Equine airlift underway

The indoor arena at Horsley Park near Sydney

It is enough to make Pegasus hang up his wings and pigs jealous - the skies above Sydney are about to become crowded with flying horses.

In what has been described as the world's largest equine airlift, the horses for the Olympic equestrian events are being flown to Australia from London, Frankfurt and New York.

Never has an Olympic Games tried to move so much such a long distance

  Quentin Wallace

Some 237 horses, along with 100 tons of equipment and 164 grooms, are arriving to prepare for the first ever Olympic equestrian event in Australia.

"It is mammoth," said the co-ordinator of the operation Quentin Wallace. "Never has an Olympic Games tried to move so much such a long distance."

In 1956 the Australian government refused to waive their six month quarantine rules so the equestrian events were held in nearby Stockholm.

The quarantine regulations remain strict - the horses undergo two weeks before departing for Australia and then on arrival will be quarantined for a further two weeks at the appropriately named Olympic venue Horsley Park.

Britain win gold in Stockholm 1956

They effectively remain in quarantine throughout their stay in Australia, none are allowed to leave the site - so no trotting off to Sydney for wild nights out - and the riders are also subject to strict controls, although they are allowed the nights out.

The first horses arrived in Sydney after a 36-hour flight on a specially chartered jumbo jet.

The whole operation is costing $4 million, which will ensure the animals are well cared for throughout.

Described as 'equestrian athletes' by Wallace, the horses are worth a combined total of nearly £200 million - and are pampered accordingly.

They travel two to a container in which three horses are normally transported and are attended by vets throughout.

The British flight, which departed Stansted yesterday on a 26 hour journey, even took off at an angle of 15 degrees rather than the standard 35 degrees in an attempt to ease the stress on the four legged passengers.

There were 51 horses on board the British flight, representing ten different nations. They included Dikiloo accompanied by his rider Kirsty Mepham, who is heading for her first Olympics.

On arrival in Sydney a rubber matting covers the tarmac between the plane and the trucks as organisers attend to every last detail.

Once at Horsley, 25 miles west of Sydney, strict controls come into operation affecting both horse and rider.

Horsley Park where the animals will undergo quarantine

"The whole site becomes a quarantine site and no horse can leave," said equestrian manager Franz Venhuas.

The Australian authorities are anxious to keep any diseases out of the largely pest-free country.

Riders must leave their outside clothing at the entrance and change into designated training gear. Before leaving they must shower and change out of their training clothing.

There are even volunteers who have the task of collecting droppings each day, which are then deep-buried to prevent any possible infection from contaminating local crops.

After all that the equine athletes should be in fine fettle when the event gets underway on 16 September. As for the volunteers ...