Almost 100 horses were transferred from Europe to Calgary through Boeing 747s to compete in the Spruce Meadows Masters, a record number of “equine athletes” for the prestigious tournament that celebrates its 50th anniversary this week.
From September 3 to 7, more than 100 horses around the world participate in the annual jump of equestrian jumping in Calgary’s Spruce Meadows.
But the trip to take those international horses to Canada began very much, involving all kinds of planning, paperwork and precision to ensure that horses arrived on time and in the best possible conditions.
“As soon as we see the whites of his eyes landing on the Canadian floor, we are all very, very relieved,” said Martha Worts, sales manager and operations of Overseas Horse Services, a company based in Calgary that organizes the travel of horsepower by air.
Similar to a human air travel process, Worts said that each competitor horse must have a passport broadcast by the International Federation for Equestrian Sports.
“Within that passport there is an identification page, which is the equivalent of a photo, that you would see in a normal human passport,” he said.
“There are some details about the reproduction and age of the horse and everything. Therefore, those details must coincide with the import permit.”
Each horse also needs that import permit to travel to Canada and a health certificate that they are leaving.
With all the ordered paperwork and the passport in the helmet (figuratively), spruce Meadows horses boarded a 747 load plane from a transport center in Liege, Belgium, bound for Calgary. The horses travel two to a position, “which is a kind of luxury travel version,” Worts said.
Calgary EyeopenerFlying horses
The exhibition horses around the world are in Calgary this week for the masters in Spruce Meadows, and some simply flew! We discovered how to fly a horse for sure.
It is not experience in the coach, he emphasized. The musty estimates that many of the horses are valued in around $ 1 million. During the flight, the bride and groom take care of horses, while a veterinarian is also aboard any need related to health.
After all transport logistics are classified, there is also a question of keeping horses in the best conditions. But Wort said, fortunately, these horses are accustomed to travel and, in general, remain happy with a lot of hay and water at their disposal.
As for Jet Lag, Worts said that “the trip affects some horses more than others, in the same way that would affect people.” Animals also have time to recover and rest before competing, Worts said.
The first Jumbo plane that transported 51 of the horses arrived in Alberta on August 30, where they were brought to the International Animal Lounge located at the Calgary International Airport, an installation equipped with 12 custom design horses.
In the last stretch of their trip, the horses are transported to Spruce Meadows for the preparation of the tournament, many of them compete in the International CPKC Grand Prix, the final competition. This year, that event offers a $ 5 million awards bag, which makes it the largest of the exhibition jump competition.
For Ian Allison, Senior Vice President of Spruce Meadows, is the exciting climax for the five -day event.
“The top 40 of the world will have qualified during the week to get there and we have our defending champion of Switzerland, Martin Fuchs, here. He has also won it consecutive. And if he could win it three times in a row, that would be historical,” said Allison.
The Swiss Show Jumper, 33, will compete with his champion Gray Gelding Leone Jei, who arrived in the second lot of transport earlier this week.
For the musts, as soon as this year’s tournament ends, he will work planning the horses of next year to and from the Spruce Meadows Masters.
Despite the laborious process, Worts said he loves what he does.
“Anything that involves the transport of animals is inherently complicated, because animals do not always know they are scheduled to be somewhere in time,” Worts said.
And they simply do things that sometimes make us have to change the plan for their trip, right? So, every day there is a new adventure that we have to drive. “
