Claim:
Horses competing in equestrian events at the 2024 Paris Olympics were flown there on a plane called "Air Horse One."
Rating:
False ( About this rating? )
Not all athletes at the Olympics are human. Although horses competing in the three equestrian events of dressage, eventing and jumping do not earn medals for their performances, they do benefit from some similar perks to their riders.
As the 2024 Games got underway in Paris, some social media users claimed Team USA's horses were flown in on an airplane called Air Horse One. On Aug. 2, 2024, one TikTok user posted a video in which he claimed a plane called Air Horse One "recently gained fame as the plane that transported the U.S. Olympic team's horses to the Paris Olympics."
Similar claims also appeared on X ( archived ) and Facebook in the days before.
While Team USA's horses did get to fly private to the Games, the claim that the steeds jumped on a plane named Air Horse One to get to Paris was wrong, which is why we rated this claim as "False."
How Did Team USA's Horses Travel to Paris Olympics?
Team USA's horses were flown to Paris via equine transport company The Dutta Corporation, according to a post on the verified TikTok account of the U.S. Equestrian team.
The Dutta Corporation also posted numerous videos and images documenting their work for the Games on Facebook .
This was not the first time The Dutta Corporation had handled Team USA's precious cargo. According to an article on the US Equestrian team's website, the company transported horses to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Before that, the organization also flew the steeds to Rio in 2016, according to news outlets USA Today and NBC , and London in 2012, according to NPR .
We found no credible news reports the animals were shipped to Paris via a plane called Air Horse One, as the New York Times similarly reported.
What Is Air Horse One?
A different equine transport company, Tex Sutton Equine Air Transportation , did have a plane nicknamed Air Horse One that was dedicated to flying horses around the U.S. The organization's president, Rob Clark, told Snopes via email that Air Horse One is a registered trademark for the company, but also said Tex Sutton lost its lease on the plane in 2021.
However, Clark added that the company still regularly flies horses within the U.S. (and occasionally to Canada and Mexico) and continues to use the nickname Air Horse One for "whatever aircraft we are utilizing to transport our clients horses."
Finally, Clark told Snopes he had also seen claims that Air Horse One flew Team USA's horses to the 2024 Games, but stated: "We did not transport any of the Paris Olympic horses."
Sources:
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CNET , https://www.cnet.com/pictures/air-horse-one-photos/. Accessed 5 Aug. 2024. Tara, Serena. "Those Olympics-Competing Horses Are Flying Private To Paris, By the Way."
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