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Olympic horses touchdown in Rio: take a look behind the scenes

Gemma Redrup Gemma Redrup

    • On Friday evening (29 July), shortly before midnight local time, 34 event horses arrived at Rio’s Galeao airport.

    This followed an 11-hour flight from London Stansted airport on a cargo Emirates Boeing 777. This was the first of nine flights in total which will carry around 200 horses from Leige in Belgium and Miami in Florida.

    According to the FEI, New Zealand rider Tim Price’s horse Ringwood Sky Boy was the first to disembark the plane onto Brazilian ground.

    This batch of horses, whose riders represent Britain, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, China, Italy, Japan, Brazil and Zimbabwe, were then escorted by police on a bio-contained route to the Olympic equestrian venue at Deodoro.

    See how the horses are settling into their championship digs:

    The sole Zimbabwean eventing representative, British-based Camilla Kruger, grazes her horse Biarritz II in his travel suit at Stansted

    Loading up the first batch of Olympic horses

    US rider Clark Montgomery watches as his team’s horses depart Florida, including his mount Loughan Glen

    The mighty German squad arrive in Brazil

    Tina Cook’s Billy The Red and Pippa Funnell’s Billy The Biz enjoy a pick of grass

    The British eventing team enjoy some sightseeing

    British eventing team vet Liz Brown welcomes the horses as they arrive

    Gemma Tattersall gives her horse Quicklook V (Pebbles) a warm welcome

    The British eventing team check out the village where they will be staying

    There is a graffiti wall for athletes to write a message to mark their stay

    Quicklook V has a look at the main arena where much of the equestrian action will unfold

    Brazilian event rider Ruy Fonseca gives us an insight into the Olympic village

    And this is the home-side’s team camp

    Kitty King’s ride Ceylor LAN (or Sprout as he is known at home) relaxes into his new digs

    The Irish team arrive in Rio (l-r: Mark Kyle, Padraig McCarthy, Camilla Speirs, Clare Abbott and Jonty Evans)

    Don Geniro, the mount of Chinese event rider Alex Hua Tian, poses with his team

    Pippa Funnell’s groom Frankie Murrell gives us a look behind the scenes

    New Zealander Jock Paget’s horse Clifton Lush takes in his surroundings

    The full Horse & Hound Olympic preview is out now (28 July issue)

    Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout major shows like London International and more with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

    Gemma Redrup
    Gemma Redrup

    H&H features, racing and point-to-point editor
    Gemma is an experienced journalist, having been part of the H&H team since 2014, who is passionate about all equestrian sports, including racing and point-to-pointing. She has enjoyed riding out for top trainers Nicky Henderson and Charlie Appleby and took part in a charity Flat race at in August 2018. Gemma’s reporting talents have taken her to numerous five-star events around Britain and Europe, as well as European championships.
    Gemma Redrup

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