Sending the horses to the Olympics

[BIWI]

Back in 2008 there was a very funny thread about how people imagined the horses got transported to China. But AS doesn't show anything up.

There was a link to it in one thread I found ( where MN were asking for nominations to classics but the link didn't work.

I have a feeling this must mean it was in chat, but thought I'd check with @MNHQ (and the rest of Mumsnet!)

Does anyone happen to have a stashed copy of it? Is it in the vaults at MNHQ?!

The nomination and link was from BoysAreLikeDogs, btw.

Ooh, we'll certainly dust off the old filing cabinets and see what we can unearth for you, BIWI...thanks for flagging this.

Fingers crossed!
thank you @LivMumsnet

Was that the one where someone thought they didn’t send horses by plane and you just got assigned a random Chinese horse?

Well flipping eck BIWI why didnt I think of prodding HQ to have a look down the back of the filing cabinets! Nice one my friend.

Dang this new fangled atting. Try again
@BIWI

BALD! Haven't seen you for yonks!

I can't remember specific posts @Ghosttile, but probably! It was a very funny thread - all of us realising we actually had no clue as to how they got the horses there

OMG I was wondering this the other day. What's the answer?

There's a great article in the Radio Times about how they transport them :-)

It's the online radio times thing, so it comes up on google

I thought everyone knew, but then not everyone has watched International Velvet apparently

@Girlwhowearsglasses

OMG I was wondering this the other day. What's the answer?

By plane

By plane - the horses go out a few weeks before the owners to get used to the climate
Hasn’t anyone read Jilly Coopers Riders and the rest of the horsey books 😂😂

@Grinch48

By plane - the horses go out a few weeks before the owners to get used to the climate Hasn’t anyone read Jilly Coopers Riders and the rest of the horsey books 😂😂

To be fair, no one read Riders to research horse transportation.

Well I didn’t anyway.

@viques

I didn’t either but I remember Rupert bitching about the ground being to hard and the altitude being to much
I remember that one horse Dinos I think panicked on the flight and was shot to prevent the rest of horses panicking
But I remember random shit from everything I read 😂

I thought everyone knew, but then not everyone has watched International Velvet apparently

I think I'm still traumatised by watching that scene as a horse-obsessed pre-teen.

I was also close to tears (I am a massive softy) when an Icelandic horse trekking guide informed me that, due to strict animal control laws to prevent bringing in diseases such as strangles, the Icelandic teams have to leave their horses behind after international competitions. The horses aren't allowed to go home 😥

That's horrible

@Grinch48

By plane - the horses go out a few weeks before the owners to get used to the climate Hasn’t anyone read Jilly Coopers Riders and the rest of the horsey books 😂😂

They don't always go by plane — Jake gets the train with his and somebody else's and they spend two days in a siding in France. And he "risks eternal abandonment in the French countryside" to go and help a groom in a different carriage sedate one.

It was President's Man (Manny) who had to be shot, because Dino was also flying Carol Kennedy's horses and he couldn't risk putting the plane down where they were without killing all of them.

Why do I remember this and not why I was planning for dinner for the next few days?!

@WeAreTheHeroes

I thought everyone knew, but then not everyone has watched International Velvet apparently

I’ve never seen the film version, but the plane scene in the novel permanently traumatised me, especially the bit when the rider insisted on being by the panicking horse as it was euthanised.

My sister in law is friends with one of the ladies out there now. How them horses travel honestly I’d bloody do it! Supersized first class basically!

I was also close to tears (I am a massive softy) when an Icelandic horse trekking guide informed me that, due to strict animal control laws to prevent bringing in diseases such as strangles, the Icelandic teams have to leave their horses behind after international competitions. The horses aren't allowed to go home

I didn't know this 😭. Couldn't they just have super strict quarantine measures?

www.google.com/amp/s/www.horseandhound.co.uk/features/flying-horses-to-olympics-579884/amp

They go in the same way to the olympics as they go to any international event.
My ex racehorse had flown all the world many more times than me

@Grinch48

By plane - the horses go out a few weeks before the owners to get used to the climate Hasn’t anyone read Jilly Coopers Riders and the rest of the horsey books 😂😂

Yep, this is how I know

@rantymcrantface66

I was also close to tears (I am a massive softy) when an Icelandic horse trekking guide informed me that, due to strict animal control laws to prevent bringing in diseases such as strangles, the Icelandic teams have to leave their horses behind after international competitions. The horses aren't allowed to go home

I didn't know this 😭. Couldn't they just have super strict quarantine measures?

The rules have been in place for about 1000 years, so it's probably unlikely that they'll change them anytime soon. If I remember correctly you also can't bring back any saddles etc. Disease is one concern, but the purity of the breed is another.

Jake gets the train with his

I hope they don't sit in the quiet carriage.