In this Aug. 12, 2008 file photo, Gold medalist, German rider Hinrich Romeiker, celebrates with his horse Marius after winning the Eventing Individual at the Beijing 2008 Olympics Equestrian in Hong Kong. Bringing horses across the Atlantic for Olympic equestrian competition is a logistical feat _ one small example of the many people and efforts under way in the shadows to make the games go off without a hitch. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)DANICA KIRKA,Associated Press
LONDON (AP) – They didn’t have to absolutely, positively get them there overnight, but when the U.S. Equestrian Federation sent some of its horses to London for the Olympics, it was a special delivery.
The elite U.S. three-day eventing equine squad landed in London on Monday on a FedEx flight, having taken the red eye from Newark, N.J. They’re not the first competitors to arrive as the countdown to the games clicks to less than 40 days away, but they are among the most pampered.
“They are all special,” said Tim Dutta, who owns the international horse transport company that organized the trip. “We are working on everybody’s dream.”
Bringing these elite athletes across the Atlantic Ocean is a logistical feat – one small example of the many people and efforts under way behind the scenes to make the games go off without a hitch. This is particularly true for horses – the only animals that take part in the games, which start July 27 and end Aug. 12.