The first group of Olympic horses departed from London Stansted Airport on 29 July on a special cargo plane bound for the Rio Olympic Games taking place from 5-21 August.
With 34 horses from 10 nations on board, the equine cargo worth millions of dollars, was loaded into customised pallets for the almost 12-hour flight aboard an Emirates SkyCargo Boeing 777 Freighter.
On the flight there was 17,500kg of equine cargo, 9,900kg of horse equipment and 6,000kg of feed (for consumption during the Games).
Eventing horses from Great Britain, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Brazil, Japan, Italy and China are on board Friday’s flight out of Stansted, the first of nine shipments delivering more than 200 horses to Rio International Airport, en route to the Olympic Equestrian Centre in Deodoro Olympic Park.
This highly complex operation involves three hubs in Europe and America: Stansted, Liege and Miami. The competing horses and their riders will represent 43 nations from around the globe in the Olympic disciplines of Dressage, Jumping and Eventing.
