High Performance Squad athletes and horses

Air transport of horses is an obvious necessity for those with international aspirations, but also is a viable option for some of our riders going long national distances. A six-hour flight from Perth to Sydney or from California to Miami can be a lot less stressful than a 72-hour truck ride. 

Every horse is an individual, and, like people, some travel better than others.  Some horses are already experienced flyers while others are new to the experience. 

Over the past year many High Performance riders across the disciplines have invested heavily in flights in pursuit of Rio.

Chris Burke, Managing Director of International Racehorse Transport (IRT) has provided discounted travel packages for High Performance Squad riders heading from Australia to Europe to campaign for the Rio Olympic and Paralympic Games.

“We have been working hard with the riders trying to balance their individual needs. Everyone is busy on developing the best program to help riders qualify for Rio, so we have tried to group the horses together when they head over to Europe. But the more we have talked together with everyone we have been able to schedule together some dates that work well for all. 

“From the flights that have travelled so far, I feel one of the important features of our services has been having experienced flying grooms accompany the riders and their horses. The years of flying helps to overcome the hurdles which can be faced in a trip across the world in a freighter aircraft. It’s be great seeing riders who have won competitions we have sponsored in Australia get to travel with IRT to try and win one of the biggest competitions of all.  

“The other important work we have been doing is trying to establish how and when the team can return to Australia. Australia does not allow direct imports from Brazil, so we are working closely with the Department of Agriculture to establish the protocol to allow their return,” said Burke.

Dressage

There are several athletes campaigning from Australia: Mary Hanna with two horses as well as Maree Tomkinson and Sue Hearn who will each travel one horse to Europe if they qualify for the top 8 which will go to head at two nomination events during May/June.

Four time Olympian Hanna needed to divide the flights up for her team of horses.  Umbro left on 9 Marchto be ready for the Reem Acra FEI World Cup Final in Gothenburg. Another of Mary’s team ‘Boogie Woogie’ flew out directly after Dressage With The Stars.

Remaining Rio hopefuls live across USA or Europe: Kelly Layne, Nicholas Fyffe and Kim Gentry will also travel to Europe if they are named in the top 8 on April 15th.  Lyndal Oatley, Kristy Oatley and Briana Burgess all live and compete in Europe.

Jumping

Jumping rider Harley Brown flew his horse Apex from the west coast of USA to compete in the FEI Nations Cup team’s event at Ocala, Florida in February.  Within a week the horse was on its’ return journey back to California for further competition. 

Scott Keach’s dedication to helping Australia qualify for Rio, flew his and owners David and Anne Quanbeck’s horse ‘Fedor’ to Europe in July 2015 and stayed on to compete in the Nations Cup Final in Barcelona, Spain.

Jess Brown landed in Europe in 2015 with Casco and Equus Echo to complete the summer season there, including being a member of the team for the Nations Cup final in Barcelona.  Jess starts the 2016 season with these horses in Oliva, Spain and then Lanaken in April.

David Cameron arrived in Europe on 6 March and will commence competitions with Bonnie Martin’s horse RR Dyranta at Lanaken 3* tour over April.  David had been out of action in the later part of 2015 due to a fall and breaking his pubic bone but is now fit and ready to go. He also flew another of his team horses Untouchable on the same flight.

Stephen Hill’s horse Yalambi Bellini’s Star left Australia on the same flight and has successfully started his campaign at the CSI3* Tour in Arezzo Italy with his Olympic hopeful mount.

Jamie Kermond’s horses Yalambi’s Carpino Z, Yirrkala En Vogue and Invincible also shared the flight pallet, adding horses to his team already based in Europe for the past two years. Their first event occurred the week of their arrival at Kronenberg, Netherlands 2*.

Chris Chugg flew his Australian World Cup League winning mount Cera Cassiago and Gabrielle Kuna’s mare Cristalline to Europe in February.  They commenced competitions at Gent 2*, Dortmund 3*, Boras 3*, in preparation for representation at the World Cup Final in Gothenburg, Sweden with fabulous success with the 8 year old Cristalline.  German shows Wiesbaden CSI5* and Hagen CSI4* are next on their show schedule.

Merrick Ubank flew his horse Alantinus to arrive in The Netherlands early February. His campaign has begun at National shows in The Netherlands and he is currently on tour in Arezzo in Italy for a three week CSI3* tour over the next month.

Clocking up the horse Rosthwaite Vigilante’s frequent flyer points is rider James Arkins who has been competing successfully in New Zealand over the month of February.  He continued the flight path from New Zealand to Australia for one night before hopping to London and road travelling to France where he will base. The combination commenced competition in the U-25 section at Paris, Grand Palais in March and now heads to the Lanaken 3* Tour in April.

Para-Equestrian

Para-Equestrian athletes have made plans for their campaign run for selection and nomination to Rio. Para Equestrian National Performance Director Julia Battams informs some of the movements of the athletes and their horses.

“Katie Umback is already in Europe flying her horse at the end of February and is based with Tristan Tucker in The Netherlands. She had already competed at two nomination events here in Australia and decided to complete her selection period based in Holland. Katie has also purchased a second horse in Holland and will be campaigning that one as well in the European selection events

“There are a further six athletes based in Europe - Victoria Davies, based in the UK, Zoe Vorenas is based in The Netherlands and Amelia White is based in Germany.  These three athletes purchased horses in Europe and will campaign from there. 

“Then we have a further three athletes now in Europe who have leased horses for the campaign including Nikki Doogue, Lizzie Sobecki and Chelsea Higgins.

“Those athletes remaining in Australia (Lisa Martin, Emma Booth, Jo Formosa, Sharon Jarvis) will take their horses to Europe if they are announced on the team on 26th May,” said Battams.

Eventing

Australian based squad members Stuart Tinney, Shane Rose, Sonja Johnson and Katya Weiman who are in preparation for Rio will stave off flying to Europe until nominations have been confirmed on June 27th.

Next Generation HP athletes Christine Bates and Tim Boland have made plans to head to Europe over the next month. Tim flies out on 6 April with two horses and it is a usual strategy for him to compete on the English eventing circuit in both championship and non-championship years.  Christine has indicated plans to compete in events in Europe as part of her preparation for Rio.

Just like humans, airplane passengers of the four-legged variety must also contend with the risk of respiratory infections, dehydration and sleep deprivation. Flight times average approximately 30 hours from Australia to Europe that include scheduled stopovers in Singapore and Sharjah (UAE) before arriving in London.  

It is thought that horses can get jetlag just like humans and may be related to the change in times and for performance horses there is a check-point at about six weeks upon arrival from Australia where they can hit a flat spot.  Therefore many riders design their competition plans and preparations to Rio with this in mind.

Once selected, Team horses will fly to Rio from pre-determined destinations Liege, (Belgium), New York and Miami (USA) or Stansted (UK) and then those from South America.

A total of 278 horses from all participating countries will fly to GIG International Airport in Rio de Janeiro, taking into account 65 Eventing horses, 60 Dressage horses, 75 jumping horses and 78 Paralympic Dressage horses. The cost for flying all horses across all countries participating at Rio is highlighted to cost in the vicinity of €5,000,000.