024 Paris Olympics in style, traveling first-class with their own passports, in-flight meals, and layover breaks. Four horses will compete in eventing and dressage, with reserve horses on standby in Europe.

Most horses travel by truck from the UK, but one reserve horse will fly from the US. These journeys are long, but Jock Paget, Equestrian Sports NZ’s high performance manager, says the horses are experienced travellers.

The horses travel without sedation and have plenty of hay. For road trips, they ride in specially designed trucks with cooling systems and automatic water dispensers. These trucks make frequent stops to allow the horses to stretch and eat.

For international flights, horses are loaded into stalls on cargo planes. Each stall can hold three horses and is made from strong materials to ensure safety. The New Zealand team has a reserve horse flying from Aiken, South Carolina, to France.

Olympic horses require careful management, especially before events, to ensure they stay healthy and fit. The cost of flying a horse from New Zealand to Europe and back can be around $100,000, while flights from the US cost between $30,000 and $40,000.

Grooms, or handlers, travel with the horses to care for them during the journey. Horses also have passports that include a microchip for identification and vaccination records.

Horses can fly in different classes, similar to humans. Economy class has three horses per stall, premium economy has two, and business class has one horse per stall. Their in-flight meals are high in energy and fiber, and they munch on hay throughout the journey.

New Zealand’s horses will arrive in Paris just before their competitions, starting with eventing on July 27 and dressage on July 30. This timing helps minimize jetlag, which can affect horses a few weeks after travel. Paget says ensuring the horses arrive in peak condition is always a challenge, likening it to a lottery.