How do they get horses to the Paris 2024 Olympics & do the Team GB equine athletes need a passport to travel?

EQUESTRIAN events at Paris 2024 are an incredible spectacle, with over 80 horses competing in multiple events and disciplines.

But how on earth to the animals even get to the Games? Here’s everything you need to know.

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How do they get horses to the Olympics?

While watching the equestrian events at Paris 2024 , it is natural to wonder how it’s possible to get all of those horses to the Olympic Games from every corner of the world.

For the trip to the Tokyo 2021 Olympics , the horses and their carers had to travel 5,713 miles to get to the Games

Although Paris is a great deal closer, it’s not exactly around the corner and there is still a channel to cross.

In 2021, a number of horse transfer flights left from the UK a long time before the Olympics , earlier in the summer.

These animals were hauled up into the plane after being loaded into stalls at ground level.

Regular stalls for transiting horses are built to accommodate three animals, but as these are elite equine athletes there are just two horses per stall.

Each flight is staffed with multiple vets and grooms to take care of the passengers — similar to how we are attended to by cabin crew.

While for Paris 2024 there was the option to travel via ferry from the UK, Team GB opted to fly to France.

Each British Equestrian Olympic team horse has an individual limit for the flight — much like the luggage allowance when we board a plane.

The horses’ carry-on items include water buckets, tag bags and rugs.

On the flight horses are fed haylage — hay with a higher moisture content than normal — and drink plenty of water.

For horses flying in aeroplanes, the main issue is dehydration.

That said, they have the ability to rehydrate better than humans and can be back to normal within 24 hours.

There is also the possibility that the animals could encounter respiratory infections from having to keep their heads in an upright position for a longer period of time than they naturally would otherwise.

But aside from the manageable risks, the horses travel in relative comfort, with a temperature-controlled atmosphere and the ability to sleep while standing up.

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As well as keeping them nourished, chewing on haylage helps the horses remain calm when there are changes in cabin pressure.

All in all, a plane journey is a far more comfortable way to travel than being driven in a bumpy horse box .

British Eventing Team vet Liz Brown told the Radio Times: “The pilots will control a more gradual take off and a slower landing to a typical flight.

“When you’re on a passenger plane you’ll experience a positive landing where they brake quite hard, but with horses they do a longer landing so they don’t feel that sudden deceleration.”

Do horses need a passport to travel to the Olympics?

Yes, an equine passport is required for horses to travel to Paris 2024 .

These passports are received at birth and are used throughout the horse’s life to document their health history, markings and size.

And it’s not only elite athletes — all of the following varieties of equine kept in the UK require a passports, according to Gov.uk:

• horses
• ponies
• donkeys and asses
• zebras
• mules, hinnies or other hybrids

The passport is a document that:

• describes the animal, for example by breed, colour, species
• lists all vaccinations
• names the registered owner

A valid horse passport must be kept with the animal at all times, including at its stable or when it is travelling.

The horse’s passport is needed when:

• when a vet examines or treats the animal – the medication it can get depends on how it’s categorised on its passport
• if an animal health inspector, trading standards inspector or other enforcement officer asks to see it
• when the animal is sold or given to someone else